Ayotte Statement on Transfer of Guantanamo Detainees to Afghanistan

Statement

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) released the following statement regarding today's announcement that the Obama administration has transferred four Guantanamo Bay detainees to Afghanistan:

"I am deeply troubled by the administration's decision to transfer four Guantanamo detainees to Afghanistan. When the administration transfers a Guantanamo detainee who was formerly assessed as a high risk for reengagement in terrorism, the onus is on the administration to explain openly to the American people what has changed. A failure to do so suggests the administration is more interested in emptying Guantanamo so that it can close it, rather than protecting the national security interests of the United States and the lives of Americans, including those currently deployed to Afghanistan.

"With almost 30 percent of former Guantanamo detainees having reengaged or suspected of reengaging in terrorism, American troops in Afghanistan, Iraq, or anywhere else should never have to confront a former Guantanamo detainee on the battlefield."

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