Reid Flip-Flops, Votes For Transferring Gitmo Detainees Into the United States

Tuesday, 17 November 2009 15:51

In the News

WASHINGTON - In a complete reversal from his position on a similar vote just months ago, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) flip-flopped today and voted to make funds available for President Obama to construct new facilities in the United States - or modify existing ones here - and bring Guantanamo detainees to American soil.

In a partisan vote of 57 to 43, Reid and his fellow Democrats rejected an amendment offered by U.S. Senator Inhofe (R-OK) that would have prohibited the use of taxpayer dollars for this purpose. This vote comes just 12 days after Senate Democrats voted to allow the self-proclaimed mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks and his terrorist cohorts to stand trial in a civilian court in New York City.

Notably, Reid’s support for allowing al Qaeda terrorists into the United States stands in contrast to a vote less than six months ago, when he voted in favor of an amendment to the war supplemental that banned the use of federal funds for the use of transferring or incarcerating any Guantanamo detainee to or within the United States.

This vote also directly contradicts the position of many Senators - including Reid - when they voted on July 19, 2007 to support the policy that Guantanamo detainees should not "be transferred stateside into facilities in American communities and neighborhoods." Senators voting in favor of this provision included Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

"Once again Senator Reid demonstrated that he is simply out-of-touch with his constituents in Nevada when he put the wishes of MoveOn.org ahead of the family members of the Americans who were killed on 9/11," said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Brian Walsh. "When Reid stands before Nevada voters next year in his uphill bid for re-election, he will be forced to explain why he flip-flopped on this critical issue today and why he once again put the interests of the far left before the national security interests of our country."