Heck tours Guantanamo camp

Rep. Joe Heck completed a one-day trip Tuesday to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, his office confirmed.

The Nevada Republican toured the prison along with other members of the House Armed Services Committee. The trip came after the Obama administration earlier this month reversed its position on transferring top terrorist suspects to the mainland for trial.

Attorney General Eric Holder said on April 4 that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and other alleged co-conspirators, would undergo a military commission trial at Guantanamo rather than be tried in federal court in New York City. The administration's original plan to relocate Guantanamo detainees to the mainland ran into widespread opposition, and legislation in Congress to head off any planned transfers.

President Barack Obama promised during his 2008 election campaign to close the camp, and he signed an executive order two days after his inauguration that sought to shut it down within a year. A reported 775 prisoners captured in U.S. wars overseas were brought to the base on the island of Cuba since 2001. About 170 remain.

Heck agreed with the administration's decision to keep open the detention camp, a spokesman said, but other details of the tour were not immediately available.