David Remes on the Scalise Amendment

You're right that Congress shouldn't bar Ambassador Dan Fried and his staff from resettling or repatriating Guantanamo detainees. I do, however, take issue with one of your points. The point is widely held - even intuitive - but it leads one to suppose that Obama has done more than he has. You say:

Because of Obama’s promise to close Guantanamo and because of the good will he generated among European countries who were not keen to help out the Bush administration, Obama has had resettlement opportunities that were not available to the prior administration.

I don't believe this distinction between Obama and Bush bears close scrutiny. There are too many unknowns to be confident that Obama has had more resettlement opportunities than Bush had. First, we don't know how many detainees Bush would have been able to resettle, and would have resettled, if he'd had more time. (God forbid.) In fact, apart from the Uighurs he resettled in Albania to moot their court cases, we don't know whether Bush simply decided to repatriate detainees who could be sent home before tackling resettlement of detainees who can't be sent home. Or perhaps Bush was unwilling to pay the price demanded by potential host countries, and Obama has been willing. That's no criticism of Obama. It's simply another explanation of why Obama has achieved more than Bush did. At the same time, Obama has hampered Ambassador Fried's resettlement efforts. The leaked cables confirm that, by refusing to resettle any detainees - most notably the Uighurs - in the US, Obama squandered much of the good will his promise to close Guantanamo generated. Obama also hampered Ambassador Fried by continuing to defend in court the detention of resettlement and repatriation candidates on the ground that they're Al Qaeda or Taliban. And Obama's freeze on Yemeni repatriations blocks the transfer of 58 of the 89 detainees who his Task Force approved for transfer. So, while Ambassador Fried and his staff have done a remarkable job, they've done so despite the obstacles that Obama has thrown in their way. I don't for one second discount the perniciousness of the pending legislation. I'm questioning how much Obama's policies have kept Fried and his staff from doing. If the legislation becomes law, it will keep Obama from doing better than he has done so far.