Obama: Guantanamo Undermines National Security, 'Our Standing In The World'
WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/AP) -- President Barack Obama said the detention center at Guantanamo Bay undermines America's national security and needs to be closed.
The president said the detention center is counterproductive in the fight against terrorism because it's used as propaganda to recruit terrorists and drains military resources.
"It has been clear that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay does not advance our national security, it undermines it," Obama said. "Keeping this facility open is contrary to our values. It undermines our standing in the world."
The White House released Obama's plan to close the facility on Tuesday, but the plan faces stiff opposition from the GOP-led Congress.
EXTRA: Read The Plan Here
The plan calls for transferring some remaining detainees to the United States and seeks up to $475 million in construction costs that would ultimately be offset by as much as $180 million per year in operating cost savings.
"The plan we're submitting today is not only the right thing to do for our security, it will also save money," the president said.
It does not specify where in the U.S. the detainees would go.
Meanwhile, Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio criticized the plan, telling a rally in Las Vegas Tuesday morning "This makes no sense to me.''
"We're not giving back an important naval base to an anti-American communist dictatorship,'' he said.
He added that the Guantanamo prisoners don't belong on U.S. soil.
"These are literally enemy combatants,'' he said.
Rubio promised that he will ship terrorists to Guantanamo when he's president.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
