Cruz calls for ‘freeze’ of prisoner swaps

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said he would introduce legislation that would prevent President Obama from making any more prisoner swaps.

“Until President Obama can make his case and convince the American public that this swap was in our interest,” Cruz said on the Senate floor Monday, “all swaps from Guantánamo should be off the table.”

{mosads}Obama recently exchanged five Taliban leaders held at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility for U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl.

The White House was supposed to notify Congress before making the exchange with the Taliban, which was holding Bergdahl prisoner. But the administration failed to do so, ruffling many feathers on Capitol Hill.

Cruz said he would introduce a bill later this week that would freeze all prisoner swaps for six months and would require that the president personally sign off on all future exchanges.

“We need to take a pause and assess what happened with the Taliban Five,” Cruz said. “How many Americans are at risk from these five prisoners that were just released?”

Cruz is considered a potential GOP presidential nominee in 2016.