STEARNS TAKES LEAD IN WORKING TO PREVENT $200 MILLION PLEDGED TO PALAU TO TAKE GUANTANAMO DETAINEES

Washington, Jun 18, 2009 - “The Federal government has spent, lent, or guaranteed over $12.8 trillion in addressing the economic downturn, that’s over $42,000 for every man, woman, and child in the nation,” stated Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Sixth) at a event held by the Sunset Caucus on June 17, 2009. Stearns is a member of the Sunset Caucus, a congressional group dedicated to reducing the size and scope of government, and to identifying and eliminating wasteful and duplicative federal programs. In addition, each Sunset Caucus member takes the lead on eliminating a specific wasteful program.

Stearns stepped forward to prevent a $200 million pledge made to the Republic of Palau for agreeing to take 17 suspected Uighur terrorist detainees from Guantanamo. Noted Stearns, “This $200 million would fund the average annual college tuition of 7,000 students and exceeds the total GDP of Palau, which is $164 million. They want to give $200 million to Palau to take 16 detainees, that’s nearly $12 million per detainee. In addition, it only cost $54 million to build the detainee facility at Guantanamo. This $200 million pledge is a perfect example of needless spending draining the taxpayer’s pocketbook ”