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Lynch talks terrorism, police violence, Syrian refugee plan on Capitol Hill

By Doug G. Ware
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch testifies Tuesday during an oversight hearing on the Justice Department during a Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. Lynch responded to several questions from the panel about multiple issues. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch testifies Tuesday during an oversight hearing on the Justice Department during a Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. Lynch responded to several questions from the panel about multiple issues. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Tuesday testified on Capitol Hill that the Obama administration will not bring detainees from the Guantanamo Bay Naval prison to the United States with the purpose of closing the facility, because it is against the law to do so.

The remarks were made Tuesday during a House Committee on the Judiciary hearing, where the nation's top law enforcement officer fielded questions on a number of varying issues after discussing the Justice Department's top priorities. It was Lynch's first appearance before the committee since she took over for Eric Holder in April.

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Lynch addressed the Guantanamo prison during a testy exchange with Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-Va., who indicated that bringing detainees to the United States would increase the risk of domestic terrorism -- an assessment that Lynch said she could not agree or disagree with.

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"As Attorney General of the United States you do not have an opinion on whether or not bringing terrorists from Guantanamo Bay and locating them in a city would have any capability at all about putting that city on a 'hit list' by [militants]?" the Virginia Republican asked. "You don't even have an opinion on that?"

"I think there are any number of factors," Lynch repeated multiple times.

"I think that's atrocious that you don't even have an opinion on that," Forbes shot back.

Lynch added that detainees from Guantanamo would not be brought to the United States because of new legal restrictions on prisoner transfers that were passed by Congress last week.

President Barack Obama has been attempting to close the controversial prison since he took office nearly seven years ago, but has struggled to complete the process mainly due to GOP opposition.

The Obama administration in the past had been looking for potential sites in the United States to transfer the remaining detainees, which now number about 100. It is not clear whether it is still scouting possible locations in light of the attorney general's comments.

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Obama is expected in the coming weeks to publicize a formal plan to close the prison permanently.

Lynch was asked about other issues during the hearing -- such as police-related deaths, radical terrorism, the IRS investigation and Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server when she was chief of the U.S. Department of State.

Lynch also discussed a recent plan by the administration to admit a number of Syrian refugees into the United States to aid in the European migrant crisis.

"Not only the Department of Justice but all of our agencies will make every effort to vet every refugee coming into this country," she said. "Certainly there are challenges to that process.

"We do have the benefit of having that significant and robust screening process in place -- a process that Europe has not been able to set up, which renders them much more vulnerable."

The question and answer session followed a speech delivered by Lynch, which outlined Justice Department achievements and priorities.

"Our highest priority must always be the security of our homeland, and we are acting aggressively to defuse threats as they emerge," she said. "We remain focused on the threat posed by domestic extremists."

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