President Obama, in a news press conference to the White House Press Corps on Tuesday, vowed to renew efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba - an unfulfilled promise carried over from his first term in office. The President underscored that he believes the military jail has undermined U.S. credibility throughout the world, and that it stands "contrary to the fundamentals" of American values.
The President added that the facility has done little to help with counterterrorism strategy, as U.S. allies have been critical of it.
"It' is not a surprise to me that we are having problems in Guantanamo," Obama said. Obama called Guantanamo unsafe and expensive and said it lessens cooperation with U.S. allies.
In response, Republican Representative Buck McKeon,chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, took issue with Obama's charge that Congress has blocked him from closing the detention center. President Obama has tried to make the case that those in detention should be tried in civilian courts.
"The President faces bipartisan opposition to closing Guantanamo Bay's detention center because he has offered no alternative plan regarding the detainees there, nor a plan for future terrorist captures," McKeon said in a statement.
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