Ensign: GOP will try to block closing Gitmo

Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairman John Ensign (Nev.), returning from a trip to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, said Friday that Republicans will try to block closing the U.S. prison there and may be successful.

Ensign, who traveled to Cuba with GOP senators John Barrasso of Wyoming, Sam Brownback of Kansas and Mike Johanns of Nebraska, said the party plans to offer “three or four” amendments to the military supplemental funding bill being considered by the Senate next week, and that he believes some of them will pass because Democratic senators are unwilling to accept the possibility of detainees in the U.S.

{mosads}The former chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee painted an idyllic picture of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, describing how prisoners have access to medical treatment from the American Red Cross, browse a library of DVDs and other media, have access to U.S. and Arabic newspapers and follow a liberal exercise schedule. Ensign said the food served at the prison is even better than what was served to him and his fellow senators.

“It is a first-class, first-rate facility that meets any kind of international standard that you could think of,” Ensign said of Guantanamo.

The Senate’s Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a $91.3 billion supplemental funding measure that includes $80 million to close the prison, relocate the prisoners and investigate any abuses that may have been committed against them. The money is contingent on the Obama administration developing a plan for closing the base and transferring the prisoners. But the bill nevertheless faces an uncertain future in a chamber where Democrats still lack the necessary 60 votes to end debate and trigger votes. Ensign said “a lot of people are very nervous” about approving the supplemental and opening the door to allowing the prisoners into the U.S.

“We might have a chance at winning some of these amendments,” he said.

Noting that 2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain (Ariz.) also advocated closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Ensign said he is not necessarily advocating that the prison remain open — only that the administration must submit a foolproof plan to close it, and that he understands the prison has contributed to a negative perception of the U.S.

“It’s hard to imagine a plan that could work,” he said. “The challenges to close this facility are huge… But you have to remain open to that, and I will grant people that. There are political considerations as far as having these prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. It is part of the negative image that people have of the United States, because they group Abu Ghraib with Guantanamo Bay. That’s not at all what it’s like but it is the perception that is out there.”

Without a plan, however, Ensign said Republicans will unite to force the White House to develop a careful plan for the detainees.

“We’re dealing with people who would like to wipe out Americans,” he said. “If these people get out, they are coming back to kill Americans, and as many Americans as they can kill. They hate us. They hate everything about our way of life, and they want to do as much harm as they can to our country.”