WASHINGTON - Missouri Sen. Kit Bond says that U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention centre "is a dangerous case of putting symbolism over security."
In the GOP's weekly radio and Internet address, Bond says the president needs to tell the American people where the suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay will be sent.
Bond, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, says the American people have a right to know exactly what the White House plans to do.
In his words, "Americans don't want these terrorists in their neighbourhood."
Obama has pledged to have the detention centre closed by January but the White House has yet to disclose where the 241 detainees will be sent.
The U.S. wants to send at least some of those being held to terrorist rehabilitation centres in Saudi Arabia.
