WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins released the following statement after President Obama signed an executive order calling for the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be closed within one year.

“President Obama today signed an executive order to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay within one year. The order, however, left unclear where the new Administration intends to transfer the suspected terrorists who are held at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. I am here today to say those detainees do not belong at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

“Fort Leavenworth is the military training center for the best and the brightest the United States Armed Forces have to offer. What’s more, countries around the world send their military officers to Fort Leavenworth to learn and train alongside our men and women. The benefits that both the United States military and our friends from countries around the world gain from this knowledge sharing process are vital to the success of our armed forces. Transferring suspected terrorists to Fort Leavenworth would jeopardize this vital mission and would severely undermine the education and training of military officers around the world. As our new President looks to extend America’s hand to the global community, undermining this ongoing cooperative process sends exactly the wrong message.

“I sent a letter today to President Obama expressing my concerns and joining Senator Brownback in inviting the President and his new Administration to visit Fort Leavenworth. Any action that jeopardizes the central educational mission of the Fort by transforming it into the Guantanamo of the Midwest is the wrong direction, and I will fight tirelessly to see that it does not happen.