[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official profile] stated Thursday that he intends to continue his efforts to close Guantanamo Bay prison, despite likely push back from Congress after the Paris attacks [JURIST report]. Obama made remarks [Reuters report] to reporters during the Asia-Pacific Summit in Manila, expressing concern for delays in his long-standing plan to shut down the prison. Republican members of Congress have been resistant to closing the prison, citing the Paris attacks and the Syrian refugee debate as reasons not to release suspected terrorists from detainment. Obama stated that he believes such resistance is politically motivated [WP report] rather than actually necessary for US safety.

In November the US Senate passed [JURIST report] the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (NDAA) [text, PDF] which will prohibit Guantanamo Bay detainees from being transferred into the US. Obama is expected to sign this bill into law, despite the fact that it will delay his plan to close the prison. The NDAA comes after the Department of Defense said [JURIST report] they were sending teams to review three Colorado prisons as part of Obama’s efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison just last month. Also last month the last British detainee at Guantanamo Bay was released [JURIST report] after extensive review [report, PDF] by the Guantanamo Review Task Force (GRTF). The GRTF was created in response to a 2009 presidential executive order [text, PDF] to review the status of all detainees. Also last month, another Guantanamo Bay detainee was released and sent back [JURIST report] to his home country of Mauritania. In September White House Spokesperson Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama was considering a “wide array” of options [JURIST report] for closing the prison.