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Intel Committee Leaders: No IC Funds to Transport Detainees from GTMO

Jan 30, 2024 | Press Releases

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) as well as House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) and Ranking Member Jim Himes (D-CT) sent a letter to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns to request that the Intelligence Community (IC) refrain from using National Intelligence Program (NIP) funds to charter any private or commercial aircraft to transport detainees from U.S. Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

  • “While there are differing views among us regarding the administration’s stated policy of closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, we share the belief that NIP funds should not be used to charter any private or commercial aircraft to transport detainees.”

The full text of the letter is below.

Director Haines and Director Burns:

We write to request that the Intelligence Community refrain from expending National Intelligence Program (NIP) funds to charter any private or commercial aircraft to transport detainees from U.S. Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The United States faces an increasingly complex international security environment, and as leaders of the congressional intelligence committees, we must ensure that funds made available to the Intelligence Community are reserved for use in carrying out intelligence activities most critical to the nation’s security. We are concerned by the threat of recidivism among individuals currently detained at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who are or may become eligible for release, especially given the current terrorism threat environment in the Middle East. While there are differing views among us regarding the Administration’s stated policy of closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, we share the belief that NIP funds should not be used to charter any private or commercial aircraft to transport detainees.

We appreciate your attention to this important issue and look forward to receiving a written response within two weeks of this letter assuring our Committees that these critical funds will not be used for these activities.

Sincerely,