On Friday Defense Secretary Ash Carter called the plan he’s working on with the White House to close the Guantanamo Bay military prison a “constructive step.” The revived effort by Obama administration and Pentagon officials to work with Congress on closing the facility was first reported Thursday by Defense One.

“With respect to [Guantanamo], I’m working with the White House to prepare a plan, which we’ll then submit, per longstanding request, to Congress,” Carter told reporters. “My own view is this is a very constructive step. It’s important to see if we can find a way forward from this that is widely shared enough that we can actually get it done, and so I think it’s a good opportunity, and we’ll certainly follow through on that.”

Sen. John McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Defense One on Thursday that President Obama had spoken with him in recent weeks about closing the facility. McCain said Carter and Lisa Monaco, the president’s assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism, told him they were working on a closure plan to be submitted to Congress.

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