U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) on Thursday condemned President Barack Obama’s decision to release 17 detainees this month from the Guantanamo Bay Prison to other countries.
“President Obama continues to undermine Congressional intent to keep the Guantanamo Bay detention facility open,” Dent said. “In doing so, he is clearly placing his own ideology above the security of the American people. The 17 detainees he plans to release are dangerous individuals, many of whom are believed to have close ties to al-Qaeda.”
According to an estimate by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, at least 117 detainees who have been released from Guantanamo to date have reengaged in terrorist activities.
“That’s almost a fifth of those who have been released to date,” Dent said. “That is why I have consistently voted to prevent the president from bringing these terrorists to American soil. Unfortunately, there is no law stopping him from transferring these ruthless killers to other countries, where they can easily rejoin the fight against the United States and our allies.
“Guantanamo Bay has proven a necessary tool to constrain those terrorist who have proven too difficult to try and too dangerous to release. President Obama is simply attempting to empty the prison, whatever the consequences, and that is unacceptable. The American people are rightly dismayed by the President’s dismissive attitude toward the terrorist threat facing our nation.”