Obama Citizenship

GA, NC to President: ?No Gitmo Detainees in our States!?

By Phil

AmericasRight.com reported yesterday evening that Reps. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) and Sue Myrick (R-SC) have introduced bills that would prevent transporting or incarcerating Guantanamo Bay detainees through the States of Georgia or North Carolina, respectively:

In the wake of the executive order mandating the closure of the detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and transfer of the detainees, the order signed by President Barack Obama within hours of his inauguration and without further plan as to the fate of the detainees themselves, individual states are taking matters into their own hands to ensure that their respective constituencies remain detainee-free.

Just this past week, Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-GA) introduced the “NO GITMO in Georgia Act,” a bill intended to prohibit the transfer or incarceration of the detainees in question through or within the state of Georgia. Gingrey was joined by a half-dozen other Republican Congressman from Georgia — Reps. Lynn Westmoreland, Tom Price, John Linder, Jack Kingston, Nathan Deal, and Paul Broun.

Better yet, Gingrey’s bill has sparked similar legislation in other states, including a bill sponsored by North Carolina Rep. Sue Myrick, also a Republican. Myrick’s bill, as of Saturday afternoon, had no such cosponsors.

Below is a statement released by Rep. Gingrey from his web site…

Washington, Feb 3 -

In response to the executive order recently issued by President Barack Obama, to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay within one year, Congressman Phil Gingrey, MD (R-GA) has introduced the NO GITMO in Georgia Act. This bill will ensure that current detainees held at Gunatanamo are not relocated to the State of Georgia.

?The detention center at Guantanamo houses some of the world?s most hardened terrorists who want nothing more than to destroy America,? said Gingrey. ?And yet, the Obama Administration has committed to close the facility without answering questions critical to our national security and public safety. Where will current detainees and convicted terrorists be relocated? How will we ensure that they are not allowed to return to the battlefield to fight us again? Will they be afforded the same legal rights as American citizens??

?I am certainly not comfortable with terrorist detainees being housed in the State of Georgia,? continued Gingrey. ?Therefore, I have introduced the NO GITMO in Georgia Act to make sure that never happens. No matter what the fate of this critical national security facility may be, this bill would prevent either the transfer to or housing of Guantanamo Bay detainees in any military facility or Federal detention center within the State of Georgia.?

Congressman Gingrey is joined in this effort by the entire Georgia Republican House Delegation ? Reps. Paul Broun (R-GA), Nathan Deal (R-GA), Jack Kingston (R-GA), John Linder (R-GA), Tom Price (R-GA) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA).

Gingrey?s legislation has sparked other state delegations to introduce similar legislation to prevent terrorist detainees from being relocated to their states.

To date, we know that South Carolina, Kansas and California were on a short list somewhere for potential detainee transfers. Maybe folks in those States will similarly wake up to this potential debacle.

-Phil

Full post as published by The Right Side of Life on February 09, 2009 (boomark / email).