President Barack Obama launched a final push on Tuesday to persuade Congress to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, despite strong opposition from lawmakers who do not want detainees transferred to the United States. The president, a Democrat, pressed the Republican-led legislature to give his proposal a "fair hearing" and said he did not want to pass the issue to his successor in January. The Pentagon-authored plan proposes 13 potential sites on U.S. soil to hold some 30-60 detainees in maximum-security prisons but does not identify the facilities. U.S. law bars transfers to the United States, and lawmakers are unlikely to lift those restrictions, especially in an election year. “We’ll review President Obama’s plan," Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. "But since it includes bringing dangerous terrorists to facilities in U.S. communities, he should know that the bipartisan will of Congress has already been expressed against that proposal.”

The administration hopes sending the plan to Congress will spur lawmakers to help choose a facility they find amenable, but the White House is well aware the plan may not move at all.

"I am very clear-eyed about the hurdles to finally closing Guantanamo. The politics of this are tough," Obama said.

"Part of my message to the American people here is we’re already holding a bunch of really dangerous terrorists here in the United States ... and there have been no incidents. We’ve managed it just fine."

The Guantanamo facility, which Obama said once held nearly 800 people, now houses 91 detainees. Some 35 prisoners will be transferred to other countries in the coming months, bringing the final number below 60, officials said.

More prisoners could be transferred other countries as well, potentially lowering that number further. Obama said military commissions would continue to be used to try some of the prisoners, but he said that process also required reform.

Obama noted that his predecessor, Republican President George W. Bush, transferred hundreds of prisoners out of Guantanamo and wanted it closed.