Move America Forward, the nation’s largest grassroots pro-troop organization, condemns President Obama and Department of Defense Secretary Robert Gates for denying Michigan Congressman Hoekstra’s request to let state and local officials tour the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

 “When Americans are rightly concerned and opposed to President Obama’s plan to close Guantanamo Bay Detention Center and bring terrorists to American shores, it is outrageous that the Administration would deny access to a Congressman who represents a state likely to get stuck with the terrorists,” said Shawn Callahan, Executive Director of Move America Forward. 

“By denying the reasonable request of Congressman Hoakstra so that he can do his due diligence and see what is involved with Guantanamo, it makes a mockery of the transparency that  President Obama touted during his campaign.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra, who is the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, asked the Pentagon to take a look at the facility for terror detainees after a maximum security prison in Standish, Michigan, was named as a potential site to transfer the prisoners.  Hoekstra asked that Michigan local officials accompany him to evaluate the risks to Michigan residents.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Hoekstra the Administration was seriously reviewing a number of options for relocating the detainees and a visit by state and local officials would be "premature."

“With Obama demanding the detainees be moved by the end of the year, this would hardly be called ‘premature.’  This is just another move by the Obama administration to stifle opposition or anyone that calls into question the logic of moving terrorists to the U.S.  We applaud Congressman Hoekstra’s determination to get the facts,” Callahan concluded.

A Move America Forward delegation traveled to Guantanamo Bay in 2008 to see firsthand the conditions for detainees and U.S. military personnel.  We believe the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center is a perfectly acceptable solution that has been operating successfully and greatly contributed to our safety since 9/11.  It is a necessary tool in our war on terror.