Obama’s purchase of prison to house Gitmo terrorists angers lawmaker

by: jim kouri | published: 10 07, 2012

On Thursday, the day after Obama's poor showing during his debate with GOP opponent Mitt Romney, Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, slammed President Barack Obama over his Administration’s decision to purchase a Thomson, Illinois, correctional facility where the Administration seeks to transfer the remainder of the incarcerated Guantanamo Bay terrorists.

In a formal letter to President Obama, Chairman King suggested five alternative uses for the estimated $165 million that the Obama Administration will spend to acquire the prison in Barack Obama's home state.

"Besides the obvious reasons for being against this latest attempt at closing Gitmo, I believe there should be a full investigation into Obama's choice for the location of a terrorist prison. It's no secret Obama is connected to some shady characters in Illinois and any purchase by this administration in that particular state should be investigated," said former police and corrections officer Eugene D'Amato.

King's suggestions include spending the money on replacing aging Coast Guard cutters; securing U.S. government information networks from cyber attack; protecting high-risk urban areas and transportation systems from terror attack; funding a national interoperable public safety wireless broadband network; or increasing the number of Border Patrol and Customs officers to facilitate commerce and travel.

In his letter, King wrote: “It is difficult to believe the claim that [the Obama] Administration intends to use the Thomson facility solely for housing criminals since the Federal government already owns four additional empty prison facilities that are awaiting activation.”

On Tuesday, King had released a press statement in which he expressed his opposition and his commitment to continuing to work to keep Guantanamo terrorists from being imported into the U.S. Homeland.

"Why in the world would any sane person wish to take terrorists from a prison surrounded by water and separated from Americans and transfer them into the middle of the United States?" asked former terrorism task force member Detective Steven Burris.

And Rep. King agrees in his letter: "It is difficult to believe the claim that [the Obama] Administration intends to use the Thomson facility solely for housing criminals since the Federal government already owns four additional empty prison facilities that are awaiting activation."

According to Rep. King, on June 12, 2012, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder pledged under oath that the Obama Administration under no circumstances would transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees to the vacant Thomson prison.

"I assure you that I will make every effort to urge Congress to hold [the] Administration to that commitment," warned King.

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