III 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 391 

Expressing the sense of the Senate to oppose the transfer of foreign enemy 

combatants from the detention facilities at United States Naval Station, 

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States homeland. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2016 

Mr. ROBERTS (for himself, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. BLUNT, and Mr. 

MORAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate to oppose the transfer 

of foreign enemy combatants from the detention facilities 

at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 

to the United States homeland. 

Whereas, on January 22, 2009, President Barack Obama 

issued Executive Order 13492, requiring that the detention facilities housing foreign enemy combatants at 

United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 

‘‘shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than 

1 year from the date of this order’’; 

Whereas Executive Order 13492 states that ‘‘[t]his order 

shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and 

subject to the availability of appropriations’’; 


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•SRES 391 IS 

Whereas the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (Public Law 112–10), 

the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations 

Act, 2012 (Public Law 112–55), the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 112–74), the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 

(Public Law 113–6), the Consolidated Appropriations 

Act, 2014 (Public Law 113–76), the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015 (Public Law 113–164), the 

Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations 

Act, 2015 (Public Law 113–235), the Department of 

Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public 

Law 114–4), and the Continuing Appropriations Act, 

2016 (Public Law 114–53) explicitly prohibit the transfer, release, or assisting in the transfer or release, of detainees at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo 

Bay, to the United States homeland; 

Whereas the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

Year 2013 (Public Law 112–239), the National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (Public Law 

113–66), the Carl Levin and Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon 

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 

(Public Law 113–291), and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (Public Law 114– 

92) explicitly prohibit the transfer, release, or assisting in 

the transfer or release, of detainees at United States 

Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, to the United States 

homeland; 

Whereas the detention facilities at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, are legal, safe, and humane, and 

have been found consistent with international conventions 

regarding the laws of war; 


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•SRES 391 IS 

Whereas, on February 23, 2009, a Department of Defense 

review found that the detention facilities at United States 

Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, complied with the requirements of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 regarding the treatment of prisoners of 

war; 

Whereas in 2015, teams from the Department of Defense visited Federal, military, and State-owned prisons in Kansas, Colorado, and South Carolina for the express purpose of relocating detainees at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, to the United States homeland; 

Whereas Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, serves as the intellectual 

center of the United States Army as home to the Army 

University, the Command and General Staff College, and 

the Combined Arms Center; 

Whereas Fort Leavenworth operates the United States Disciplinary Barracks and Midwest Joint Regional Corrections Facility, which holds convicted members of the 

Armed Forces; 

Whereas section 812 of title 10, United States Code (article 

12 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), states that 

‘‘[n]o member of the armed forces may be placed in confinement in immediate association with enemy prisoners 

or other foreign nationals not members of the armed 

forces’’; 

Whereas the facilities at Fort Leavenworth do not provide a 

legal alternative for detainment of enemy combatants 

currently held at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay; 

Whereas the sites visited by the Department of Defense 

teams in Colorado are in close proximity to the densely 


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•SRES 391 IS 

populated civilian areas of Pueblo and Colorado Springs, 

Colorado; 

Whereas Colorado Springs is home to the United States Air 

Force Academy, Peterson Air Force Base, Schriever Air 

Force Base, and Fort Carson Army Post; 

Whereas Peterson Air Force Base hosts the United States 

Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and the North 

American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which 

are strategic military installations, vital to our national 

defense and military readiness; 

Whereas Pueblo is home to the United States Army Pueblo 

Chemical Weapons Depot; 

Whereas the Consolidated Naval Brig, Hanahan, South Carolina, has been visited by Department of Defense teams 

for consideration as a potential site to relocate dangerous 

international terrorists currently held in the detention facilities at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay; 

Whereas the Consolidated Naval Brig is located less than a 

mile from an elementary school, and is near other schools 

and residential neighborhoods; 

Whereas the Consolidated Naval Brig is also in close proximity to one of the busiest ports in the United States, the 

Port of Charleston, as well as the City of Charleston, one 

of the most popular tourist destinations in the country; 

Whereas the Consolidated Naval Brig is also located near the 

Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) 

Systems Center Atlantic and the Navy Nuclear Power 

Training Command, which are strategic military installations, vital to our national defense and military readiness; 

Whereas Department of Defense efforts to scout locations for 

the express purpose of transferring detainees at United 


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States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, to the States of 

Kansas, Colorado, or South Carolina are in violation of 

current law, which explicitly prohibit the transfer, release, 

or assisting in the transfer or release, of such detainees 

to the United States homeland; 

Whereas, on November 17, 2015, Attorney General Loretta 

Lynch stated to Congress that ‘‘[w]ith respect to individuals being transferred to the United States, the law currently does not allow that’’; 

Whereas, on January 26, 2016, Secretary of Defense Ashton 

Carter stated in an interview that ‘‘it’s against the law 

now to establish another detention facility [in the U.S.], 

so therefore we have to get the support of Congress’’; 

Whereas, on February 23, 2016, the Department of Defense 

issued a report pursuant to section 1035 of the National 

Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016, entitled 

‘‘Plan for Closing of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility’’; 

Whereas the report states that ‘‘the Administration will work 

with Congress to relocate [detainees] from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to a secure detention facility 

in the United States’’; and 

Whereas the report does not address or attempt to mitigate 

the risks posed to local communities by the potential 

transfer of foreign enemy combatants from United States 

Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, to United States soil, 

including to communities in Kansas, Colorado, and South 

Carolina: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) rejects the ‘‘Plan to Close Guantanamo Bay 

3 Detention Facility’’, presented by the President on 


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1 February 23, 2016, to transfer, release, or assist in 

2 the transfer or release of detainees at United States 

3 Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the 

4 United States homeland; 

5 (2) determines that any attempt by the Presi6 dent to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or 

7 release of detainees at United States Naval Station, 

8 Guantanamo Bay, to the United States homeland is 

9 in direct violation of the Department of Defense and 

10 Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 

11 (Public Law 112–10), the Consolidated and Further 

12 Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 

13 112–55), the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 

14 (Public Law 112–74), the Consolidated and Further 

15 Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 (Public Law 

16 113–6), the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 

17 (Public Law 113–76), the Continuing Appropria18 tions Resolution, 2015 (Public Law 113–164), the 

19 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropria20 tions Act, 2015 (Public Law 113–235), the Depart21 ment of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 

22 2015 (Public Law 114–4), and the Continuing Ap23 propriations Act, 2016 (Public Law 114–53); 

24 (3) finds that the detention facility at United 

25 States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, is the optiVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Mar 08, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR391.IS SR391

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1 mal location to house dangerous foreign enemy com2 batants and should not be closed; 

3 (4) asserts that any potential transfer or re4 lease of detainees at United States Naval Station, 

5 Guantanamo Bay, to the United States homeland 

6 represents a threat to United States national secu7 rity due to the risk of providing law of war detainees 

8 with rights and protections under the United States 

9 Constitution, including the potential for release into 

10 the United States, and, particularly, a threat to the 

11 safety and security of local communities in the 

12 States of Kansas, Colorado, and South Carolina; 

13 and 

14 (5) demands that the President immediately 

15 abandon any ill-conceived and illegal plans to trans16 fer detainees at United States Naval Station, Guan17 tanamo Bay, to the United States homeland without 

18 explicit authorization from Congress. 

Æ 


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