bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr401-114/featured_detaining-terrorists-to-protect-america-act-of-2015-1455842632.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr401-114/featured_large_detaining-terrorists-to-protect-america-act-of-2015-1455842632.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr401-114.png"},"introduced_on":"2015-01-16","title_override":"Extending the Ban on Prisoner Transfers Out of Gitmo for Two More Years","summary_override":"This bill seeks to improve national security by limiting the transfer and release of prisoners held at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. military prison for two years. Specifically, for those two years it prohibits U.S. funds from going to:

Build any structure in the U.S. to house anyone who has been detained at Guantanamo Bay.
Release anyone being held at the prison into the U.S.
Return any Gitmo prisoners to their country of origin.
Transport any prisoners to Yemen.

The bill comes with some exceptions and special provisions. Funds can be used to transport individuals if it is for court-ordered reasons. The Secretary of Defense can also waive these rules, provided that the Secretary of State and the Director of National Intelligence can certify that:

The government to which they’re being transferred doesn’t support terrorists;
If the individual is being transferred to another prison, it’s one run by the country’s government — and that government isn’t going to lose power any time soon;
Both the U.S. government and the government to which the individual is being released have determined that they are not a safety risk.

The Secretary of Defense would be able to waive these requirements if verification is impossible. Waivers are also possible if security risks can be mitigated, or if it’s in U.S. security interests. They would also have to issue a report to Congress on the waiver. Preferential treatment for waivers would be given to people that have cooperated with the U.S. government.

Finally, the bill requires that the Secretary of Defense file a report that includes information on all the individuals still housed at Gitmo.

","official_title":"To extend and enhance prohibitions and limitations with respect to the transfer or release of individuals detained at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Detaining Terrorists to Protect America Act of 2015","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Detaining Terrorists to Protect America Act of 2015\n\nRevises and extends (until two years after enactment of this Act) prohibitions on the use of funds available to any U.S. agency (currently, to the Department of Defense [DOD]) to:\n\n construct or modify any facility in the United States, its territories, or possessions to house individuals detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as of October 1, 2009, who are not U.S. citizens or members of the U.S. Armed Forces and who are in the custody or control of DOD or otherwise under detention in the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo for the detention or imprisonment in the custody or control of the U.S. government, unless authorized by Congress; or transfer or release to or within the United States, its territories, or possessions Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or any other detainee who is not a U.S. citizen or a member of the U.S. Armed Forces and who was held on (currently, on or after) January 20, 2009, in Guantanamo Bay by DOD. Supersedes and repeals exi...","summarized":true,"cost":0,"cost_commentary":"The CBO estimates that because the cost of bringing detention operations to the U.S. wouldn't be very different than operating Guantanamo this bill would have no net effect on the federal budget. ","impact":"Prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, their families, U.S. forces that work at Guantanamo Bay, the government of Yemen, national security.","argument_for":"People are at Guantanamo because they posed and threat, and American lives were lost to put them there. This bill ensures that only those that do not pose a threat to the U.S. government can be released from custody. ","argument_against":"Guantanamo bay stands directly opposed to this country's core values. It is an institution that runs on trampled civil liberties and human rights violations. The president made a promise eight years ago — it's time to end this.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr401-114","bill_id":"hr401-114","formal_id":"H.R. 401","chamber":"house","congress":114,"last_action_at":"2015-01-21T00:00:00.000Z","active":false,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":null,"debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/401","plain_text_url":"http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114hr401ih/html/BILLS-114hr401ih.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr401-114.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/401/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2015-01-16","related_bill_ids":["s165-114","s1376-114"],"progress":"Introduced","house_passage_result":false,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":446,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on Armed Services","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSAS","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr401-114","details":"/api/bills/hr401-114/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr401-114","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr401-114/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr401-114/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":38,"slug":"hr401-114-detaining-terrorists-to-protect-america-act-of-2015","latest_chamber_votes_id":null,"official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":5254,"yea_vote_count":2385,"nay_vote_count":2860,"passed_house":false,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["defense","crime-and-police","international-trade-and-affairs","government"],"issue_ids":["defense","crime-and-police","military","public-safety","cuba","international-trade-and-affairs","federal-agencies","counterterrorism","government","human-rights","middle-east","ethics","diplomacy","prisons"],"sponsor_id":152}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"defense","name":"Defense","slug":"defense","description":"Federal legislation related to Defense spending, the active duty military, intelligence activities, war powers and veterans’ care. 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","page_title":"US Federal legislation related to Foreign Aid, International Trade and Relations and Human Rights - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/international-trade-and-affairs/black_international-trade-and-affairs-1429042060.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/international-trade-and-affairs/grey_international-trade-and-affairs-1429042060.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/international-trade-and-affairs/white_international-trade-and-affairs-1429042060.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"federal-agencies","name":"Federal Agencies","slug":"federal-agencies","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Federal Agencies. 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Extending the Ban on Prisoner Transfers Out of Gitmo for Two More Years