U.S. Congressman MIKE POMPEO, Representing the 4th District of Kansas

Pompeo: Pentagon’s Site Survey at Ft. Leavenworth Was Illegal, Assists in Transferring GTMO Terrorists to Kansas

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Mike Pompeo (R-KS) commented today on the letter he sent to the Department of Defense with Congressman Kevin Yoder (R-KS) and Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) regarding the Department’s site survey at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas which violated federal law.  Kansas’ Attorney General Schmidt uncovered that DoD spent over $25,000 to evaluate sites in Kansas, Colorado, and South Carolina.  The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, which President Obama signed into law, prohibits the use of funds to “transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release to or within the United States, its territories, or possessions…” of individuals detained at Guantanamo Bay. 

Pompeo said, “Americans, and particularly Kansans, understand that President Obama’s desire to bring hardened terrorists from Guantanamo Bay to the U.S. would make our country less safe.  In completing these site surveys, the Department of Defense followed neither the letter, nor the spirit of American law.  I am proud to stand with my colleagues in condemning this illegal action and encouraging all states to pursue appropriate legal action.”

You can read the letter here.

Read more about the Town Hall that Congressman Pompeo and Congresswoman Jenkins held last year in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas on the President’s plan to transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the U.S., here.

Pompeo serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.  He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, an Army veteran, and ran two small businesses before joining Congress in 2011.

###

For access to this release and Rep. Pompeo’s other statements, click here.

To stay up-to-date on Rep. Pompeo’s work in Kansas and Washington, follow him on Twitter and YouTube.