US President signs nat'l defense authorization act

WASHINGTON, Nov 26 (KUNA) -- President Barrack Obama signed and approved late Wendesday the National Defense Authorization Act for the Fiscal year 2016 with a value of USD 607 billion.
"As I noted at the time, my first and most important responsibility, as President and Commander in Chief, is keeping the American people safe", Obama said in a statement by the White House.
"The bill that the Congress originally presented to me was not acceptable. In addition to authorizing inadequate funding for our military, it would have prevented a range of necessary military reforms. It included language that would reenact, and in some cases expand, restrictions concerning the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay that I have repeatedly argued are counterproductive in the fight against terrorism", he added.
Meanwhile, the President stressed the importance of decreasing the number of prisoners at Guantanamo to the minimum and then shut the facility down, adding that there are 57 convicts who were transferred in the past two years with 107 still remaining.
The articles of the new budget prohibits the transfer of prisoners within the US without the Congress' permission, however, Obama aims to send part of Guantanamo's prisoners to other countries and transfer the rest to another prison in the states. (end) yt.nbs.ag