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Senate Blocks Funds for Gitmo Closure

By the Associated Press

Posted May 20, 2009 11:55 AM CDT

(AP) – In a major rebuke to President Obama, the Senate voted overwhelmingly today to block the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States and denied the administration the millions it sought to close the prison. The 90-6 Senate vote, paired with a similar House action last week, was a clear sign to Obama that he faces a tough fight getting the Democratic-controlled Congress to agree with his plans to shut down the detention center and move the 240 detainees.

Last month, Obama asked for $80 million for the Pentagon and the Justice Department to close the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by January, but the administration has yet to outline its plan for doing so. Obama is scheduled to give a major address tomorrow outlining in more detail his plans for Guantanamo, but it's already clear that Congress has little appetite for bringing detainees to US soil, even if the inmates would be held in maximum-security prisons.

Guantanamo detainees pray before dawn near a fence of razor-wire inside the exercise yard at Camp 4 detention facility, at Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base, Cuba.
Guantanamo detainees pray before dawn near a fence of razor-wire inside the exercise yard at Camp 4 detention facility, at Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base, Cuba.   (Brennan Linsley)
A trooper guards a door at Camp 6 detention facility, inside Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base, Cuba.
A trooper guards a door at Camp 6 detention facility, inside Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base, Cuba.   (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
The sun rises over the Guantanamo detention facility at dawn, at the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base, Cuba.
The sun rises over the Guantanamo detention facility at dawn, at the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base, Cuba.   (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
Robert_Dada
May 21, 2009 12:01 PM CDT
So you don't mind if some of the innocent within the mix are killed for no reason? How christian of you.
Reader65069154
May 20, 2009 5:55 AM CDT
Shame on them for standing up to Obama. They may start a trend.
Timinator2K
May 20, 2009 5:43 AM CDT
I still say, repatriate them all by air...sans parachutes. Problem solved, money saved.

Copyright 2012 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

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