WASHINGTON (AP) -- The man tapped to oversee U.S. intelligence is promising Congress there will be no torture, harsh interrogations and warrantless wiretapping on his watch.

In comments prepared for his confirmation hearing, Retired Adm. Dennis Blair says the jail at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, must be closed because it is "a damaging symbol to the world."

President Barack Obama is expected to order the detention's center closure today. It could take as long as a year for it to be emptied of prisoners, however.

Blair says he believes strongly that "torture is not moral, legal or effective."

 

Moving quickly to reverse many former Bush administration policies, President Barack Obama readied on Thursday national security moves that included preparations to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, review military trials for terror suspects and ban harsh interrogation tactics.

Obama also was set to name a highly respected veteran politician to serve as special Mideast envoy, a step to make good on a campaign pledge to be more robustly involved in efforts to help with peace efforts in the volatile region.

The Republican opposition in Congress, meanwhile, said it would seek a meeting with Obama to voice growing concerns about portions of his plan to spend $825 billion in a bid to reverse the country's perilous economic slide.

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia said his party wanted to work with the new administration, but that many facets of the stimulus program wending its way through Congress would not create jobs, a vital requirement as unemployment numbers climb. Cantor spoke on CBS television Thursday.

As the new president moves into his second full day in office, a senior Obama administration official said Obama would sign the order to shutter the Guantanamo prison within one year. Critics of the lockup at a U.S. Navy base in Cuba say its use violates detainee rights.

The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the order has not yet been issued.

A draft copy of the order, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, notes that "in view of significant concerns raised by these detentions, both within the United States and internationally, prompt and appropriate disposition of the individuals currently detained at Guantanamo and closure of the facility would further the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice."

The executive order was one of three expected on how to interrogate and prosecute al-Qaida, Taliban or other foreign fighters believed to threaten the United States. The administration already has suspended trials for terrorist suspects at Guantanamo for 120 days pending a review of the military tribunals.

An estimated 245 men are being held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba, most of whom have been detained for years without being charged with a crime.

Meanwhile, The New York Times reported Thursday that Obama would also order the CIA to shut its internationally-condemned network of secret prisons, which it built in 2002 to house and interrogate top al-Qaida figures captured in foreign countries.

It is not known how many suspects have moved through the secret prison network over the years, but the number is believed to be fewer than 100, The Times reported.