To prohibit the release or transfer of an individual detained at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, into or to the custody of any country or region that is recognized by the Department of State or the Department of Defense as a haven for terrorist activity or that has been classified as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Summary: Prevent Terrorists from Reuniting with Terrorist Cells Act - Prohibits the transfer or repatriation for release or detention of any individual detained at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to a nation or region that is recognized by the Department of State or the Department of Defense (DOD) as a haven for terrorist activity or that has been classified as a state sponsor of terrorism.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Prevent Terrorists from Reuniting 
with Terrorist Cells Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Congress passed the Authorization to use Military Force 
        in the wake of the devastating attacks on United States soil on 
        September 11, 2001.
            (2) Many persons captured during Operation Enduring Freedom 
        and otherwise were transferred to Naval Station, Guantanamo 
        Bay, Cuba (hereinafter in this section referred to as 
        ``Guantanamo Bay'').
            (3) The detention facility at Guantanamo Bay is the only 
        complex in the world that can safely hold individuals that pose 
        a high-security risk to the United States.
            (4) Such facility is a secure location away from population 
        centers, provides maximum security required to prevent escape, 
        provides multiple levels of confinement opportunities based on 
        compliance of the detainee, and provides medical care not 
        available to a majority of the population of the world.
            (5) As of the date of the enactment of this Act, there are 
        198 individuals detained at Guantanamo Bay.
            (6) These detainees include terrorist trainers, terrorist 
        financiers, bomb makers, Osama bin Laden's bodyguards, 
        terrorist recruiters and facilitators, and would-be suicide 
        bombers.
            (7) Detainees remaining at Guantanamo Bay fall into the 
        following three categories:
                    (A) Detainees who have been cleared for release, 
                but for whom the United States has not been able to 
                find a foreign country willing to accept them.
                    (B) Detainees who have been tried, had charges 
                referred to trial, or are awaiting for referral to 
                trial, including for alleged violations of the law of 
                war.
                    (C) Detainees who either pose a high threat to the 
                United States or who have been placed in preventive 
                detention to stop them from returning to the 
                battlefield.
            (8) Although 779 individuals have been transferred to 
        Guantanamo Bay since early 2002, the substantial majority of 
        Guantanamo Bay detainees have ultimately been transferred to a 
        third country for continued detention or release.
            (9) Since 2002, of the 779 total detainees, more than 550 
        have departed Guantanamo Bay for other countries, including 
        Albania, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belgium, 
        Denmark, Egypt, France, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, 
        Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, 
        Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, 
        the United Kingdom, United States, and Yemen.
            (10) In the Department of State publication entitled 
        ``Country Reports on Terrorism 2008'', printed on April 30, 
        2009, there are listed 22 nations and regions that are 
        considered to be terrorist safe havens and 4 nations considered 
        to be state sponsors of terrorism.
            (11) As of the date of the enactment of this Act, 
        individuals who were detained at Guantanamo Bay have been 
        transferred for detention or release to 4 of the 22 regions or 
        nations considered terrorist safe havens and 2 of the 4 nations 
        listed as State Sponsors of terrorism.
            (12) Iraq is recognized as a nation with terrorist activity 
        by the Department of State, and at least 7 individuals who were 
        detained at Guantanamo Bay have been transferred to or released 
        into Iraq.
            (13) Afghanistan is recognized as a terrorist safe haven by 
        the Department of State, and at least 199 individuals who were 
        detained at Guantanamo Bay have been transferred to or released 
        into Afghanistan.
            (14) Pakistan is recognized as a terrorist safe haven by 
        the Department of State, and at least 63 individuals who were 
        detained at Guantanamo Bay have been transferred to or released 
        into Pakistan.
            (15) Iran is recognized as ``the most active state sponsor 
        of terrorism'' by the Department of State, and at least 2 
        individuals who were detained at Guantanamo Bay have been 
        transferred to or released into Iran.
            (16) Sudan is recognized as a state sponsor of terrorism by 
        the Department of State, and at least 9 individuals who were 
        detained at Guantanamo Bay have been transferred to or released 
        into Sudan.
            (17) Yemen is recognized as a terrorist safe haven by the 
        Department of State, and at least 21 individuals who were 
        detained at Guantanamo Bay have been transferred to or released 
        into Yemen.
            (18) There are approximately 90 Yemeni nationals who are 
        detained at Guantanamo Bay as of the date of the enactment of 
        this Act, approximately 45 of which have been qualified for 
        repatriation.
            (19) Said Ali al-Shihri, who is suspected of involvement in 
        the bombing of the United States Embassy in Yemen on September 
        17, 2008, was released from detention at Guantanamo Bay to 
        Saudi Arabia in 2007, passed through a Saudi rehabilitation 
        program, and has resurfaced as the new deputy leader of al 
        Qaeda in Yemen.
            (20) On December 25, 2009, there was an attempted terrorist 
        attack on American soil when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab 
        detonated an explosive device that fortunately malfunctioned.
            (21) Al Qaeda in Yemen has declared that it trained 
        Abdulmutallab, who now has sworn charges against him, in 
        terrorist activity.
            (22) Although President Obama has temporarily halted the 
        transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Yemen, detainees are 
        still permitted to be transferred to other nations recognized 
        by the Department of State as being complicit in terrorist 
        activity, being that they are terrorist safe havens or state 
        sponsors of terrorism.
            (23) According to the Department of Defense special report 
        entitled ``Ex-Guantanamo Detainees Who Have Returned to the 
        Fight'' published on April 7, 2009, 14 percent of the former 
        Guantanamo Bay detainees have been confirmed or suspected of 
        reengaging in terrorist activities.
            (24) The special report also says ``of the more than 530 
        Guantanamo detainees transferred from Department of Defense 
        custody at Guantanamo Bay, 27 were confirmed and 47 were 
        suspected of reengaging in terrorist activity. Between December 
        2008 and March 2009, nine detainees were added to the confirmed 
        list, six of whom were previously on the suspected list.''.
            (25) It has been reported that the recidivism rate for 
        Guantanamo Bay detainees that have been transferred or released 
        from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has risen 
        from 14 percent to 20 percent since the special report was 
        published.
            (26) The threat to the national security interests of the 
        United States and the welfare of its people is at a greater 
        risk when Guantanamo Bay detainees are transferred or released 
        into nations recognized as terrorist safe havens or state 
        sponsors of terrorism.
            (27) The world is globally connected and mobile and allows 
        for the transport of individuals across national and 
        international boundaries with minimal or no supervision.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON TRANSFER AND RELEASE OF INDIVIDUALS DETAINED AT 
              NAVAL STATION, GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA.

    No individual who is detained at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, 
Cuba, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, may be transferred 
or repatriated, for the purposes of release or detention, into a nation 
or region that is recognized by the Department of State or the 
Department of Defense as a haven of any manner, kind, or fashion for 
terrorist activity or that has been classified as a state sponsor of 
terrorism.