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Charleston,
SC
–
U.S.
Senator
Tim
Scott
(R-SC)
released
the
following
statement
in
regards
to
the
Obama
Administration
beginning
site
assessment
plans
for
domestic
alternatives
to
the
Guantanamo
Bay
prison.
These
alternatives
include
the
Naval
Brig
in
Hanahan,
SC
and
Ft.
Leavenworth
in
Kansas.
“There
is
no
plan
or
study
that
shows
transferring
prisoners
from
Guantanamo
Bay
to
South
Carolina
or
any
other
domestic
location
will
make
America
safer.
It
is
unbelievable
that
the
President
believes
they
need
to
assess
whether
the
Naval
Brig,
which
is
right
next
to
an
elementary
school
and
a
residential
neighborhood,
as
well
as
just
a
short
drive
from
one
of
the
biggest
tourist
destinations
in
the
world,
is
a
better
option
for
housing
dangerous
terrorists
than
Guantanamo
Bay.
These
detainees
are
the
worst
of
the
worst,
including
planners
of
the
September
11th
attacks
and
the
attack
on
the
U.S.S.
Cole.
They
should
stay
right
where
they
are
–
in
cells
at
the
prison
on
Guantanamo
Bay.
Congress
passed
a
bipartisan
bill
barring
the
transfer
of
detainees
to
the
United
States
for
a
reason.
Changing
this
policy
is
simply
an
awful
strategy,
and
there
are
a
variety
of
legislative
options
I
will
assess
in
order
to
fight
these
plans
for
as
long
as
it
takes.
I
am
already
working
both
with
members
of
our
delegation
and
the
Kansas
delegation
to
lead
the
charge
against
bringing
these
prisoners
into
a
domestic
setting,
and
will
be
speaking
with
multiple
members
of
the
Administration
in
the
coming
days."
###
Below
is
the
story
from Post
&
Courier:
A
Pentagon
survey
team
will
visit
the
Navy’s
Consolidated
Brig
in
the
near
future
to
assess
whether
it
is
suitable
for
holding
some
of
the
terror
detainees
now
at
Guantanamo
Bay
if
President
Barack
Obama
is
successful
in
closing
the
prison
at
the
Cuban
base.
Bringing
the
detainees
to
the
U.S.
mainland
—
or
more
specifically
to
the
Navy
jail
near
Charleston
—
has
long
been
opposed
by
South
Carolina
lawmakers
who
fear
such
a
move
would
heighten
the
region’s
susceptibility
to
a
possible
terror
plot.
[…]
The
Department
of
Defense
began
alerting
members
of
Congress
on
Friday
about
the
planned
visits,
naming
the
Charleston
brig
and
the
military
prison
at
Leavenworth,
Kan.,
as
being
in
line
to
receive
the
first
visits.
Civilian
sites
may
also
get
a
look.
“Security
and
humane
treatment
are
our
primary
concerns,
but
cost
is
also
a
factor
we’re
analyzing,”
DoD
spokesman
Cmdr.
Gary
Ross
said
in
a
statement
that
described
some
of
what
the
analysis
group
members
would
be
evaluating.
“As
the
population
at
‘Gitmo’
ages,
for
example,
additional
medical
expenses
are
required,
and
the
annual
cost
of
keeping
each
detainee
at
Gitmo
goes
up,”
Ross
said.
“Only
those
locations
that
can
hold
detainees
at
a
maximum
security
level
will
be
considered.”
Ross
didn’t
disclose
specific
details
on
when
the
survey
team
would
visit
the
brig
or
who
would
be
involved,
other
than
to
confirm
they
would
“be
in
Charleston
in
a
week
or
so.”
Closing
the
prison
at
Guantanamo
has
been
an
Obama
administration
priority
and
was
a
part
of
his
first-term
pledge
to
shut
down
the
terror-suspect
holding
site.
To
do
so,
however,
would
mean
Congress
agreeing
to
change
a
law
that
prohibits
the
transfer
of
any
detainees
from
Guantanamo
to
the
United
States.
The
Navy
originally
built
the
brig,
located
at
the
southern
end
of
the
Naval
Weapons
Station,
as
a
medium-security
holding
site
for
military
prisoners
serving
sentences
of
10
years
or
less.
But
after
9/11,
its
mission
expanded
when
terror
detainee
Yaser
esam
Hamdi,
an
American
citizen,
was
delivered
there
in
2002.
He’d
been
captured
on
a
battlefield
in
Afghanistan.
Two
other
high-profile
inmates
soon
followed,
including
“dirty
bomber”
Jose
Padilla,
and
Ali
Saleh
al-Marri,
a
Qatari
arrested
in
Illinois
as
an
alleged
al-Qaida
associate.
Since
2002,
when
the
first
detainee
arrived,
780
people
have
been
held
at
Guantanamo
Bay,
according
to
an
analysis
by
The
New
York
Times
and
NPR.
116
prisoners
remain,
the
data
shows.
The
possibility
of
the
brig
being
used
for
detainees
has
surfaced
several
times
in
recent
years,
with
residents
and
lawmakers
opposing
the
idea.
On
Friday,
U.S.
Sen.
Tim
Scott,
R-S.C.,
said
he’s
seen
nothing
in
any
of
the
prisoner
transfer
discussion
that
makes
the
nation
safer.
“It
is
unbelievable
that
the
president
believes
they
need
to
assess
whether
the
Naval
Brig,
which
is
right
next
to
an
elementary
school
and
a
residential
neighborhood,
as
well
as
just
a
short
drive
from
one
of
the
biggest
tourist
destinations
in
the
world,
is
a
better
option
for
housing
dangerous
terrorists
than
Guantanamo
Bay,”said
Scott,
reiterating
his
opposition.
“These
detainees
are
the
worst
of
the
worst,
including
planners
of
the
September
11th
attacks
and
the
attack
on
the
USS
Cole.
They
should
stay
right
where
they
are
—
in
cells
at
the
prison
on
Guantanamo
Bay,”
he
said.
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