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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, In 2001, the United States Congress authorized the
3 use of "all necessary and appropriate force" against those
4 responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks; in pursuance of the
5 authorization, the United States has captured numerous
6 suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban members and detained them at
7 several locations, including the U.S. Naval Station at
8 Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and
 
9     WHEREAS, Shortly after President Obama took office in
10 January of 2009, 3 executive orders were signed that require
11 the eventual closure of the detention facility, order the
12 immediate reviews of each detainee's status, and establish a
13 Special Task Force on Detainee Disposition that was tasked with
14 identifying lawful options for the disposition of Guantanamo
15 detainees and others captured by the United States; and
 
16     WHEREAS, The Obama administration recently proposed that
17 United States government purchase the Thomson Correctional
18 Center in Illinois to serve as a detention center for the
19 detainees at Guantanamo Bay; and
 
20     WHEREAS, Numerous enacted authorization and appropriations
21 measures passed by the 111th United States Congress affect the
22 treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and restrict the use

 

 

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1 of federal funds to transfer or release Guantanamo detainees
2 into the United States; and
 
3     WHEREAS, Section 14103 of the Supplemental Appropriations
4 Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-32), enacted in June of 2009, restricts
5 the use of funds appropriated by the Act or any prior Act for
6 the transfer or release of detainees into the United States; in
7 addition, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations
8 Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-83), the National Defense Authorization
9 Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (P.L. 111-84), and the Department of
10 the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations
11 Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-88) generally bar the use of federal
12 funds appropriated in those or "any other" Acts for the release
13 or transfer of a Guantanamo detainee into the United States or
14 specified U.S. territories; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Existing Acts passed by the 111th United States
16 Congress clearly bar such a transfer of dangerous detainees
17 from Guantanamo Bay into the United States without the direct
18 authorization of Congress; therefore, be it
 
19     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
20 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
21 urge Congress to maintain its restrictions on the transfer of
22 detainees from the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
23 as reflected in legislation passed by the 111th Congress; and

 

 

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1 be it further
 
2     RESOLVED, That we further urge Congress to refrain from
3 taking actions that could be interpreted as granting
4 constitutional rights to non-citizen detainees whose only
5 access to rights would be derived from a claim of sovereignty
6 is based on their transfer to a facility or facilities in the
7 United States; and be it further
 
8     RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
9 presented to the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the
10 United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the
11 United States House of Representatives, U.S. Secretary of State
12 Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, U.S.
13 Attorney General Eric Holder, and each member of the Illinois
14 congressional delegation.