{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://byrne.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/byrne-house-act-to-stop-release-of-terrorists", "Byrne, House Act to Stop Release of Terrorists", "2016-09-15", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "House", "AL", "Bradley Byrne", "B001289", "byrne.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, voted today in favor of legislation to block attempts to transfer prisoners and close the prison at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.\nThe legislation, H.R. 5351, passed by a vote of 244 to 174. The bill would block efforts by the Obama Administration to bring prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to the United States or to transfer prisoners to another country.\nByrne said: \u201cBy attempting to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and release hardened terrorists, I fear this President is once again putting politics above national security. I fear he is more concerned about keeping a campaign promise than he is about keeping the American people \u2013 especially our service members fighting in the Middle East \u2013 safe.\n\u201cToday\u2019s vote sends a clear message that there is bipartisan opposition to the President\u2019s efforts to close the prison. Instead of letting terrorists free, the Obama Administration should be focused on ways to combat radical Islamic terrorism and defeat groups like ISIS.\u201d\nReports indicate that some of the prisoners released from Guantanamo Bay have returned to terrorist activities. In fact, a recent report from Reuters indicates that two more former Guantanamo detainees have rejoined militant groups.\nThere are currently 61 prisoners remaining at the Guantanamo Bay prison.\nYou can find the complete transcript of Congressman Byrne\u2019s speech in support of H.R. 5351 below.\nByrne said: \u201cThe other bill covered under this rule is very important as it relates to our country\u2019s national security. \n\u201cH.R. 5351 would prohibit the transfer of any individual detained at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This bill would prevent any of the 61 prisoners remaining at Guantanamo Bay from being brought to the United States or transferred to a foreign country.\n\u201cPresident Obama\u2019s pledge to close Guantanamo Bay started as a campaign promise in 2007. After his election, he signed an executive order declaring that the prison would be closed in one year.\n\u201cThanks to bipartisan opposition by Congress and resistance by intelligence agencies, these efforts have so far proved unsuccessful. \n\u201cPresident Obama originally planned to bring the prisoners to a new facility here in the United States. Not surprisingly, no state wanted to be the one selected to house terrorists. Members of this body from both sides of the aisle were up in arms.\n\u201cSince that plan failed, President Obama has been releasing these terrorists to foreign countries, most of which are located in the Middle East.\n\u201cSo, here we are in the waning days of the Obama Administration, and I fear that the President may try a new trick to close the prison.\n\u201cIn fact, on August 15th, President Obama released 15 Guantanamo detainees at once. That is the most detainees released at one time during the Obama presidency.\n\u201cI think it is also important to remember that most of the remaining prisoners are very dangerous. \n\u201cYesterday, in testimony before the Rules Committee, the ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee, Mr. Smith, testified that 41 of the remaining detainees are \u2018considered to be so dangerous as to be untransferable.\u2019\n\u201cSo this legislation is necessary, and it is required in order to keep the American people and our allies around the world safe.\n\u201cOne of the main goals of Guantanamo Bay is to keep these terrorists from returning to the battlefield. Sadly, it has become clear that some of the detainees released have returned to the fight against the United States. \n\u201cNow, information on the status of released detainees is hard to come by. The White House has released very few details and hidden almost all of the information out of the eye of the American people by placing it under extreme classification requirements.\n\u201cBut, in testimony before Congress, an Obama Administration official admitted that at least 12 individuals released from Guantanamo Bay have gone on to launch attacks and kill Americans. \n\u201cDuring testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the official testified that \u2018what I can tell you is unfortunately, there have been Americans that have died because of Gitmo prisoners.\u2019\n\u201cReports have indicated that it was a former Guantanamo detainee who helped organize and plan the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. Let\u2019s not forget that four Americans lost their lives during that attack.\n\u201cI want to point out that this problem isn\u2019t new under the Obama Administration. In fact, reports show that 111 of the prisoners released by former President George W. Bush returned to terrorist activities. \n\u201cAnd let\u2019s be clear: any life lost at the hands of a former Guantanamo detainee is one life too many. These are deaths that are preventable if we just keep these terrorists locked up.\n\u201cYou know, Mr. Speaker, we ask our service members to put their lives on the line each and every day in order to keep the American people safe. How can we ask them to do that while knowing that we are releasing cruel, brutal terrorists back to the battlefield? It is reprehensible. \n\u201cThese releases and efforts to close the prison must stop. It is a shame that Congressional action is even needed, but that is the reality of the situation.\n\u201cAnd let\u2019s not forget, the individuals still left in Guantanamo are the worst of the worst. The Pentagon told Senator Kelly Ayotte that 93 percent of the detainees left at Guantanamo were \u201chigh risk\u201d for returning to terrorist activities. \n\u201cHere is a quick snapshot of the remaining terrorists:\n\u201cMany of them fought on the front lines against U.S. coalition forces in Afghanistan.\n\u201cSome of them served as bodyguards for Osama Bin Laden and worked as instructors at al-Qaeda training camps.\n\u201cOne person is well versed in explosives and served on an al-Qaeda improvised explosive device (IED) cell that targeted coalition forces in Afghanistan. When captured, he had 23 anti-tank landmines.\n\u201cThese are just a few examples of the people we are talking about here. We aren\u2019t talking about low level operatives. These are really bad guys.\n\u201cSo, I fear this President may once again put politics above national security. I fear he is more concerned about keeping a campaign promise than he is about keeping the American people \u2013 especially our service members fighting in the Middle East \u2013 safe. \n\u201cUltimately, if we don\u2019t keep them in Guantanamo, where exactly do you want these terrorists to go? Do you want them to be transferred into the United States? I would ask my colleague on the other side of the aisle: would you want them in your home state of Massachusetts?\n\u201cOr do you want us to send them back to the Middle East, where we can\u2019t control what actions they take and where many of them are returning to terrorist activity?\n\u201cTo me and a majority of Americans, the choice is clear: we need to keep these terrorists in Guantanamo Bay where they can do no more harm.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://byrne.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/byrne-house-act-to-stop-release-of-terrorists"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4721639454364777, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}