Texas Senator Ted Cruz has vowed to introduce legislation next week halting the release of all Guantanamo Bay detainees as the fallout over the Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap for the "Taliban 5" continues.
“I intend next week to file legislation to halt any releases from Guantanamo until we get to the bottom of what happened in Bergdahl and provide some real congressional oversight here because it is really needed,” Cruz said in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity.
Cruz's announcement comes shortly after news broke that the administration is considering a release of another GITMO detainee, Fouzi Khalid Abdullah al-Awda, who was put into the prison years ago for allegedly planning to train and fight with the Taliban.
Fouzi Khalid Abdullah al-Awda appeared via a video feed before a review board Wednesday morning in northern Virginia, often smiling as his private counsel Eric Lewis made the case for his release.
Al-Awda has been held prisoner for 12 years. According to Defense Department officials and his official Guantanamo detainee profile, he traveled from his home in Kuwait to Afghanistan just before the 9/11 attacks to train in terrorist camps, and "possibly" fight alongside the Taliban and Al Qaeda.