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GOP senator pushes Obama to sign defense bill

by Jesse Byrnes - 06/11/16 6:00 AM ET

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) on Saturday called on President Obama to approve an annual defense bill that the White House has threatened to veto.

{mosads}“The president must sign the NDAA because it will bolster our national defense and equip our military with the resources it needs,” Gardner said in the address, referring to the National Defense Authorization Act. “At the same time, the NDAA reminds us what inspires our brave men and women to serve, and that’s our freedom and the democratic principles that we cherish and our enemies fear.”

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee member spent the bulk of his address arguing against closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

The White House earlier this week issued a veto on on the Senate legislation, including among its myriad of objections the bill’s restrictions on closing the detention facility.

The Senate in a rare Friday vote moved 68-23 to end debate on the $602 billion defense legislation outlining policy and spending rules for the military, setting the stage to finish work on the bill early next week.

“These detainees aren’t in Gitmo for parking tickets; they’re there because they want to kill Americans and hate everything that we stand for. They’re the worst of the worst,” Gardner said.

Gardner said a visit he paid to the prison earlier this year “confirmed that we live in very a dangerous world with reckless actors who seek to destroy the democratic principles that have made our country so great.”

Tags Cory Gardner Guantánamo Bay