Congressional leaders react to administration’s release of 15 Guantanamo Bay detainees

Congressional leaders reacted to news on Monday that the Obama administration had released 15 detainees from Guantanamo Bay (GTMO) to the United Arab Emirates.

The Pentagon said in a press release that an inter-agency review board had unanimously approved six of the detainees for release after considering their threat to security. A consensus was reached on the other nine detainees by the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and State; the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said that President Barack Obama was more focused on releasing “hardened terrorists” than on catching them.

“At least a third of the inmates released from GTMO are suspected of returning to the fight,” McCaul said. “Even more shocking, the administration has admitted that Americans have been killed by these released detainees. And now the president is giving more terrorists a one-way ticket back to the battlefield. We are a nation at war, and our commander-in-chief shouldn’t be handing back operatives to the other side.”

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) said that the administration was “doubling down” on policies that put Americans at risk in its race to close Guantanamo Bay.

“Once again, hardened terrorists are being released to foreign countries where they will be a threat,” Royce said. “Too many have already died at the hands of former detainees. I fear we will be dealing with the consequences of this recklessness for years to come.”  

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, called the administration’s release of the detainees “unconscionable.”

“It is unconscionable that this administration continues to release known terrorists,” Burr said. “Several terrorists released by the Obama administration have returned to the battlefield and re-engaged in attacks against coalition forces and our allies. The administration continues to put our national security at risk in misguided attempts to fulfill campaign pledges and to cement the President’s legacy.”