Congressional Republicans are turning to a congressman from North Florida to play a major role in their effort to stop President Barack Obama from shutting down the terrorist holding facility at the Guantanamo Bay military base.
From his perch on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, U.S. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., is being called on by the House GOP to play a major role in getting U.S. Rep. Ed Royce’s, R-Calif., bill tying the Obama administration’s hands in transferring detainees from Guantanamo Bay.
Yoho warned that Obama could propose transferring more than captured terrorists and insisted the administration could want to send the entire base to the Castro regime.
“I am pleased that Chairman Royce is shining a light on this important issue and vital piece of our national security infrastructure,” Yoho said in the later half of last week when he announced his support for Royce’s bill as an original co-sponsor. “As I stated in my recent testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, it is illegal for the president to transfer detainees from our base in Guantanamo Bay to the United States. However, the actual base itself can be transferred back to the Castro government without the consent of U.S. government.
“The American people need to know that recently the Castro government demanded that in order for normalization to continue between Cuba and the United States, the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base must be transferred back to Cuba,” Yoho added. “This is unacceptable and I intend to fight alongside Chairman Royce and members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, to stop such a transfer from happening,”
Royce, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, welcomed Yoho’s support.
“Congressman Yoho has been a leader, working on the Foreign Affairs Committee to ensure that the president doesn’t unilaterally cede a critical national security and foreign policy asset for the U.S. to a repressive and brutal Cuban regime,” Royce said. “I look forward to continued work with Congressman Yoho as we ensure that Americans and their representatives in Congress have a say in the future of this key naval station.”
Yoho is not the only member of the Florida delegation playing a major role in advancing Royce’s measure. So is U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., who used to chair the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Pointing to the expenses of running the facility, last month, Obama plans to go to Congress and get them to approve sending detainees to facilities in the United States including in Colorado, Kansas and South Carolina.
Obama had promised to close the facility when he was elected in 2008 and he continued to push back against the enhanced interrogation methods approved under President George W. Bush’s presidency and employed there.
"The plan we're putting forward today isn't just about closing the facility at Guantanamo,” Obama said last month when he unveiled his proposal. “It's not just about dealing with the current group of detainees, which is a complex piece of business because of the manner in which they were originally apprehended and what happened. This is about closing a chapter in our history.
"Keeping this facility open is contrary to our values," Obama added. "It undermines our standing in the world. It is viewed as a stain on our broader record of upholding the highest standards of rule of law."
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
