The House Foreign Affairs Committee held hearings Wednesday on the Obama administration’s plans to close Guantánamo. The scheduled hearing came only one day after the attacks in Brussels. During the hearings, the Defense Department special envoy for Guantánamo closure, Paul Lewis, said U.S. allies have repeatedly called closing the military prison the “greatest single action the U.S. can take to fight terrorism.”

Paul Lewis: “As with our military leaders, foreign leaders regularly cite the Guantánamo detention facility as an obstacle to counterterrorism efforts. In my written statement, I cite several statements. Cliff Sloan, Envoy Wolosky’s predecessor, noted an example: 'As a highly ranking security official from one of our staunchest allies on counterterrorism once told me, the greatest single action the United States can take to fight terrorism is to close Guantánamo.'”