The Pentagon has halted plans to build a new courtroom complex at Guantanamo Bay after several senators objected to the project s cost and the Defense Department s decision to use emergency powers to authorize the construction. The department notified Senator Dianne Feinstein (Democrat from California) that it had canceled a contract solicitation to build the new courthouse complex because of concerns about the location and funds for the facility, according to a statement from her office. I thank the department for postponing plans to build a permanent courthouse at Guantanamo Bay, Feinstein said in the statement late Friday. It s important this courthouse proceed through regular order, with public hearings, so that there is full knowledge of what is intended. The project s cancellation came after bipartisan concern over the Pentagon s decision to unilaterally authorize the $102 million project through a reallocation of funds. To transfer funding from one project to another, the Pentagon invoked rarely used emergency powers, prompting oversight questions from lawmakers. A Pentagon spokesman gave no specific details about the cancellation, which was first reported by The Miami Herald on Sunday, but said that due to the scope and complexity of the trials for terror suspects, additional infrastructure and personnel remains a much-needed addition at Guantanamo. We will continue working with the Congress to ensure that unlawful enemy combatants at Guantanamo can be brought to justice as expeditiously as possible, said Navy Commander Jeffrey Gordon in an e-mail Sunday. We do not want a lack of facilities to be a reason for delaying the process of bringing these dangerous enemy combatants to justice. The proposed compound, designed to accommodate as many as 1,200 people, would create a total of three courtrooms on the military base to allow for simultaneous trials, and a separate high-security area to house the detainees facing trial. Navy Lieutenant Commander Chito Peppler said last month that the government hoped to be ready for trials by July 1 at the compound, which would be one of the biggest upgrades to the Guantanamo detention center since it began taking in suspected enemy combatants in January 2002.
