Days after President Obama laid out his plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, the Colorado Springs Gazette blasted it, calling on the Congressional delegation to block the plan that “threatens Colorado” by bringing terror detainees to the state.
While Congress voted in a bipartisan manner to prohibit the Guantanamo Bay closing and stop the transfer of detainees, Michael Bennet stood with President Obama in support of his plan.
Michael Bennet, or “Senator Gitmo,” has twice voted against legislation that would have prohibited the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the United States.
More from The Gazette:
EDITORIAL: Keep Gitmo detainees out of our state
The Gazette Editorial
Colorado remains threatened by the unwanted importation of terror detainees.
…
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., supports Obama’s quest to close Gitmo.
…
If the senator wants to keep Colorado free of Gitmo detainees, why close the prison in the first place? Terror suspects must be housed somewhere. If they don’t belong in Colorado, they don’t belong in South Carolina, Kansas or any other state. They should be held offshore, on an American military base, where they cannot mingle with civilian prisoners who have connections on the outside. They should be in a place like the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. If ever Bennet had a great opportunity to fully disagree with Obama, this is it.
All Colorado members of the U.S. House and Senate should get behind a sensible effort by Ryan to stop the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay. The president’s plan threatens Colorado and other states. The solution to this looming menace could not be more simple. Leave Gitmo alone. Don’t disrupt something that works, to replace it with a half-baked scheme Americans overwhelmingly dislike.
BACKGROUND:
In 2013, Michael Bennet Voted Against An Amendment That Would Have Prohibited The Transfer Of Detainees From Guantanamo Bay To Facilities In The United States. (S. 1197, CQ Vote #237: Rejected 43-55: R 40-3; D 3-50; I 0-2, 11/19/13, Bennet Voted Nay)
In 2012, Michael Bennet Voted Against An Amendment That Would Have Prohibited The Transfer Of Detainees From Guantanamo Bay To The United States. (S. 3254, CQ Vote #212: Adopted 54-41: R 44-0; D 9-40; I 1-1, 11/29/12, Bennet Voted Nay)
A Group Of 41 Colorado Sheriffs Wrote The Obama Administration To Opposing Guantanamo Detainees Being Moved To Colorado Saying They Were “Concerned That Utilizing Current Civilian Prisons In Our State Would Significantly – And Unnecessarily – Endanger Our Citizens.” (Jesse Paul, “41 Colorado Sheriffs Write Obama To Block Housing Guantanamo Inmates,” The Denver Post, 11/10/15)
Obama Administration Officials Are Considering At Least Two Colorado Locations – Prison In Florence And Canon City – As Destinations For Guantanamo Detainees. (The Associated Press, 2/23/16)