House approves transferring Guantánamo detainees to US

October 16, 2009|Andrew Taylor, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Handing President Obama a partial victory in his effort to close the Guantánamo Bay prison, House Democrats repelled a Republican effort yesterday to block transfer of any of the detainees to the United States.

Instead, by a 224-193 vote, the House stood by a Democratic plan to allow suspected enemy combatants held at the facility in Cuba to be shipped to US soil, but only to be prosecuted for their alleged crimes.

The Guantánamo restrictions were attached by House-Senate negotiators on a $42.8 billion homeland security appropriations bill. The measure subsequently passed by a 307-114 vote. Obama has ordered the facility closed in January but has yet to offer a plan to do so.

Democratic leaders had to push hard to win the vote, because many Democrats two weeks ago had cast a nonbinding but politically safe vote against any Guantánamo detainee transfers. But several Democrats from swing districts said they saw little political risk in yesterday’s vote.

“It’s a nonissue. Inside the [Washington] Beltway stuff,’’ said Representative Dan Maffei, a New York Democrat. “People care about jobs, the economy, health care.’’

“I haven’t had one person ask me about Guantánamo,’’ said Representative Baron Hill, an Indiana Democrat. He said he does “not in the least’’ fear it as an issue in next year’s elections.

Permitting Guantánamo prisoners to be transferred to US soil to stand trial had been a bipartisan compromise earlier. It mostly tracks restrictions put in place in June and is similar to a version backed by Republicans earlier in the year. In fact, Republicans such as Representative Jerry Lewis of California helped fashion the compromise.

But in the absence of a plan from the administration for closing the facility, Lewis has toughened his talk, calling the administration’s plan misguided and potentially dangerous.