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The House defense appropriators are considering including language in the 2008 spending bill that would close Guantanamo Bay prison, according to a senior defense appropriator. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), a strong proponent of closing the controversial military detainee facility, said that the defense subcommittee is planning to introduce a provision to shut down the detention unit for suspected terrorists in Cuba. He added, however, that parts of the facility would need to stay open for a period of time for the detainees brought over most recently from the CIA’s secret prisons abroad. Guantanamo would be left open “just for specific purposes, but we’re not going to keep more than 5 percent of the people there,” Moran told The Hill Friday. Moran has already sponsored an amendment to the House 2008 defense authorization bill that would require the Pentagon to study the current capacity of U.S. military facilities to hold and try detainees now held at Guantanamo Bay. But the provision in the defense appropriations bill will be “much more definitive,” said Moran. He said that the White House knows that Democrats will up pressure to close Guantanamo, and accordingly has started considering a recommendation to speed up the process of closing the facility. More prisoners should be sent back to their country of origin, while the rest should be held at maximum-security facilities in the United States, said Moran. Meanwhile, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) introduced a bill Friday to restore the detainees’ habeas corpus rights, which were formally circumscribed when Congress adopted the Military Commissions Act last year. If restored, the writ of habeas corpus would allow the detainees to challenge their detention in federal court. According to a press release by Skelton, provisions in the Military Commissions Act unconstitutionally stripped the federal courts of jurisdiction over such cases. Habeas corpus, a fundamental right of the U.S. legal system, gives any person held by the government the means to go before a court to determine whether there is a reasonable basis for detention. Apart from pressing to close Guantanamo Bay, appropriators will also ensure that there will be no permanent bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, Moran said. He also indicated that the appropriations bill could have “more confining language about Iraq.” “It’s incumbent on us to narrow the parameters with each appropriations bill,” he said. Appropriators are also considering slashing the Army’s much coveted Future Combat Systems by at least $800 million. Appropriations defense subcommittee Chairman Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) said that appropriators will probably follow the authorizers’ move. The House Armed Services Committee cut $867 million from the program. “It’s gotten too expensive,” agreed Moran. “It is way over the budget estimate.” Meanwhile, Murtha said he is considering adding more C-17 Globemaster III cargo planes. The authorizers added funding for 10 additional C-17s over the budget request. Funding for more ships is also under consideration. Murtha said he is planning to fund 12 ships, five more than in the budget request. A Virginia-class submarine and a T-AKE ship will be among the additional vessels. |
