Contact: Caroline Rabbitt (202)224-2353

Washington, D.C.- Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement on President Obama's plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility:

"President Obama's plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility is nothing short of a national security disaster. He's using his last 11 months in office to carry out an ill-advised, ideological campaign promise. Worse, he will just wash his hands of the disastrous implications next January, but America will suffer the consequences long after he leaves office.

"Releasing Guantanamo terrorists to other countries and bringing them to our shores is unlawful, unnecessary, and dangerous. His own military and Attorney General have both said they lack the legal authority to transfer detainees to the United States. President Obama can't ignore that reality. Simply put: this plan is dead on arrival in the Senate."