Gardner Amendment Prohibits Use of Federal Airspace to Transfer GTMO Terrorists to U.S.

Washington, DC – Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) today introduced an amendment to the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Act that would prohibit the use of funds to transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to the U.S. using U.S. airspace.

“When I met with Coloradans and local law enforcement in Florence, Colorado, their message was clear: do not allow the President to circumvent the law and bring terrorists to Colorado,” said Gardner. “I will continue to do everything I can to protect the people of Colorado and will use all avenues to block the President from enacting his reckless proposal. This legislation will prohibit the President from using United States airspace to transfer Guantanamo detainees to the United States, and instead keep the terrorists in Guantanamo Bay where they belong.”

Background:

• Gardner recently joined his GOP colleagues in introducing legislation that would prohibit the transfer or release of Guantanamo Bay detainees to global terror havens, including all countries designated by the United States Department of State as state sponsors of terrorism, currently Iran, Syria, and Sudan. Current U.S. law already prohibits transfers to Yemen, Libya, Somalia, and Syria, but not to Iran and Sudan, where 14 detainees have been transferred over the past decade.
• In March, Gardner hosted a town hall in Florence, Colorado focused on national security issues. Local elected officials, including members of the law enforcement community, and other local leaders joined Gardner in Fremont County to discuss issues including the potential transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Colorado and the growing instability in the Middle East. 
• Following the recent announcement that U.S. Special Forces captured an ISIS leader, Gardner and his GOP colleagues introduced a resolution urging the Administration to transfer detained ISIS fighters to Guantanamo Bay. 
• In March, Gardner introduced a resolution formally rejecting President Obama’s plan to transfer prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities to an alternate location in American communities, which is explicitly prohibited by law.
• Gardner is a cosponsor of the Naval Station Guantanamo Bay Protection Act, a bill that prevents the President from terminating or modifying the Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay’s lease without Congressional approval. 
• Gardner visited the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and upon his return to the U.S., reiterated his opposition to the transfer of the detainees to American soil.
• Several Obama Administration officials, including Department of Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Attorney General Loretta Lynch, have stated that current law prevents the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States.

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Cory Gardner is a member of the U.S. Senate serving Colorado. He sits on the Energy & Natural Resources Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, the Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee, and the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee, and is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy.

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