THE WHI TE HOUSE

Of f i ce of t he Pr ess Secr et ar y



For I mmedi at e Rel ease December 26, 2013


STATEMENT BY THE PRESI DENT


Today I have si gned i nt o l aw H. R. 3304, t he " Nat i onal
Def ense Aut hor i zat i on Act f or Fi scal Year 2014. " I have si gned
t hi s annual def ense aut hor i zat i on l egi sl at i on because i t wi l l
pr ovi de pay and bonuses f or our ser vi ce member s, enhance
count er t er r or i smi ni t i at i ves abr oad, bui l d t he secur i t y capaci t y
of key par t ner s, and expand ef f or t s t o pr event sexual assaul t
and st r engt hen pr ot ect i ons f or vi ct i ms.

Si nce t aki ng of f i ce, I have r epeat edl y cal l ed upon t he
Congr ess t o wor k wi t h my Admi ni st r at i on t o cl ose t he det ent i on
f aci l i t y at Guant anamo Bay, Cuba. The cont i nued oper at i on of
t he f aci l i t y weakens our nat i onal secur i t y by dr ai ni ng
r esour ces, damagi ng our r el at i onshi ps wi t h key al l i es and
par t ner s, and embol deni ng vi ol ent ext r emi st s.

For t he past sever al year s, t he Congr ess has enact ed
unwar r ant ed and bur densome r est r i ct i ons t hat have i mpeded my
abi l i t y t o t r ansf er det ai nees f r omGuant anamo. Ear l i er t hi s
year I agai n cal l ed upon t he Congr ess t o l i f t t hese r est r i ct i ons
and, i n t hi s bi l l , t he Congr ess has t aken a posi t i ve st ep i n
t hat di r ect i on. Sect i on 1035 of t hi s Act gi ves t he
Admi ni st r at i on addi t i onal f l exi bi l i t y t o t r ansf er det ai nees
abr oad by easi ng r i gi d r est r i ct i ons t hat have hi nder ed
negot i at i ons wi t h f or ei gn count r i es and i nt er f er ed wi t h
execut i ve br anch det er mi nat i ons about how and wher e t o t r ansf er
det ai nees. Sect i on 1035 does not , however , el i mi nat e al l of t he
unwar r ant ed l i mi t at i ons on f or ei gn t r ansf er s and, i n cer t ai n
ci r cumst ances, woul d vi ol at e const i t ut i onal separ at i on of power s
pr i nci pl es. The execut i ve br anch must have t he f l exi bi l i t y,
among ot her t hi ngs, t o act swi f t l y i n conduct i ng negot i at i ons
wi t h f or ei gn count r i es r egar di ng t he ci r cumst ances of det ai nee
t r ansf er s. Of cour se, even i n t he absence of any st at ut or y
r est r i ct i ons, my Admi ni st r at i on woul d t r ansf er a det ai nee onl y
i f t he t hr eat t he det ai nee may pose can be suf f i ci ent l y
mi t i gat ed and onl y when consi st ent wi t h our humane t r eat ment
pol i cy. Sect i on 1035 never t hel ess r epr esent s an i mpr ovement
over cur r ent l aw and i s a wel come st ep t owar d cl osi ng t he
f aci l i t y.

I n cont r ast , sect i ons 1033 and 1034 cont i nue unwi se f undi ng
r est r i ct i ons t hat cur t ai l opt i ons avai l abl e t o t he execut i ve
br anch. Sect i on 1033 r enews t he bar agai nst usi ng appr opr i at ed
f unds t o const r uct or modi f y any f aci l i t y i n t he Uni t ed St at es,
i t s t er r i t or i es, or possessi ons t o house any Guant anamo det ai nee
i n t he cust ody or under t he cont r ol of t he Depar t ment of Def ense
unl ess aut hor i zed by t he Congr ess. Sect i on 1034 r enews t he bar
agai nst usi ng appr opr i at ed f unds t o t r ansf er Guant anamo
det ai nees i nt o t he Uni t ed St at es f or any pur pose. I oppose
t hese pr ovi si ons, as I have i n year s past , and wi l l cont i nue t o
wor k wi t h t he Congr ess t o r emove t hese r est r i ct i ons. The
execut i ve br anch must have t he aut hor i t y t o det er mi ne when and
wher e t o pr osecut e Guant anamo det ai nees, based on t he f act s and

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ci r cumst ances of each case and our nat i onal secur i t y i nt er est s.
For decades, Republ i can and Democr at i c admi ni st r at i ons have
successf ul l y pr osecut ed hundr eds of t er r or i st s i n Feder al cour t .
Those pr osecut i ons ar e a l egi t i mat e, ef f ect i ve, and power f ul
t ool i n our ef f or t s t o pr ot ect t he Nat i on. Removi ng t hat t ool
f r omt he execut i ve br anch does not ser ve our nat i onal secur i t y
i nt er est s. Mor eover , sect i on 1034 woul d, under cer t ai n
ci r cumst ances, vi ol at e const i t ut i onal separ at i on of power s
pr i nci pl es.

The det ent i on f aci l i t y at Guant anamo cont i nues t o i mpose
si gni f i cant cost s on t he Amer i can peopl e. I amencour aged t hat
t hi s Act pr ovi des t he Execut i ve gr eat er f l exi bi l i t y t o t r ansf er
Guant anamo det ai nees abr oad, and l ook f or war d t o wor ki ng wi t h
t he Congr ess t o t ake t he addi t i onal st eps needed t o cl ose t he
f aci l i t y. I n t he event t hat t he r est r i ct i ons on t he t r ansf er
of Guant anamo det ai nees i n sect i ons 1034 and 1035 oper at e i n a
manner t hat vi ol at es const i t ut i onal separ at i on of power s
pr i nci pl es, my Admi ni st r at i on wi l l i mpl ement t hemi n a manner
t hat avoi ds t he const i t ut i onal conf l i ct .


BARACK OBAMA


THE WHI TE HOUSE,
December 26, 2013.


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