The Obama administration is nearing completion of a plan to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that it will then send to Congress, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.
The plan will shutter the facility in a safe and responsible way, Earnest told reporters on Wednesday.
President Barack Obama, who leaves office in less than 18 months, has battled for years with lawmakers over his pledge to close Guantanamo by bringing to trial some detainees and holding others in the U.S. as prisoners of war, while arranging to send the least dangerous ones home or to third countries.
In recent months, the administration has sent several detainees from Guantanamo to countries including Oman and Qatar, and the U.S. is seeking additional options for transfering more prisoners, Earnest said at the White House.
President George W. Bush began using the detention facility in Cuba to hold suspected and accused terrorists after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S. Obama campaigned for president with a promise to close Guantanamo, saying it attracted international criticism of U.S. detention policies and interrogation practices.
Earnest said the U.S. spends more than $100 million per year on the prison, which currently houses about 116 detainees.
“There has got to be a better way for us to spend taxpayer dollars,” he said.
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Guantanamo Prison Closing Plan in Final Drafting, Earnest Says