GITMO North Is the Worst Option on the Table

On Monday, Politico reported that South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham was in negotiations with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on a plan to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and transfer the terrorist detainees to a prison in Thomson, Illinois. With all due respect to the Senator, there are some particular details about Illinois facility he should know.

On January 6, 2010, three prisoners escaped from the Tri-County Detention Center in Ullin, IL. Local schools were immediately closed and communities were put on alert, as the federal prisoners were considered “armed and dangerous.” It seems these three prisoners are still free and on the run.

Yet, just two months prior, Illinois liberals in Congress were pushing to move Guantanamo Bay detainees to a prison in Thomson, Illinois. With three inmates escaping from a federal prison in the same state, one would think that it would make the Thomson prison deal radioactive.

If this issue isn’t radioactive now, it should be.

Press reports about the Thomson facility note repeatedly that it is in “rural” Illinois. What they don’t mention is the Thomson prison is just 25 miles away from a nuclear power plant. Worse, the prison is only 50 miles away from one of the largest military arsenals in the United States.

I could think of a few better places to put Al-Qaeda terrorists.

I know that politicians like to jump into things without thinking about it first, especially when federal dollars are involved, but we as citizens should have a few questions answered before they decide to put terrorists within 25 miles of a nuclear plant.

First, Guantanamo Bay is almost impossible to get to. If one were to actually break out of the facility, there is just about nowhere to go. Still, we should know if there have been prison-break attempts. Have allies of the terrorists tried to organize a strike against the facility? Why does it make sense to move terrorists to the middle of America, where there is easy access and open country to flee into?

Second, Kansas and Michigan chose to turn the same deal down. What was their reasoning for their rejection of Gitmo North? What information were they given that made them turn down the claimed 3,000 high-paying jobs? After all, isn’t Michigan’s economy much worse than that of Illinois?

Third, why is Illinois selling the prison to the feds at a fraction of the cost of its worth? Especially during a time when Gov. Quinn is releasing prisoners due to overcrowding. Aren’t we going to have to build another prison to fix the overcrowding problem? How much will that cost?

Furthermore, the politicians have coated this proposal in honey, by promising 3,000 high paid jobs. Providing 3,000 jobs is going to cost a lot of money. The median pay for a federal prison guard is around $30,000 a year. That means that this plan is going to cost taxpayers over $90 million a year to house terrorists on our own soil.

Even more, according to a public memo released from Congressman Don Manzullo’s office, the 3,000 jobs will not be given out to locals or people in the surrounding area. In fact, it is estimated that 1,500 of these jobs will be filled by the U.S. Army. The politicians are also not telling the public about the special requirements needed to be a federal prison guard. Instead they act like these jobs are going to be handed out like candy at the Fourth of July parade.

Last, how will transferring prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to Illinois, make our country safer? Is a name and location change going to make our enemies hate us less? Even if Guantanamo Bay is erased from history, Al-Qaeda terrorists will still be busy recruiting more and more terrorists to attack America.

In a recent statement, Rep. Phil Hare, my opponent in November, smeared me for choosing “fear mongering” over a promised 3,000 jobs. Am I fear mongering? I guess you could call it that. I fear putting a terrorist prison next to a nuclear power plant and a massive military arsenal. I fear surrendering one of our state prisons to the feds could result in more criminals being turned loose because of overcrowding in other facilities. And, I fear for my ten children and wonder what kind of America they will inherit from my generation.

It is sad to note that some politicians are more concerned with making a headline about bringing jobs, rather than our own security.

Bottom line: even if the promised 3,000 jobs actually materialized, it is not worth the thousands of lives we are putting at risk by bringing Al Queda terrorists onto our turf.

Again, Sen. Graham, please stop trying to negotiate away our security in Illinois. In return, when I’m elected to Congress in November, I promise to not try to move terrorists to Charleston.