Washington, D.C. ? Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday the Guantanamo detention center is a well-run, professional facility that will be difficult to close — but he’s still going to do it.

Holder visited the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Monday and spoke to reporters about his trip during a news conference Wednesday.

Closing Guantanamo, he said, “will not be an easy process. It’s one we will do in a way that ensures that people are treated fairly and that the American people are kept safe.”

President Barack Obama selected Holder to lead the new administration’s effort to close the detention facility within a year.

Much of the year will be spent reviewing the individual case histories of the roughly 245 inmates, the attorney general said.