Portman Continues Call for Senate to Acknowledge Administration Broke Law over Guantanamo Prisoner Transfer

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the President for transferring five Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay without providing Congress the required 30-day notice:

"This House resolution is an important official acknowledgement that the Administration's failure to notify Congress before the release of dangerous terrorists was a violation of the law," said Portman. "I believe that had the President followed the law, many of the dangers posed by this decision could have been avoided altogether. I continue to urge the Senate to put this crucial issue on record so that proper notification and Congressional input are provided with regard to future Administration efforts to release detainees from Guantanamo Bay. This is about our national security and our role in the U.S. Congress. Now that the House has acted, it's time for the Senate to do the same."

In June, Portman introduced a resolution stating that the Obama Administration's decision to release five high-level Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay violated legislation enacted last year and calling for an investigation. The resolution states that President Obama violated the Fiscal Year 2014 National Defense Authorization Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 when he transferred these dangerous detainees to Qatar. It also calls upon Congress to investigate why the Obama Administration ignored congressional legislation restricting the President's authority to transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay and to examine both the impact of the transfer of these individuals on our national security and how to mitigate it. Senate Democrats objected to the resolution when Portman brought it to the floor on June 17th. Portman has filed the resolution as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015.

Recently, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a decision that the Department of Defense (DOD) "violated section 8111 of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2014 when it transferred five individuals detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the nation of Qatar without providing at least 30 days notice to certain congressional committees."

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