Sanford breaks GOP ranks, votes to close Gitmo prison

U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford was one of just three Republicans in the U.S. House Wednesday to join Democrats in supporting a move to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and potentially allow the transfer of prisoners there to U.S. facilities.

Afterward, Sanford said he had voted to close the Cuban prison because he opposes the government holding people indefinitely – in many cases, the Guantanamo prisoners have been held for years without being formally charged with crimes.

“Indefinite detention is not consistent with the values that America was based on,” Sanford said in an interview. “If you look at the military tribunals . . . there was finality to the process: `We find you guilty in military tribunal, we'll take you out back and shoot you, or we'll let you go.’ It was not, `We’re going to hold you for the next 40 years.’ ”

However, Republicans in the House – with help of 21 Democrats who broke rank with their party – defeated the proposal to close Guantanamo Bay.

The issue came up during debate of the National Defense Reauthorization Act, a bulky piece of legislation that decides military spending and authorizes various national defense programs.

Federal law now prohibits spending any federal money to close the controversial military prison at Guantanamo. The National Defense Reauthorization Act also prohibits federal officials from transferring Gitmo detainees to U.S. prisons.

However, an amendment offered by U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., would have removed those two provisions from the reauthorization act.

Sanford and two other Republicans voted for Nadler’s amendment. The amendment failed, 259-163.

Previously, Sanford has voted to remove federal funding for Guantanamo Bay, effectively shuttering the prison. Those legislative efforts to “defund” the prison’s operations also failed in Congress.

The other Republicans who voted for the amendment were U.S. Reps. John Duncan of Tennessee and Justin Amash of Michigan.

In the past, Sanford has said he objects to Guantanamo Bay prisoners being transferred to South Carolina, and he reiterated that position Wednesday.

“We need to have a larger conversation as Americans about the notion of indefinite detention,” Sanford said. “What the president has proposed is changing the geography of indefinite detention. But, for the detainee, there is no difference – whether you’re detained in Cuba or Colorado.”

Sanford praised S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley for her recent testimony on Capitol Hill against President Barack Obama’s plan to close the military-ran detention center.

Last summer, the Pentagon scouted the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig in Hanahan as a potential site to transfer Guantanamo detainees. The facility is about five miles from North Charleston.

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 8:17 PM with the headline "Sanford breaks GOP ranks, votes to close Gitmo prison."