Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) introduced legislation early in the year that would have prohibited the transfer of Guantanamo Bay terror suspects to be transferred to the United States. (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)
(CNSNews.com) – In anticipation of the Obama administration’s move to close down Guantanamo Bay, House Republicans introduced legislation that would have prevented Gitmo detainees from being brought to the United States. But the Democrats, who have a majority in Congress, did not allow the legislation to move out of committee.
 
On Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced plans to bring the confessed 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, and four other terror suspects to New York to be tried in U.S. federal court.
 
“My bill was an attempt to try to take a shot across the bow of the administration,” Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) told CNSNews.com about the introduction of HR 1238 back in February. The bill would have prohibited “the presence in the United States of any alien formerly detained at the Department of Defense detention facility at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,” the legislation states.
 
“I believe it is a grave error to bring them to the United States,” Shadegg said. “They are, in fact, not criminals under domestic law in the United States.”
 
“They are, in fact, terrorists,” Shadegg said. “I do not believe that they are entitled to the protection that criminals in the United States, or accused criminals in the United States, are afforded under our Constitution.”
 
Shadegg’s bill, which was co-sponsored by 29 other Republicans, was referred to the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law in March.
 


Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind, shown shortly after his capture in Pakistan in this March 1, 2003 photo. He and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees will be sent to New York to face trial in a civilian federal court. (AP File Photo)
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) also condemned the Obama administration’s decision to bring terror suspects to the United States, calling it “irresponsible,” and saying it “puts the interests of liberal special interest groups before the safety and security of the American people.”
 
Back in May, Boehner introduced H.R. 2294, the Keep Terrorists Out of America Act.
 
“This bill has a straightforward but vital purpose: to ensure that the terrorists held in the Guantanamo Bay prison are not imported into the United States,” Boehner said when he introduced the legislation. “The world did not suddenly become safe in January 2009.
 
“There are still terrorists around the world who are committed to killing Americans and destroying our way of life, and some of those terrorists are being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison right now,” Boehner said. “I have urged the Administration to finally present to the American people its plan for what to do with the terrorists held at Guantanamo and for confronting and defeating the global terrorist threat.”
 
“This Administration has refused to present such a plan, and today’s decision further reinforces the fact that it continues to put the interests of liberal special interest groups before the safety and security of the American people,” Boehner said.
 
Boehner’s bill, which had 169 Republican co-sponsors, including Shadegg, was referred to the House Committee on Armed Services the same month it was introduced.
 
Democratic leaders did not allow either bill to come to the House floor for debate.