WASHINGTON — Amid fears that terror suspects could be brought to the U.S., House Democrats on Monday rebuffed the Obama administration’s request for $50 million to relocate prisoners from the detention facility at Guantanamo, Cuba.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., dropped the request from a $94.2 billion measure funding military and diplomatic efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan through the fall.
At the same time, Obey served notice that President Barack Obama’s move to boost troop levels and increase the tempo of military operations in Afghanistan had better show results or else he would rethink his support of the effort.
The bill, which was released to key lawmakers Monday, registers about $9 billion more than Obama’s $84.9 billion request, reflecting additional money for procurement of cargo planes, armored combat vehicles, helicopters and other items. About $3 billion was added above Obama’s $7 billion request for foreign aid accounts, including security aid to Israel, funding to help Mexico fight drug cartels, and $100 million to fight AIDS and other diseases in places such as Haiti and the Congo.
Obey also boosted the administration’s $1.5 billion request to fight the flu to $2 billion.
While only a minute portion of Obama’s request, the $50 million to relocate Guantanamo Bay detainees has inflamed Congress and given Republicans an opening with which to bash Obama. Many Democrats were skittish about the prospect of voting to bring terror suspects into the U.S.
But the administration has yet to develop a plan to carry out Obama’s executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay facility by early next year. The Pentagon has not said how many of the 240 or so detainees would be transferred to the United States or where they would be held. About 50 to 100 detainees would be shipped to this country, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Last week, Gates told lawmakers that the $50 million request for relocating the detainees was simply a “plug in the budget” that was just “a hedge that would allow us to get started if some construction is needed to be able to accommodate those detainees.”
“When they have a plan, they’re welcome to come back and talk to us about it,” Obey said.
While funding Obama’s request to send more troops and equipment to Afghanistan, Obey also made clear that there is limited patience among Democrats controlling Congress for an open-ended commitment to the war effort.
Obey attached language requiring the administration to issue a report by February on whether the weak governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan are doing enough to warrant continued support.
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