U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Topeka, discusses tax issues with Shaun Beach, owner of Beach Heating and Cooling, during a meeting with small business owners in Lawrence.

Kansas Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins, in Lawrence on Thursday, said that U.S. prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should remain there indefinitely, and she strongly opposes any plans to relocate them to military prisons, either in Kansas or South Carolina.

“I’ve been to Guantanamo Bay, and I think that’s the best place to house the enemy combatants,” Jenkins, a Republican, said during the stop in Lawrence.

The White House recently confirmed that it is examining the military prison at Fort Leavenworth and the Naval Brig in Charleston, S.C., as possible sites where those prisoners could be transferred.

President Barack Obama vowed to close the controversial detention center at Guantanamo Bay during his first campaign in 2008, but Congress so far has refused to authorize such a move, and it has inserted language in military appropriations bills preventing the president from closing the prison.

U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Topeka, discusses tax issues with Shaun Beach, owner of Beach Heating and Cooling, during a meeting with small business owners in Lawrence.

The U.S. began placing prisoners that it considers to be “enemy combatants” in Guantanamo shortly after the invasion of Afghanistan in 2002. Although they are not considered “prisoners of war” under international law, neither are they considered civilian prisoners. Many have been held there for more than a decade without ever being charged with or tried for any crimes.

Amnesty International has criticized the detentions as a human rights violation.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, 122 prisoners are still being held at the detention center, many of whom have been cleared for release as soon as the U.S. can find a country suitable to send them to.

Jenkins said she believes those prisoners should not be released “until they pledge not to go back to their home countries and try to kill Americans, which is the vast majority of their intent.”

Jenkins was in Lawrence Thursday to meet with a group of small-business owners and discuss issues likely to come up when Congress reconvenes after Labor Day.

During a brief interview with the Journal-World, Jenkins touched on some of those issues:

•Iran nuclear arms deal: Jenkins said Congress will likely pass a measure rejecting the proposed agreement, and that Obama would veto that measure. Any attempt to override the veto would have to start in the Senate, and Jenkins said that would probably fail.

• Defunding Planned Parenthood: Jenkins said she shares concerns about recent “sting” videos purporting to show Planned Parenthood officials negotiating prices for fetal tissue, but she said current federal law already prohibits such sales as well as federal funding of abortions.

“I think the preferred approach is to do vigorous oversight to make sure they are, in fact, following the letter of the law,” she said.

• Presidential politics: Jenkins said she has been following the campaigns but so far has not announced which candidate she plans to support.

“I’m still looking at all of the candidates, and there are a lot to look at, as you well know,” she said of the field of 17 candidates. “Some of them I know personally, but some of them I don’t know, so I’m still looking at all of them. I enjoyed the first debate. I look forward to the second, and maybe we’ll learn a little bit more.”

Jenkins also shied away from commenting on whether controversial statements by GOP front-runner Donald Trump are helping or hurting the party.

“Donald has a following,” she said. “I certainly don’t agree with him on some of the statements he’s made. But we’re obviously seeing some support, even in Kansas, for Donald Trump. it’s early. I think the polls just reflect name ID more than anything. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”