GOP's 'Keep Terrorists Out of America' Act Says Thanks, But No Thanks

The "not in my backyard" crowd speaks again.

I mean, after all, this isn't a windmill or another transmission line. We're talking about terror suspect currently housed at Guantanamo Bay. President Obama wants to close the prison, so the detainees have to go somewhere - few countries are volunteering to take them. And who wants a bunch of Al Qaeda-types near their home? Anyone? Maybe Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa. Anyone else? A lot of Republicans certainly don't, either.

Top House Republicans today introduced a bill that would block the transfer or release into the United States of any Gitmo detainees. It requires pre-approval from governors and state legislatures to transfer or release any terrorist detainee into their respective state at least 60 days before the transfer. And if any detainee is sent to Kansas, Virginia, or anywhere else there's a sufficient prison - certain criteria and certification standards must be met. The bill also mandates that Obama detail the possible impact of transferring the detainee to U.S. soil on their ability to win a federal court's order for their release.

"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.

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., has signed on. 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.

"This is the one area where I'm going to take a protectionist stance-protection from terrorists. If there's ever a time for protectionism, this is it," Cantor said today. "I am particularly passionate about making sure that the President's desire, and some in this congress, to bring these enemy combatants to the soil of the United States does not happen. "

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PD toolbar!Other Republicans tried to stick language into an appropriations bill today to ban funding for transferring prisoners out of Gitmo. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., again today essentially told Obama, 'don't even think about' sending them to Fort Leavenworth in his home state. Roberts said:

"Obviously, the Guantanamo Bay I'm speaking of houses 'terrorists.' I've been there and there are 'terrorists' at Gitmo! Not 'enemy combatants' fighting in an 'Overseas Contingency Operation' – but terrorists, against whom we must wage a War on Terror because they continually plan to launch attacks against us. ...We have seen a change in how those who are incarcerated at Gitmo are now being defined and described both by the media, by the Administration and, as a consequence, by some Americans. I understand that there is a poor perception of Guantanamo Bay. But to say there are no terrorists there, to say there are not even 'enemy combatants there,' is doing a disservice to us all by trivializing the crimes committed by the men at Guantanamo Bay. Mr. President, I ask you: When did we start making terror politically correct? And why?"

Republicans have blasted Obama for closing Gitmo without a clear plan on where the inmates would go. As of today, it seems no such plan yet exists, and Obama wants it shut down by January 2010. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey, D-Wis., said the administration hasn't yet submitted a "concrete" plan on how to handle the detainees, so it's request for hasn't been met. Obama wants $50 million for the Defense Department and $30 million for the Justice Department to help close the camp.

This does not seem to be a partisan issue, merely that Republicans have more freedom to criticize any plans to bring possible terrorists to their states than Democrats do. Complaining about the president when he's one of yours isn't a politically popular thing to do around Washington. But still, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., voiced her doubts today as Attorney General Eric Holder tried to assuage concerns that terrorists would just be "released" into the U.S. Mikulski, who chaired the subcommittee hearing today at which Holder testified, said she and other lawmakers "would be very concerned" about not being consulted on what the plans are for detainees brought to the U.S.

"We have to make sure that streets and neighborhoods don't think that they're going to be the repository of Guantanamo prisoners," she said.

One Minnesota town volunteered to take some prisoners, but Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont, said: "Not on my watch."

Yeah, that's sort of what I thought.







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