Cole Introduces Bill to Keep GTMO Detainees Out of U.S.

Vows to Fight Detainee Relocation to Fort Sill and other Communities in the United States

WASHINGTON – U.S. Congressman Tom Cole (OK-4) introduced legislation today to prohibit use of the Department of Defense's (DOD) funds to transfer enemy combatants from Guantanamo Bay to the United States. It also prohibits using DOD's funds to build or repair holding facilities in the U.S. that would be used to house detainees. Cole's bill is H.R. 1012, the "Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility Safe Closure Act of 2009."

"Our country is engaged in an active war against terror," Congressman Cole said. "Closing the facility that houses many known terrorists is irresponsible and potentially dangerous. I cannot support a plan to close a facility that has safely held high security risk detainees in favor of a PR-move that may put Americans in the path of danger. The complex at Guantanamo Bay has housed terrorists who planned the American Embassy attacks in Yemen as well as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. These are dangerous terrorists that do not belong anywhere near American communities."

On January 22, 2009 President Obama announced his intention to close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center in Cuba. According to a report issued by the House Armed Services Committee in 2007, the following American facilities were listed as potential relocation points for the individuals held at Guantanamo Bay:

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas;
Fort Knox, Kentucky;
Fort Sill, Oklahoma;
Fort Lewis, Washington;
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina;
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California;
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California;
NAVBRIG Norfolk, Virginia;
WPNSTA Charleston, South Carolina;
NAVSTA Pearl Harbor, Hawaii;
SUBASE Bangor, Washington;
NAS Jacksonville, Florida;
NAS Pensacola, Florida;
MCB Quantico, Virginia;
Edwards Air Force Base, California;
Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico;
Lackland Air Force Base, Texas

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