SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Terrorist Release 
Transparency Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The detention facilities at United States 
Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were estab-
lished in 2002 for the purpose of detaining those 
who plan, authorize, commit, or aid in the planning, 
authorizing, or committing of acts of terrorism 
against the United States. 
(2) The facilities have detained individuals who 
have killed, maimed, or otherwise harmed innocent 
civilians and members of the United States Armed 
Forces, as well as combatants who have received 
specialized training in the conduct and facilitation of 
acts of terrorism against the United States, its citi-
zens, and its allies. This includes 9/11 mastermind 
Khalid Sheik Mohammed and scores of other known 
terrorists. 
(3) The location of the detention facilities at 
Guantanamo Bay protects the United States, its 
citizens, and its allies. No prisoner has ever escaped 
from Guantanamo Bay. 
(4) On January 20, 2009, President Barack 
Obama issued Executive Order 13492 ordering the 
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closure of the detention facilities at Guantanamo 
Bay, consistent with the national security and for-
eign policy interests of the United States and the in-
terests of justice. 
(5) Executive Order 13492 directs the Depart-
ment of State to participate in the review of each de-
tainee to determine whether it is possible to transfer 
or release the individual consistent with the national 
security and foreign policy interests of the United 
States. 
(6) The Secretary of State is ordered to expedi-
tiously pursue and direct negotiations and diplo-
matic efforts with foreign governments as are nec-
essary and appropriate to implement Executive 
Order 13492. 
(7) Since 2009, the Department of State has 
played a substantial role in the review and transfer 
of enemy combatants from the jurisdiction of the 
United States to the custody or control of foreign 
governments through the appointment of a Special 
Envoy for Guantanamo Closure. 
(8) President Obama has released numerous de-
tainees from Guantanamo Bay since taking office, 
some of whom are known or suspected to have re-
engaged in terrorist activity. 
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(9) The transfer of individuals from Guanta-
namo Bay to foreign countries sharply increased 
from 2014 to 2016, bringing the number of remain-
ing detainees to less than 100. 
(10) The administration often transfers detain-
ees to countries in close proximity to their countries 
of origin. In some cases, prisoners have been relo-
cated within blocks of United States diplomatic fa-
cilities located in countries with governments that 
have publicly stated no intention to monitor or re-
strict travel of potentially dangerous former detain-
ees or that otherwise lack the capacity to mitigate 
threat potential. 
(11) The administration is required to notify 
Congress of its intent to transfer individuals de-
tained at Guantanamo pursuant to section 1034 of 
the National Defense Authorization Act for 2016 
(Public Law 114–92) and certify that among other 
things, the foreign country to which the individual is 
proposed to be transferred has taken or agreed to 
take appropriate steps to substantially mitigate any 
risk the individual could attempt to reengage in ter-
rorist activity or otherwise threaten the United 
States or its allies or interests. 
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(12) While not required by law, the administra-
tion has classified these notifications so that only a 
small number of individuals are able to know their 
contents. 
(13) The information contained in such a notice 
does not warrant classification, given that third- 
party nations and the detainees themselves possesses 
such information. 
(14) The decision to classify the notice and cer-
tification results in a process that is not trans-
parent, thereby preventing the American public from 
knowing pertinent information about the release of 
these individuals. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the people of the United States deserve to 
know who is being released from the detention facili-
ties at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo 
Bay, Cuba, their countries of origin, their destina-
tions, and the ability of the host nation to prevent 
recidivism; and 
(2) the people of the United States deserve 
transparency in the manner in which the Obama Ad-
ministration complies with Executive Order 13492. 
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SEC. 4. UNCLASSIFIED NOTICE REQUIRED PRIOR TO 
TRANSFER 
OF 
DETAINEES 
AT 
UNITED 
STATES NAVAL STATION, GUANTANAMO BAY, 
CUBA, TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES AND OTHER 
FOREIGN ENTITIES. 
(a) NOTICE REQUIRED.—Not less than 15 days prior 
to the transfer of any individual detained at Guantanamo 
to the custody or control of the individual’s country of ori-
gin, any other foreign country, or any other foreign entity, 
the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate 
committees of Congress an unclassified notice that in-
cludes— 
(1) the name, country of origin, and country of 
destination of the individual; 
(2) the number of individuals detained at Guan-
tanamo previously transferred to the country to 
which the individual is proposed to be transferred; 
and 
(3) the number of such individuals who have re-
engaged in terrorist activity after being transferred 
to that country. 
(b) BRIEFING.—The Secretary of State shall brief 
the appropriate committees of Congress within 5 days of 
transmitting the notice required by subsection (a). Such 
briefing shall include an explanation of why the destina-
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tion country was chosen for the transferee and an overview 
of countries being considered for future transfers. 
(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 
shall be construed to be inconsistent with the requirements 
of section 1034 of the National Defense Authorization Act 
for Fiscal Year 2016 (Public Law 114–92). 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-
gress’’ means the Committee on Armed Services, the 
Committee on Appropriations, and the Committee on 
Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee 
on Armed Services, the Committee on Appropria-
tions, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives. 
(2) The term ‘‘individual detained at Guanta-
namo’’ has the meaning given such term in section 
1034(f)(2) of the National Defense Authorization 
Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (Public Law 114–92). 
Æ 
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