Washington (CNSNews.com) – Congressional Democrats were divided on whether President Obama should seek their approval as he tries to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Obama issued an executive order mandating that the prison be closed within a year.
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told CNSNews.com that he wants a say in the matter.
“I would like (Congress) to at least have an advisory role,” told CNSNews.com. “But he can do it administratively.”
Other Congressional Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, were more cautious, saying they would wait for Obama to act – a stark departure from their vocal opposition to former President George W. Bush’s decisions regarding the “Gitmo” detainees.
“Let’s just take it one step at a time and see what he proposes,” Pelosi (D-Calif.) told CNSNews.com.
Obama issued an executive order that suspended all military tribunals for 120 days pending a review of all 245 accused terrorists still held at the facility. The reviews will determine whether individual detainees can be released, tried or repatriated to another country. No determination was made as to how the government would proceed with trying detainees they determine deserve trial.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said that he favored an international court where the terrorists could be tried.
“I’m comfortable with the United States turning jurisdiction over to the international court,” he said. “That’s something President Obama will have to work out.”
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), meanwhile, said that Congress would have to be involved.
“Of course Congress will be involved,” Frank told CNSNews.com “I’m not on the committee that deals with it so I don’t know how it will be done specifically, but, of course, Congress is going to be involved.”
Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), however, disagreed, saying he hoped that Congress wouldn’t be involved at all because nobody would want the terrorists housed in their own backyard.
“I would rather he handle it by himself frankly, because Congress is just going to want to protect its own backyard whether it be Quantico or Fort Leavenworth or whatever, so I’d rather he make an executive decision,” Moran said, referring to Quantico Marine Corps Base in northern Virginia and the Army’s Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, said that Obama is “being pragmatic” on the issue.
“Obviously this is difficult,” she said “there are different categories of people that are in Guantanamo, there are different processes that need to be used.”
“What you’re seeing here is the pragmatist, our president the pragmatist, going slowly, reasonably, getting input and moving toward the ultimate goal of shutting Guantanamo.”
Despite the praise, McCaskill said that Congress may need to weigh in, in order to make the tribunals effective.
“They (Congress) may need to weigh in over the next 120 days, if they look at the system and see the reforms,” she said, “I think that’s a place where we are going to get a lot of bipartisan work done together, to do whatever is necessary to make sure our military tribunals are something that we can be very proud of.”