GOP: The President Must Sign The NDAA Act

In the weekly Republican Address, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colorado), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, discusses the importance of the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to help support our troops and keep Americans safe.

Gardner was Tuesday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”.

“Hi. I’m Cory Gardner. I’m proud to represent the great state of Colorado in the United States Senate.

This past week, the Senate continued to debate the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA. The NDAA is important because it supports our troops and families.

It is also essential to combating threats around the globe and protecting our homeland, which includes blocking the President from moving Guantanamo detainees to the United States. These detainees are not in Gitmo for a parking ticket. They are there because they want to kill Americans and hate everything we stand for. They are the worst of the worst.

Current law already prohibits the President from bringing these terrorists to communities in the U.S. The White House, however, has not ruled out unilateral action. Closing Guantanamo Bay and transferring the detainees to the United States would jeopardize our security.

Here’s why:

Guantanamo Bay presents the opportunity to capitalize on our intelligence gathering capabilities, when additional terrorists are captured and detained. Closing its doors may mean the loss of an important tool that could prevent future attacks.

Secondly, closing Guantanamo means that the Administration could accelerate the transfer of these prisoners to the United States or abroad. This is reckless. We like a real strategy to defeat Isis, and the threat of prisoners returning to the battlefield has been materialized time and time again. Three in 10 of the detainees released prior to 2015 in either have or are suspected to have returned to the fight against the united states. And upon release, we know some of them have killed Americans. The Obama Administration has even admitted this.

Lastly, the detainees who are determined to be too dangerous to release, will be released into the United States and Americans across the country do not that.

I stand with the American people in opposition. We live in a dangerous world with reckless characters, who seek to destroy the democratic principles that make our country so great. It also reminded me that when the United States retreats, a power vacuum is created that unprincipled and disruptive powers will fill. That’s why it’s critical that we continue to show our values that empower men and women. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press. These unalienable rights that are entrenched in our Constitution, are out of reach for many people around the world.

That was clear to me on a recent trip to Asia, when I met with government officials and military commanders and reaffirmed our shared values. We discussed the importance of U.S. leadership and strengthening our alliance with allies in the region.

It is more important now than ever that the United States sends a strong signal that it is ready and willing to work with our allies in and across the Pacific, and our crucial NATO allies to protect these rights. This requires not only maintaining, but growing our presence in the region.

The President must sign the NDAA, because it will bolster our National Defense and equip our military with the resources it needs. At the same time, it reminds us what inspires our brave men and women to serve. And that’s our freedom and the democratic principles that we cherish and our enemies fear.”

The “Newsmaker of the Day” is heard every weekday morning on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 AM.