Obama Administration Issues Executive order to close GITMO

[Nbadan]

Back in 2009...

Ever since the second day Obama was in office he has been trying to get GITMO closed when he signed an executive order to close it. Then tried to purchase a prison in Illinois that could be converted into a 'max fed prison' to hold the detainees, etc.

And every step of the way CONGRESS has stopped him by passing bills that defunded the prison and the moving of the detainees - Congress even passed something that said the detainees can not be moved onto US soil.

Obama has been plugging along the whole time and just hasn't gotten a break yet...

Holder: Obama Administration Still Working To Close Gitmo Before 2012

Perhaps file this one under wishful thinking: Attorney General Eric Holder told the European Parliament on Tuesday that the Obama administration is hoping to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay before the 2012 election.

The Obama administration, Holder said, wants to close the facility "as quickly as possible, recognizing that we will face substantial pressure."

"We will be pressing for the closure of the facility between now and then - and after that election, we will try to close it as well," Holder said. "Some people have made this a political issue without looking at, I think, the real benefits that would flow from the closure of the facility."

Human Rights First President and CEO Elisa Massimino praised Holder's remarks, saying in a statement that it was "good to hear the Obama Administration reiterate its commitment to closing the Guantanamo detention facility and put that commitment on a timeline."

SNIP

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/holde...

In December 2009, the administration announced that it would ask Congress to appropriate money to purchase the Thomson Correctional Center in northwest Illinois to house Gitmo detainees. The plan took a blow, however, in May 2010, when the House Armed Services Committee inserted language into the 2011 defense bill which specifically prohibits the use of funds to purchase or modify any U.S. facility for Gitmo prisoners. The measure was adopted by the full House on May 28, 2010 in a 282-131 vote. The Senate Armed Services Committee adopted a similar proposal on May 28, 2010. The two proposals have yet to become law, however. In June, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich announced that the administration plans to go ahead with the purchase of the facility for regular domestic federal prisoners.

Even more telling, however, are statements that the House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md, made in July 2010. Talking about closing Guantanamo, Hoyer said that "that's not an issue being discussed very broadly. I think that you're not going to see it discussed very broadly in the near term."

[Winehole23]

promises, promises