NATIONAL BRIEFING / WASHINGTON, D.C.

Congress members from both parties clamored for President Obama to develop a plan for dealing with the 240 suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay if he intended to fulfill his campaign promise to close the prison by early 2010.

“We’re saying, ‘Mr. President, give us the plan,’ ” said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

A fellow Democrat, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), opposed the inmates’ transfer. “I think they need to be kept elsewhere, wherever that is,” Nelson said. “I don’t want to see them come on American soil.”

Obama’s promise to close the detention facility ran smack into political reality in the last week. Obama’s fellow Democrats denied him funding to move the suspected terrorists while Republicans latched onto a message that helped the minority party drive sustained headlines for the first time in months.

“Well, I don’t think you can convince the American people that you can bring the people from Gitmo to their states and they will be safe,” said Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.).