Legislators who’ve changed their position on Gitmo

Members first voted on language in the Homeland Security Appropriations bill that would have prohibited Gitmo inmates from being transferred into the United States for any reason.  In a subsequent vote two weeks later, Members again voted on specific language in the Homeland Security bill that would have prevented any such transfer, but this time sixty Members changed their position.

Similarly, the United States Senate voted on an amendment offered by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) to the Military Construction Appropriations bill, which would have prohibited the bill from funding the construction or modification of any facility in the United States to hold Gitmo detainees.  Last summer, the Senate voted on whether to provide supplemental appropriations funding for the closure of Gitmo – a measure that the Senate almost unanimously rejected.  Of the ninety Senators who voted last summer to deny funding for closing Gitmo, forty-seven later voted to allow the military construction funding to be used to house Gitmo detainees in the United States.

In the Senate: The  Inouye Amendment

On May 20, 2009, the Senate passed Inouye Amend 1133 to H.R.2346 (War Supplemental bill) by a vote of 90-6.  Inouye’s Amend prohibited using funds to transfer, release, or incarcerate detainees detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to or within the United States.  This language was watered down during the House-Senate Conference on the bill.

On November 17, 2009, the Senate rejected Inhofe Amend 2774 to H.R. 3082, agreeing to table the measure by a 57-43 vote.  Inhofe Amend would have prohibited the use of funds appropriated or otherwise made available by H.R. 3082 to construct or modify a facility in the United States or its territories to permanently or temporarily hold any individual held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The 47 Senators who changed their position from May to November and opened the way for President Obama to transfer terrorist detainees to the United States are:

In the House: Roll Call 783

The original vote (Roll Call #746, October 1, 2009) was to add all current detainees at Guantanamo to the No Fly List, as well as prohibit any inmate’s transfer to the United States.  These Representatives then changed their vote on a motion (Roll Call 783, October 15, 2009) to instruct the Congressional negotiators to not agree to any language allowing Guantanamo detainees to be brought into the US for prosecution or incarceration.