Legislators move to block Gitmo prisoners
CHICAGO – Republican congressmen from Illinois took steps Monday to slow or halt the transfer of terrorism suspects from Guantanamo Bay to a prison in Thomson.
House Republican Mark Kirk of Northbrook called for a “Homeland Insecurity Impact Study” on the vulnerability of O’Hare International Airport and Willis Tower before federal money could be spent on the transfer of prisoners, Kirk spokeswoman Susan Kuczka said.
Kirk, a GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate, wants the Government Accountability Office to conduct the study.
House Republican Aaron Schock of Peoria plans to introduce a measure aimed at prohibiting the use of federal dollars to move the detainees to Thomson, a Schock spokesman said.
The measure could be introduced as early as today, said Dave Natonski, Schock’s communications director.
It is being modeled after a measure backed by three House members from South Carolina intent on stopping Guantanamo detainees from being shipped to the Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, S.C. That measure drew minimal support: only one sponsor and two co-sponsors. It was referred Jan. 15 to the House Armed Services Committee.
The spokesman for Schock said House Republicans Tim Johnson, John Shimkus and Peter Roskam, all from Illinois, have agreed to sign on to the measure and efforts were ongoing to bring all seven GOP House members from Illinois on board.
The Obama administration on Friday revealed that the largely vacant prison is a leading candidate to house a “limited number” of terrorism suspects.
The administration has faced a knot of problems as it works to close the detention center on the naval base in Cuba. Thomson could be turned into a super-maximum facility with a unit for some of the Guantanamo detainees.
It remains unclear how the detainees would be brought to Illinois and whether Thomson would be the sole domestic prison for that purpose. Several other sites have been under review by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Defense, and local officials around the country have volunteered their communities as host towns.
