House Panel Rejects a Plan to Shift Detainees to Illinois

WASHINGTON — The House Armed Services Committee has dealt a blow to President Obama’s hopes to shutter the military prison at Guantnamo Bay, Cuba, by unanimously approving legislation that would prohibit creating a detention center inside the United States.

The administration had asked Congress to approve about $350 million to buy and renovate a nearly empty prison in Thomson, Ill. The White House plan was to empty Guantnamo and transfer its detainees to Illinois — including 48 who would be held without trial as wartime prisoners.

But late Wednesday, the House committee unanimously approved a defense bill for 2011 that bans spending money to build or modify any facility inside the United States to house Guantnamo detainees, according to a summary of the bill.

It says the committee wants to see “a thorough and comprehensive plan that outlines the merits, costs, and risks associated with utilizing such a facility. No such plan has been presented to date. The bill prohibits the use of any funds for this purpose.”

Gitmo stays open for the foreseeable future. Closing it wasn’t as easy as Obama thought it would be.