The House bans detainee transfers to U.S. mainland

The status of terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere continues to be a hotly contested issue almost ten years after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The Bush administration came under heavy criticism by civil rights groups for its promotion of military tribunals to try terrorism suspects as opposed to in federal courts on the U.S. mainland.

Trying at least some of these suspects in U.S. courts was one of President Barack Obama's objectives upon taking office. In 2009, the administration announced that it would try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- the Al-Qaida mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- and four others in federal court in New York City.

Congressional lawmakers criticized the administration's plan, citing national security implications if terrorist suspects were brought to the U.S. mainland. Due to congressional opposition, the Obama administration abandoned its plan in April 2011 and opted to try Mohammed and others in the military tribunal system. One reason for this decision was the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2011, in which Congress prohibited the use of defense funds to transfer prisoners from Guantanamo to the United States.  

Attorney General Eric Holder said the administration made the change so as not to delay prosecutions. "We must face a simple truth: those restrictions are unlikely to be repealed in the immediate future. And we simply cannot allow a trial to be delayed any longer for the victims of the 9/11 attacks or for their families who have waited nearly a decade for justice,” he said.

The House of Representatives, now under Republican control, wants to renew this ban for the next fiscal year. In July, the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2012, by 336-87. Like its predecessor, the act would prohibit funds from being used to transfer detainees to the United States. The Senate version of the budget bill passed through the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee in June. The bill is still waiting for approval in the full Senate.

President Obama threatened to veto the House bill due to a number of items. Aside from restrictions on detainee transfers, the administration also objects to provisions that would weaken the executive's ability to carry out the new START Treaty and provisions that continue to fund an extra engine on the F-35 fighter jet -- an aspect of the project that the Obama administration wishes to cancel.

Through its power of the purse, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives is in the process of fulfilling its promise to try terrorism suspects solely in military courts. The funding prohibition gives the Obama administration little choice but to use the military tribunal system -- or else not try the suspects at all. The restriction still needs to be passed through the Senate and survive Obama's veto threat, but for now we rate this promise as In the Works.