•HRES 644 IH 
tained at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, 
Cuba; 
Whereas, on May 31, 2014, the Department of Defense exe-
cuted 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 Dep-
uty Minister of Intelligence, Mullah Norullah Noori was 
the Taliban military commander at Mazar-e-Sharif, 
Mullah Mohammad Fazl was the Taliban Deputy Min-
ister 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 oper-
ations for the September 11, 2001, attacks; 
Whereas the President has stated that there is ‘‘absolutely’’ 
a possibility of the released detainees returning to activi-
ties that are detrimental to the United States, and, ac-
cording to media reports, United states intelligence offi-
cials told members of the Senate that four of the five de-
tainees 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 re-
turn and reintegrate with the Taliban, their focus would 
almost certainly be on Taliban efforts inside Afghani-
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•HRES 644 IH 
stan,’’ 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 de-
tention facility at United States Naval Station, Guanta-
namo 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 miti-
gated sufficiently except through continued detention’’; 
Whereas the Obama administration negotiated, through inter-
mediaries 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 organiza-
tion, and who had held Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl captive; 
Whereas congressional notification was not received until 
June 2, 2014, three days after such individuals were re-
leased, and 33 days after the date on which such notifica-
tion 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 ap-
proximately 80 or 90 employees within the administration 
were knowledgeable of the transfer of the five Taliban de-
tainees prior to their release; 
Whereas the Obama administration has offered differing, un-
convincing, 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 ‘‘over-
sight’’; 
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•HRES 644 IH 
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 Con-
gress possesses under article I of the Constitution ‘‘sig-
nificant war powers’’, including legislative authority con-
cerning the detention and release of enemy combatants; 
Whereas the Obama administration has complied with section 
1035 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fis-
cal Year 2014 (Public Law 113–66; 10 U.S.C. 801 note) 
and section 8111 of the Department of Defense Appro-
priations 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 secu-
rity committees of the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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; 
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(2) expresses grave concern over national secu-
rity 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 repercus-
sions of negotiating with terrorists, and the risk that 
such negotiations with terrorists may further en-
courage 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 un-
dertaken pursuant to statutory requirements; and 
(6) expresses that the Obama administration’s 
release of the five detainees has burdened unneces-
sarily the trust and confidence in the administra-
tion’s commitment and ability to constructively en-
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gage and work with the legislative branch, and 
therefore works against what is in the best interest 
of the people of the United States. 
Æ 
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