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

Tuesday, 17 November 2009 17:06

NRSC Documents

WASHINGTON – In a complete reversal from his position on a similar vote just months ago, Governor Ritter’s appointed U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) flip-flopped today and voted to make funds available for President Barack 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, Bennet 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, Bennet’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.

“Once again Senator Bennet has been pushed to the left and demonstrated that he is simply out-of-touch with Coloradans 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) spokeswoman Amber Wilkerson Marchand.

“While Bennet’s changing stance may help him in his challenging primary battle, there’s no doubt that he will be forced to explain why he flip-flopped on this critical issue today if he makes it to the General Election in November,” Wilkerson Marchand concluded.