Lawmaker renews effort to close Guantanamo

WASHINGTON — Largely forgotten amid the noisy battles over ObamaCare and budget deficits, the highly contentious Guantanamo Bay prison still scars the U.S. global image. It speaks of a legacy of covert kidnappings and torture that the Obama administration has tried in vain to relegate to the pages of history.

The issue, however, has returned to the U.S. Congress, where one lawmaker is making yet another attempt finally to close the detention centre in Cuba that still houses 154 detainees, many of whom have been cleared for release.

Democrat Congressman Adam Smith has filed an amendment to the national defence budget act for 2015 that would sweep away restrictions imposed by Congress that so far have made it impossible for U.S. President Barack Obama to fulfil his promise to close the prison.

In a statement Thursday, Obama said he “applauds” the Smith amendment.

“We urge the House to adopt the Smith Amendment and put an end to the ongoing harm to the nation’s security that results from the operation of the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,” the statement says.

“Nearly a half-billion dollars per year is an unacceptable price to pay for a facility that wastes our resources, creates friction with our allies, and undermines our standing in the world,” the statement adds.

Smith said the detention centre is “an international eyesore that undermines our national security objectives, damages our credibility with regard to human rights and international law, and wastes taxpayer dollars.”

The Smith amendment would remove these restrictions and would cut all funding to the prison by Dec. 31, effectively closing it by 2015.