Dems Deny Obama Funds to Close Gitmo

House Democrats say president needs to come up with a plan first
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 5, 2009 2:19 AM CDT
Dems Deny Obama Funds to Close Gitmo
A guard talks to a Guantanamo detainee in the open yard in Camp 4 detention center on the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.   (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, FILE)

President Obama's request for $80 million to close Guantanamo Bay was cut from the House version of a war spending bill unveiled yesterday, CNN reports. Democratic lawmakers, whose bill totaled $94.2 billion, said if the president wants money to close Guantanamo Bay then he'll first have to come up with a plan for doing so.

The administration would be welcome to ask for the funds when it has a more concrete plan for closing the center and moving its prisoners, said Democratic House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin. A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi denied there was any rift with the administration and said the House would continue to work with Obama toward closing the detention facility.
(More Guantanamo Bay stories.)

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