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Braley scolds critics of proposed terrorist transfer

Nov. 18, 2009 2:36 pm
By James Q. Lynch
The Gazette
First District Rep. Bruce Braley scolded critics of the possible move of terrorist detainees from Guantanamo to a federal prison in northwest Illinois near the Iowa border for failing to inform themselves about the proposal.
“Rather than engage in political fear mongering, I did what my constituents elected me to do,” Braley told reporters. “I drove to Thomson, Illinois, where I received an extensive briefing from representatives from the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Defense.”
In his conference call, Braley, a Waterloo Democrat, repeatedly said that if critics of the White House plan – including Republicans in the Iowa congressional delegation – had attended that briefing they would know the facts.
“If people had taken the time, like I did, to travel to Thompson, Ill., and get an extensive briefing from the Federal Bureau of Prisons director, like I did, they would be aware of this fact,” Braley said when asked about criticism of his position.
“I'm keeping an open mind, and doing what I can to protect the interest of my constituents and at the same time learn the facts and educate myself about how this will impact my constituents,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Iowa Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn called on Braley to 4
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District Rep. Tom Latham's “Keep Terrorists Out of the Midwest Act” to block the transfer of the terrorist-detainees to Iowa and other Midwestern states.
Latham, an Ames Republican, said he was prompted by news that the Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., has emerged as a leading option for prosecution and incarceration.
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley also weighed in against the plan. Like Latham, he has heard from Iowans with security concerns if the prisoners are moved to Illinois.
Strawn urged Braley and his Democratic colleagues to “stand by their October votes to house terrorists on American soil … and tell (President Obama) that these terrorists aren't welcome in the Heartland?”
“My question for Matt Strawn,” Braley said, “is ‘Where were you when convicted terrorists were being housed in federal prisons in the Midwest?'” He said 340 inmates with connections to either international or domestic terrorism have been held in federal prisons, including 35 in Illinois.
“We have successfully apprehended, convicted and incarcerated terrorists,” he said, noting that members of Colombian drug cartels, who have private armies, are successfully housed in federal prisons.
Braley noted Nazi prisoners of war were held in Algona during World War II.
The use of the Thompson prison could have a $1 billion-a-year economic impact on the area. That includes 800 federal prison employees on-site as well as the construction jobs created by the expansion of the facility to make it more secure that even the super-max prison in Florence, Colorado, Braley said.
As largest nearby city, Clinton, Iowa, would likely reap much of the economic benefit, Braley said. Clinton and Jackson counties, which have high unemployment, would benefit from the “real, tangible economic benefits” that would be generated by holding up to 150 prisoners nearby.
Iowa Republicans' opposition to the use of the Illinois prison puts them at odds with fellow Republicans and conservatives including Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullin, former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr and Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist, Braley said.
Rep. Bruce Braley