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WASHINGTON- Congressman Henry E. Brown, Jr. (SC) made the following statement today after introducing legislation that would prohibit the use of funds to transfer any of the hundreds of individuals currently held at the United States Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, South Carolina:
“Considering housing so many of these dangerous terrorists and supporters of terrorists in Charleston would be a horrible mistake. The Naval Consolidated Brig is, first and foremost, a medium-security facility, focused on housing members of the United States Armed Forces. While it is located on a military base, the brig is also less than a mile away from a highly populated civilian area. Bringing these extremely dangerous war criminals, deemed too high of a threat to be sent home, would add an unnecessary terrorist threat to our community.”
The Brig is a short distance from the Port of Charleston’s North Charleston terminal, I-526 and major military facilities like the Naval Weapons Station, SPAWAR and the Naval Nuclear Power Training Command. In addition to placing hundreds of detainees with ties to al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations right in the backyard of hundreds of thousands of Lowcountry residents, housing them at the Consolidated Brig may open up additional risks to these transportation and military facilities.
“In situations such as these, it is understandable that no would want to house these detainees in their area,” Brown continued, “but the fact is that there are far better options than bringing them to Charleston. Facilities such as the maximum security military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, or the existing federal “supermax” prison in Florence, Colorado, are all locations better equipped to securely and separately hold hundreds of individuals with ties to terrorists from civilians.”
Any decision to close the facility housing detainees at Guantanamo should only come after a full evaluation of all alternate locations. A thorough review of neighboring civilian and military installations and infrastructures and the possible threat to nearby residential communities must also be considered, all the while providing ample opportunity for community input and a full disclosure of potential risks. I look forward to working with the incoming Administration and my colleagues in Congress to ensure that large numbers of terrorist detainees do not present a new security risk to the Lowcountry.
For more information on the Brig in Charleston, Fort Leavenworth in Kansas and the “super max” prison in Florence, Colorado, visit the following sites:
Satellite of the Brig in Charleston: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=charleston,+sc&ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ll=32.902578,-79.968538&spn=0.023601,0.054932&t=h&z=15
Fort Leavenworth: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=fort+leavenworth,+ks&ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ll=39.378033,-94.934599&spn=0.011262,0.027466&t=h&z=16
ADX Florence: http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&q=38.359,-105.101&ie=UTF8&ll=38.357946,-105.091953&spn=0.045699,0.077248&z=14&g=38.359,-105.101
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