Jim Kouri
Will Obama release terrorists into the United States?
By Jim Kouri
House Republicans on Thursday introduced a bill that would block the transfer or release into the United States of any Gitmo detainees. Earlier that morning, GOP stalwarts held a press conference to present their proposal on how to best deal with the closing of the terrorist/enemy combatants detention center built at the US Marine base on Cuba's Guantanamo Bay.
The GOP bill stipulates that governors and state legislatures must give their approval to transfer or release any terrorist detainee into their states' communities.ys before the transfer.
Also detainees sent to states where these is prison space, there must be a uniform criteria to such transfers.
The bill also states that President Obama must clearly state the impact of transferring the detainee to US soil.
Rep. Pete Hoekstra, (R-MI), top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, joined other House committee ranking members in introducing a bill that would prevent sending terrorists currently held at Guantanamo Bay to the United States.
"Releasing hardcore radical jihadists into Michigan or anywhere else in the United States should horrify law-abiding citizens," Hoekstra said. "It would immediately and unnecessarily endanger American lives by sending trained terrorists into the very country that they vow to destroy."
One of President Barack Obama's first acts upon his swearing in as President was to sign an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay without a plan for where to send the terrorists.
The bill introduced creates a specific role for state governors prior to transferring detainees into their states and requires the transparency in the process should the president move forward on such a plan.
"It is easy to become complacent eight years after the attacks of 9/11, but the extent to which radical jihadists are committed to mass murder cannot be forgotten," Hoekstra said. "The U.S. is at war against an enemy that believes in an ideology of eliminating our way of life. America needs to hold terrorists in a safe location as opposed to bringing them into the United States."
This bill has a straightforward but vital purpose: To ensure that the terrorists held in the Guantanamo Bay prison are not imported into the United States," said House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner, during Thursday's press conference.
He's also an original co-sponsor of H.R. 1186, which seeks to prohibit Gitmo prisoners from being transferred to federal prisons or military bases in Virginia. There are two Virginia facilities on the list of potential sites for detainee relocation — Naval Base Norfolk and around Quantico.
Republicans have slammed President Obama for closing Gitmo without a clear plan on where the inmates would go. Meanwhile, Attorney General Eric Holder is still unclear on what plans he has in place to secure the terrorists and killers who were Gitmo prisoners.
© Jim Kouri
May 9, 2009
House Republicans on Thursday introduced a bill that would block the transfer or release into the United States of any Gitmo detainees. Earlier that morning, GOP stalwarts held a press conference to present their proposal on how to best deal with the closing of the terrorist/enemy combatants detention center built at the US Marine base on Cuba's Guantanamo Bay.
The GOP bill stipulates that governors and state legislatures must give their approval to transfer or release any terrorist detainee into their states' communities.ys before the transfer.
Also detainees sent to states where these is prison space, there must be a uniform criteria to such transfers.
The bill also states that President Obama must clearly state the impact of transferring the detainee to US soil.
Rep. Pete Hoekstra, (R-MI), top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, joined other House committee ranking members in introducing a bill that would prevent sending terrorists currently held at Guantanamo Bay to the United States.
"Releasing hardcore radical jihadists into Michigan or anywhere else in the United States should horrify law-abiding citizens," Hoekstra said. "It would immediately and unnecessarily endanger American lives by sending trained terrorists into the very country that they vow to destroy."
One of President Barack Obama's first acts upon his swearing in as President was to sign an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay without a plan for where to send the terrorists.
The bill introduced creates a specific role for state governors prior to transferring detainees into their states and requires the transparency in the process should the president move forward on such a plan.
"It is easy to become complacent eight years after the attacks of 9/11, but the extent to which radical jihadists are committed to mass murder cannot be forgotten," Hoekstra said. "The U.S. is at war against an enemy that believes in an ideology of eliminating our way of life. America needs to hold terrorists in a safe location as opposed to bringing them into the United States."
This bill has a straightforward but vital purpose: To ensure that the terrorists held in the Guantanamo Bay prison are not imported into the United States," said House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner, during Thursday's press conference.
He's also an original co-sponsor of H.R. 1186, which seeks to prohibit Gitmo prisoners from being transferred to federal prisons or military bases in Virginia. There are two Virginia facilities on the list of potential sites for detainee relocation — Naval Base Norfolk and around Quantico.
Republicans have slammed President Obama for closing Gitmo without a clear plan on where the inmates would go. Meanwhile, Attorney General Eric Holder is still unclear on what plans he has in place to secure the terrorists and killers who were Gitmo prisoners.
© Jim Kouri
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