Kevin Roberts: “the senior Senator from Arizona, our distinguished chairman of the Armed Services Committee and my friend, has made a…”

“the senior Senator from Arizona, our distinguished chairman of the Armed Services Committee and my friend, has made a very impassioned plea for me to remove my hold on Eric Fanning to be Secretary of the U.S. Army. I want to be very clear that as a veteran and marine, I support the nominee for this post. Kansas is the proud home to two Army posts, Fort Leavenworth, the intellectual center of the Army where the commandant staff school is located, and Fort Riley, home of the Big Red One--two proud posts with very rich histories. I want the Army to have a highly qualified Secretary just as much as the distinguished Senator from Arizona, but it is due to my deep respect and concern for the men and women in uniform at Fort Leavenworth, and those who live and work in the region, that I am compelled to issue my hold on the President's nominee in the first place. As I have publicly stated from the beginning, and personally to Mr. Fanning, former Army Secretary John McHugh, and Defense Secretary Ash Carter, my quarrel is not with the nominee but with the President. President Obama continues to insist that he will close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility before he leaves office, transferring the remaining detainees to the U.S. mainland, with Fort Leavenworth under serious consideration. Quite frankly, this is a legacy item for the President. After much study and review, I can name countless reasons why this plan is wrong and it is also illegal.…”