HR1053 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1053 LRB099 20906 GRL 45713 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The federal government has expressed the intent to close Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and relocate some of the 91 detainees remaining in the prison to top-security locations on American soil; and

WHEREAS, The Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Illinois was purchased by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in October of 2012 and is one of the top-security locations being considered for relocating the detainees; and

WHEREAS, The United States Department of Justice has voiced opposition to using the Thomson Correctional Center as a federal prison for Guantanamo Bay detainees because the Justice Department made a public commitment in 2012, after purchasing the facility, that it would not relocate detainees to the correctional center; and

WHEREAS, Then United States Attorney General, Eric H. Holder, Jr., pledged to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee in 2012 not to move detainees from Guantanamo Bay "regardless of the state of the law"; and

WHEREAS, According to a senior administration official of the Justice Department, federal funding for the Thomson Correctional Center was approved based on the understanding that no Guantanamo Bay detainees would be transferred to the center; and

WHEREAS, These detainees are unlawful enemy combatants and should be detained in a purpose-built facility constructed for the specialized duty of confining such criminals under extraordinary conditions of high security, including: (a) the maintenance of a sufficiently secured perimeter around the facility, and (b) specially trained and specialized security guards who are members of the United States Armed Forces or be persons who have undergone equivalent training to members of the United States Armed Forces; and

WHEREAS, The Thomson Correctional Center does not meet the standards for housing unlawful enemy combatants for an indefinite amount of time, especially not for those who have committed some of the most heinous crimes and are considered public threats such as these detainees; and

WHEREAS, Housing these detainees in the State of Illinois may cause unrest in the community and pose a risk to the citizens of Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we state the belief that the Thomson Correctional Center, located in the thickly-populated rural section of northwest Illinois near the Mississippi River, is not a suitable location for the indefinite detention of some 91 unlawful enemy combatants from Guantanamo Bay; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the federal government to remember the pledge set forth by United States Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. that the Thomson Correctional Center would not be used to detain prisoners from Guantanamo Bay; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge President Barack Obama and his administration, in the weightiest terms, to reconsider the decision to close the facilities on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on the grounds that such location is by far the safest and best suited location for the indefinite detention of unlawful enemy combatants; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the President of the United States, the members of the Illinois congressional delegation, and the Governor of Illinois.