Issue: Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has introduced a bill to close the Guantanamo Bay prison within 120 days of enactment and to end the practice of indefinite detention without charge for hundreds of detainees.

Background: Harkin’s bill (the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility Closure Act—S. 1469), is an excellent, comprehensive solution to close the Guantanamo prison and end indefinite detention by requiring the government to get its act together and finally charge anyone alleged to have committed a crime. Those detainees not charged with a crime will be sent back to their home countries or other countries, provided they will not be tortured, abused, or persecuted. Anyone charged will be sent to Ft. Leavenworth in Kansas.

What the Act would do:

• It requires the President to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility within 120 days of enactment.

• Within 120 days of enactment, the detainees will be either sent to the U. S. Disciplinary Barracks at Ft. Leavenworth to await trial or serve their sentences or transferred to another country that will not torture, abuse, or otherwise persecute the detainee.

• For each detainee being held at Guantanamo Bay, the government will have 120 days to either charge the detainee with a federal crime or transfer him to his home country or another country, provided they will not engage in torture, abuse, or persecution. The government may have an additional renewal period of 120 days to hold the detainee if it is preparing charges and has a logistical need for additional time.

• The bill ends the practice of indefinite detention without charge of hundreds of detainees—most who have been held more than four years, and many who have been held more than five years without charge and without even knowing the reasons for which they are being held.

• Detainees who are charged will be detained in the military prison at Fort Leavenworth while awaiting trial, during trial, and during their sentences. This is the military's prison specifically designated, designed, and built by the Department of Defense to hold national security prisoners.

• The bill will provide additional funds to prosecute and defend cases brought against the detainees, and for costs incurred by the government or the region in transferring or detaining prisoners.

The decision to use the prison at Fort Leavenworth closely tracks the recent statement by Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R—Ariz.), who said, if elected, "I would immediately close Guantanamo Bay, move all the prisoners to Fort Leavenworth and truly expedite the judicial proceedings in their cases."

Action: The prison at Guantanamo is damaging American values and our reputation in the eyes of our enemies and allies alike. It’s time to end indefinite detention without charges and shut down Guantanamo. Contact your Senators and ask them to Support Sen. Harkin’s bill to close Guantanamo Prison.