The House Armed Services Committee is including $76 million more for construction of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a sign that Congress does not intend to allow President Obama to close it.
The money in the fiscal 2016 budget would go toward new housing for the approximately 2,000 troops who are assigned to the facility. The housing was one of the unfunded requirements provided to the committee by U.S. Southern Command, committee staff said on background.
Marine Gen. John F. Kelly, the commander of the U.S. Southern Command, asked for the barracks in last year’s request despite the ongoing debate over closing the detention center, telling the Washington Post at the time that the request was made because “frankly I have to.”
The living conditions for the U.S. troops assigned there are spartan at best, prompting the commander to also seek funding last year for a new dining hall.
Obama is trying to empty the prison before the end of his second term, with his administration expediting transfers. He has released or transferred 44 suspected terrorists from the facility over the past 20 months.
The president says keeping Gitmo open emboldens terrorists and is far more detrimental to U.S. national security than moving detainees to other countries.
But Republicans say many of the prisoners released “return to the battlefield,” while Obama calls those fears overblown.
According to the White House, nearly 18 percent of former Guantanamo inmates have been confirmed of re-engaging in terrorism. Another 11 percent are suspected of returning to terrorist activity.
