WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s executive order to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo):

"Some of the most dangerous terrorists in the world are at Gitmo," Senator Roberts said. "Only one wing of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Ft. Leavenworth meets maximum security requirements, and it’s far too small for even a handful of detainees.

"Detainees require their own hospital and medical care, religious spaces, courtrooms, and even recreation facilities. Plus, there’s no support facilities for the several thousand guards needed and their families.

"Detainees can’t be housed with or near incarcerated soldiers, and the Department of Defense doesn’t have anywhere to transfer them.

"They also shouldn’t be next to the Command and General Staff College and the Combined Arms Center at Leavenworth, where our nation’s officers and international guests hone their skills.

"Housing detainees at Leavenworth would cost just as much, if not more, than moving them anywhere else in the U.S.

"Until Congressman John Murtha (D-PA) offered up Pennsylvania as a home for a these detainees, none of the supporters of closing Gitmo have offered up their states as possible locations. If President Obama and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) want it closed, why don’t they move it to Illinois or California? It would cost just as much, and at least it would have the support of their Congressional Delegation."

Senator Roberts, a former Marine, visited Gitmo in 2005 as the then Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Earlier this week, Roberts joined U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and U.S. Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) in introducing legislation to study the cost and feasibility of re-locating detainees from Gitmo. The bill also requires the President to give 90 days notice before closing the facility. U.S. Representative Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) introduced companion legislation in the House.

-30-