President Obama, speaking at the National Archives, defended and reaffirmed his pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay detainee facility, saying that the prison “has weakened American national security.” The president argued that harsh interrogation methods such as waterboarding hindered rather than aided anti-terrorism efforts. He stated that detainees can be securely held in U.S. maximum security prisons and that no detainees who would endanger Americans will be released. He outlined a five-category classification system for dealing with remaining detainees. The president also defended his decisions to declassify Bush administration interrogation memos and to withhold photographs of detainees' abuse by members of the U.S. military.