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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 644 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 644

 Condemning and disapproving of the Obama administration's failure to 
comply with the lawful statutory requirement to notify Congress before 
    releasing individuals detained at United States Naval Station, 
 Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and expressing national security concerns over 
     the release of five Taliban leaders and the repercussions of 
                      negotiating with terrorists.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 25, 2014

  Mr. Rigell (for himself, Mr. Ribble, Mr. Barrow of Georgia, and Mr. 
 Rahall) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 Condemning and disapproving of the Obama administration's failure to 
comply with the lawful statutory requirement to notify Congress before 
    releasing individuals detained at United States Naval Station, 
 Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and expressing national security concerns over 
     the release of five Taliban leaders and the repercussions of 
                      negotiating with terrorists.

Whereas section 1035 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
        2014 (Public Law 113-66; 10 U.S.C. 801 note) clearly requires the 
        Secretary of Defense to notify the appropriate committees of Congress at 
        least 30 days before the transfer or release of an individual detained 
        at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba;
Whereas, on May 31, 2014, the Department of Defense executed the release of five 
        senior Taliban detainees held at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo 
        Bay, Cuba;
Whereas the five released Taliban detainees are all senior Taliban leaders: 
        Abdul Haq Wasiq was the Taliban Deputy Minister of Intelligence, Mullah 
        Norullah Noori was the Taliban military commander at Mazar-e-Sharif, 
        Mullah Mohammad Fazl was the Taliban Deputy Minister of Defense, 
        Khairullah Said Wai Khairkwa was the Taliban Minister of Interior, and 
        Mohammad Nabi Omari was the Taliban commander of secret police;
Whereas these five senior Taliban leaders have associations with al-Qaeda or 
        have engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition 
        partners;
Whereas these five senior Taliban detainees held leadership positions within the 
        Taliban when it provided safehaven for al-Qaeda to conduct planning, 
        training, and operations for the September 11, 2001, attacks;
Whereas the President has stated that there is ``absolutely'' a possibility of 
        the released detainees returning to activities that are detrimental to 
        the United States, and, according to media reports, United states 
        intelligence officials told members of the Senate that four of the five 
        detainees are expected to return to the battlefield;
Whereas Secretary Hagel stated before the Committee on Armed Services of the 
        House of Representatives on June 11, 2014, that the threat, ``should 
        these five detainees return and reintegrate with the Taliban, their 
        focus would almost certainly be on Taliban efforts inside Afghanistan,'' 
        where the United States and coalition partners will retain military and 
        civilian personnel;
Whereas in 2010, after an extensive evaluation meant to identify detainees who 
        could be transferred out of the detention facility at United States 
        Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Obama administration determined 
        that these five should remain in United States detention because they 
        were ``too dangerous to transfer'' because each ``poses a high level of 
        threat that cannot be mitigated sufficiently except through continued 
        detention'';
Whereas the Obama administration negotiated, through intermediaries in the 
        Government of Qatar, with the Taliban, with whom the United States 
        remains engaged in active combat, and with the Haqqani Network, which 
        the State Department has designated as foreign terrorist organization, 
        and who had held Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl captive;
Whereas congressional notification was not received until June 2, 2014, three 
        days after such individuals were released, and 33 days after the date on 
        which such notification was required by law;
Whereas the Obama administration admits that it made no effort to comply with 
        the 30-day notification requirement;
Whereas Obama administration officials acknowledge that approximately 80 or 90 
        employees within the administration were knowledgeable of the transfer 
        of the five Taliban detainees prior to their release;
Whereas the Obama administration has offered differing, unconvincing, and 
        conflicting explanations of why it failed to comply with the 30-day 
        notification requirement and has described the failure to notify 
        Congress as an ``oversight'';
Whereas article II, section 3 of the Constitution states that the President 
        ``shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed'';
Whereas, on January 15, 2009, the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of 
        Justice acknowledged that Congress possesses under article I of the 
        Constitution ``significant war powers'', including legislative authority 
        concerning the detention and release of enemy combatants;
Whereas the Obama administration has complied with section 1035 of the National 
        Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (Public Law 113-66; 10 
        U.S.C. 801 note) and section 8111 of the Department of Defense 
        Appropriations Act, 2014 (Public Law 113-76) in all previous detainee 
        transfers from United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 
        the date of the enactment of each such Act; and
Whereas the leadership and the leaders of the national security committees of 
        the Senate and House of Representatives are on record, specifically in 
        2011, as opposing the transfer of detainees in exchange for a prisoner 
        of war: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns and disapproves of the failure of the Obama 
        administration to comply with the lawful 30-day statutory 
        reporting requirement in executing the release of five senior 
        members of the Taliban from detention at United States Naval 
        Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba;
            (2) expresses grave concern over national security 
        implications that may arise due to the release of Taliban 
        officials, including the national security threat to the people 
        and Armed Forces of the United States and complications of the 
        current efforts of the United States to combat terrorism 
        worldwide;
            (3) expresses grave concern over the repercussions of 
        negotiating with terrorists, and the risk that such 
        negotiations with terrorists may further encourage hostilities 
        and the abduction of Americans as a means of further prisoner 
        exchanges;
            (4) stipulates that further violations of the law set forth 
        in section 1035 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
        Fiscal Year 2014 (Public Law 113-66; 10 U.S.C. 801 note) and 
        section 8111 of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 
        2014 (Public Law 113-76) are unacceptable;
            (5) declares grave misgivings about the prospect of any 
        other similar transfers from United States Naval Station, 
        Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, even if undertaken pursuant to statutory 
        requirements; and
            (6) expresses that the Obama administration's release of 
        the five detainees has burdened unnecessarily the trust and 
        confidence in the administration's commitment and ability to 
        constructively engage and work with the legislative branch, and 
        therefore works against what is in the best interest of the 
        people of the United States.
                                 <all>
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