As Congress Struggles on How to Deal with Guantanamo Bay, Norton Will Travel to Detention Facility with Congressional Delegation, Tomorrow

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a senior member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee (OGR), will make her third trip to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to inspect the facilities used to hold terrorist suspects this weekend, beginning tomorrow, Friday, July 10, 2015. Norton said she will use the trip to follow progress made on the treatment of detainees, on getting information from them on terrorism, and on closing Guantanamo, since the last time she visited Guantanamo Bay, in 2005. She said the congressional delegation expects to be able to question staff, as well as to observe prisoners being held at the detention center. Norton will travel with five other OGR Members.

The House and Senate are expected to go to conference soon on the fiscal year 2016 defense authorization bill, and the closing of Guantanamo Bay is one the main points of contention. The House-passed defense bill would block President Obama from closing the facility, while the Senate-passed version would allow President Obama to present Congress with a plan to close the facility pending Congress' approval.

"Guantanamo has long been a focal point for propaganda used to recruit terrorists worldwide," Norton said. "Its record of success in trials is almost nonexistent, while the record for success for trials of terrorists tried here in the United States has been perfect. It has become impossible to justify holding so many individuals without trial and the Administration has had some success in reducing the Guantanamo population. With the House and Senate debating whether the facility should be closed, I want to see first-hand how Department of Defense and judicial policies are being implemented at the facility. This trip should offer a unique perspective on the facility now compared to where it was in 2005."