WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins yesterday toured the Guantanamo Bay detention facility as a part of a U.S. House of Representatives delegation.

“After having a first-hand look at the facilities at Guantanamo, I am more convinced than ever that Fort Leavenworth is the wrong location to hold the terrorist detainees. The state-of-the-art detention facility at Guantanamo Bay is so large it would be physically impossible to recreate a similar facility at Fort Leavenworth,” Jenkins said. “As President Obama moves forward with his plans to close this state-of-the-art facility, I am hopeful he will put aside politics and take into account the potential risks of moving these detainees and the huge sum of taxpayer dollars it will take to either build a new facility or majorly upgrade an existing one. Seeing this facility first-hand was informative and it would be wise for President Obama to visit it as well as Fort Leavenworth before he makes any further decisions.”

Jenkins attended a briefing with the House delegation about the history of the Guantanamo Bay complex and about the current mission. She then toured several detention camps and other facilities on the complex.

Jenkins continued, “The tour yesterday was eye-opening because what I saw were our military men and women putting their lives on the line to protect our nation and carrying out their mission in a responsible, safe, legal and transparent manner. Closing Guantanamo Bay is unnecessary and doing it without a plan to relocate the detainees is irresponsible, and I will continue my fight to keep suspected terrorists from being transferred to Fort Leavenworth.”

On January 6, 2009, Jenkins introduced H.R. 148 to prohibit any federal dollars from being used to transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth. Jenkins has argued that moving suspected terrorists to Fort Leavenworth would compromise the Command and General Staff College’s (CGSC) educational and training mission. The CGSC has trained more than 7,000 U.S. and foreign military officers, and Jenkins contends our nation’s allies would stop sending their military officers to train alongside U.S. officers, thus weakening vital collaboration with our allies. Additionally, she has expressed concerns that the Disciplinary Barracks are not suited for holding these high-level detainees because of its proximity to the surrounding communities, farms, major transportation routes and lack of on-site medical facilities.