"U.S. House Votes Overwhelmingly To Prohibit Transfer of GITMO Terrorists To United States" Manzullo

[WASHINGTON] The U.S. House voted overwhelmingly today to prohibit the transfer of the GITMO terrorists into the United States, scuttling the Administration’s plan to close GITMO and move the terrorists to the state-owned Thomson Correctional Center in northwest Illinois.

     An amendment to the Department of Defense (DOD) authorization bill passed 282-131, with 114 Democrats joining 168 Republicans in approving the amendment that would prohibit the Administration from bringing any GITMO terrorists into the United States.
     “Today’s overwhelmingly bipartisan vote reaffirms Congress’ strong opposition to moving the GITMO terrorists inside the United States, and it basically scuttles the President’s plan to move the terrorists to northwest Illinois,” Manzullo said. “This is what I expected when the Administration first announced the plan last November to bring the GITMO terrorists to Thomson and why I fought to separate the terrorist element from the legitimate plan to open Thomson as a stand alone federal prison without the terrorists. I was concerned the controversial GITMO side of the plan would swamp our efforts to open it as a federal prison and create much needed jobs for the people of northwest Illinois. I was relieved when I received a letter back from the Administration in March stating they planned to purchase and open Thomson as a federal prison even if they could not get authorization from Congress to move the GITMO terrorists there.
     “With today’s devastating vote against moving the terrorists, I again call on the President to proceed with purchasing Thomson and fully utilizing it as a federal prison without the terrorists.”
     In a letter to President Obama earlier this week, Manzullo said another 750 maximum security federal inmates could be incarcerated at Thomson if the Administration allowed the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to use the three pods (200 cells in each pod) currently set aside for GITMO terrorists. The BOP is planning to house 1,800 maximum security federal inmates in the other five pods at Thomson and would welcome the additional space.
      “Housing an extra 750 federal prisoners at Thomson would create more civilian job opportunities while further reducing the current 52 percent overcrowding in the federal prison system’s maximum security division,” Manzullo said. “I strongly urge the President to fully utilize Thomson as a federal prison without the terrorists.”