Congressman
Henry E. Brown, Jr.

Congressman Brown firmly believes that the US Naval Brig at Charleston's Naval Weapons Station is the last place to house the terrorists currently at the United States Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 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.

Congressman Brown has been a leader in the efforts to ensure that detainees from Gitmo do not come to Charleston or on America's shores. From introducing legislation to prevent Gitmo Detainees from being moved to the First District to working with Republican Leadership to craft the Keep Terrorists out of America Act, leglislation that stands with the American people in opposition to efforts to bring terrorists from Gitmo into the United States.

Top Ten Terrorists held at Gitmo that Could be Coming to Charleston Under President Obama's Plans:

Khalid Sheikh Muhammad
The mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, as well as several subsequent plots against American and Western targets worldwide. Masterminded a 2003 plot to smuggle explosives into New York and target gas stations, railroad tracks, and a bridge.

Hambali
Formerly al-Qaeda’s operations chief for SouthEast Asia; helped plan the first Bali bombings in 2002 that killed more than 200. Had longstanding ties to al Qaeda senior operative Khalid Sheikh Muhammad.

Abu Zubaydah
Recruited by Osama Bin Laden to be one of al Qaeda’s senior travel facilitators. Oversaw the ‘Khaldeen group’ camp used to train three of the 9/11 hijackers. At the time of his capture, he was attempting to organize a terrorist attack on Israel.

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani
One of the FBI’s Most Wanted terrorists. He has been indicted for his role in the 1998 East Africa Embassy bombings, and has forged or altered passports for many al Qaeda’s operatives.

Mustafa al-Hawsawi
One of two key financial facilitators entrusted by 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Muhammad (KSM) to manage the funding for the hijackings. Met with Osama Bin Laden and his top lieutenant soon after the 9/11 attacks.

Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri
Mastermind and local manager of the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. At the time of his capture, al-Nashiri was orchestrating attacks on U.S. interests in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Abu Faraj al-Libi
Served as a communications conduit for al Qaeda managers to Osama Bin Laden from August 2003 until his capture in 2005. Took over operational responsibilities in the Pakistan-Afghanistan theater after Khalid Sheikh Muhammad’s arrest.

Walid bin Attash
Alternated between serving as a bodyguard for Osama Bin Laden and participating in combat against the Northern Alliance. Osama Bin Laden reportedly selected him to become a 9/11 hijacker, but he was arrested while attempting to obtain a U.S. visa.

Ramzi Binalshibh
Served as the primary communications intermediary between the 9/11 hijackers and al Qaeda’s leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lead operative – until his capture in 2002 – in the post-9/11 plot to crash hijacked aircraft into London’s Heathrow Airport.

Majid Khan
Assisted in research into the feasibility of a plan to blow up U.S. gas stations and to poison U.S. water reservoirs. Khan passed a “test” Khalid Sheikh Muhammad orchestrated showing he was committed to become a suicide operative.

 

October 30, 2009
Brown Reacts to News thatGITMO Detainees May Be Relocated to Charleston
WASHINGTON- In light of breaking news that terrorist detainees at the Guantanamo Bay facility may soon be relocated to the Naval Consolidated Brig in Hanahan, South Carolina where they likely could face trial, Congressman Henry E. Brown, Jr. (R-SC), an original cosponsor of the Keep Terrorists Out of America Act, made the following statement: Full Story »

July 21, 2009
Brown Statement on the Delay of Administration's Six-Month Report on GITMO Terrorist Prison
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Henry E. Brown, Jr. (R-SC) issued the following statement after the Administration delayed its six-month report, as ordered by the President’s executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay terrorist prison by January 2010: Full Story »

June 10, 2009
Brown on the Importation of First GITMO Prisoner to US Soil
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Henry E. Brown Jr. (R-SC) issued the following statement on Guantanamo Bay terrorist prisoner Ahmed Khalfan that has been transferred and is now being tried in New York City: Full Story »

May 7, 2009
Brown Joins the Charge for the Keep Terrorists Out of America Act
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Henry E Brown, Jr. (R-SC) joined his fellow House Republicans in cosponsoring the Keep Terrorists Out of America Act, legislation aimed at stopping the transfer or release of terrorists held at the Guantanamo Bay prison into the United States. Full Story »

April 29, 2009
Brown Demands that National Security Come First
Washington, D.C.- As today is President Obama’s 100th day in office, Congressman Henry E. Brown Jr. (R-SC) made the following comments on the President’s national security policies: Full Story »

April 17, 2009
Brown: DHS Accusations "Unacceptable"
WASHINGTON, DC – As the Ranking Member on the Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health Congressman Henry E. Brown Jr. (R-SC), issued the following statement on a Department of Homeland Security report that characterizes veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan as vulnerable for recruitment into “terrorist groups”: Full Story »

February 19, 2009
Brown Continues to Block Gitmo Detainees from the First District
Washington, D.C. –Today, U.S. Congressman Henry E. Brown Jr. (R-SC) reaffirmed his commitment to the safety and security of this country when he signed Military Families United’s pledge to forbid the detainees at the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to be relocated into the First District of South Carolina. The letter asked each member of Congress if they were willing to provide housing to the detainees at Guantanamo Bay upon the closure of the facility within the year. Full Story »

January 22, 2009
Brown Urges Congress to Make Ultimate Decision on Gitmo Detainees
WASHINGTON - Today, President Obama issued an executive order for the full closure of the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. This action has been anticipated since Obama’s inauguration and follows his orders, just hours after taking office yesterday, to halt the military trials of the remaining detainees at Guantanamo. In response to the President’s announcement, Congressman Henry E. Brown (R-SC) made the following statement:   Full Story »

November 19, 2008
Brown Introduces Legislation to Prohibit Transfer of Gitmo Detainees to Charleston
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: Full Story »

September 11, 2008
Brown Reflects on September 11, 2001
WASHINGTON, DC- This morning, Congressman Henry E. Brown, Jr. (R-SC), joined many of his colleagues in honoring the lives of those who perished in the September 11th attacks at the dedication of the Pentagon Memorial.  After the ceremony on the Pentagon grounds, Congressman Brown made the following statement: Full Story »

September 9, 2008
Brown Votes to Halt Mexican Trucks at the Border
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Henry E. Brown, Jr. (R-SC), a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, applauded the House’s decision to prohibit the Department of Transportation (DOT) from continuing with a pilot program involving cross-border trucking with Mexico. H.R. 6630, a bill co-sponsored by Brown, would stop both Mexican trucks and contaminated food from entering the country. After today’s action, Congressman Brown made the following statement: Full Story »

June 19, 2007
Congressmen Brown and Clyburn Honor the Charleston Firefighters by Leading a Moment of Silence on the House Floor
WASHINGTON, DC – First District Congressman Henry E. Brown, Jr. and House Majority Whip and Sixth District Congressman James E. Clyburn led the U.S. House of Representatives today in a moment of silence to honor the nine fallen Charleston firefighters.  They made the following statements on the floor followed by the moment of silence. Full Story »

Content 4

Category:Terrorist Detainees

SHOCK VIDEO: HOUSE DEM SAYS TERRORISTS SHOULD RECEIVE SAME “DUE PROCESS” RIGHTS AS U.S. TROOPS

Posted by: Brown Staff (May 07, 2009, 05:25 PM)

IS THIS THE DEMOCRATS’ PLAN FOR DEALING WITH THE TERRORIST THREAT?

In a House Appropriations Committee debate this afternoon, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) waded into a discussion about what to do with the cold-blooded terrorists housed at the Guantanamo Bay prison and offered this solution: give them the same “due process” rights as American troops.  That’s right.  Some of the most dangerous terrorists on the face of the Earth … enjoying the same rights as men and women defending our nation from attack.

Can’t believe it?  See it for yourself:

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA):  “I think we can use the Uniform Code of Military Justice in the military courts which are very much a home-court advantage and we can held up to the rest of the world that we’re giving these detainees the same due process we give our own troops when they’re brought up on court martial charges.  Nothing more and nothing less.”

Giving terrorists like Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks on America, and Abu Zubaydah, who personally trained some of the 9/11 hijackers, the same rights as the men and women protecting Americans from terrorists hell-bent on destroying America and our allies?  As shocking as Rep. Schiff’s solution sounds, the question is: Do Democratic leaders in Congress and the Administration agree with him?  Is this their plan for dealing with the terrorist threat?

Posted in Homeland Security, Terrorist Detainees | View Full Posting

 

Dems Don't Fund Bid To Close Gitmo

Posted by: Brown Staff (May 05, 2009, 11:33 AM)

House Democrats dealt the White House a setback yesterday and dropped President Obama’s request for $81 million to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp bowing to strong Republican criticism that the administration lacks a plan to relocate terror suspects detained there.

Mr. Obama requested the money as part a spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Democratic appropriators left it out of the bill circulated Monday among House Appropriations Committee staffers. Read more here.

Posted in Homeland Security, Terrorist Detainees | View Full Posting

 

GITMO UPDATE

Posted by: Brown Staff (May 01, 2009, 12:15 PM)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this month that he "fully" expects every member of Congress to draft legislation prohibiting the transfer of military detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to  U.S. prisons. As I have drafted and submitted legislation stating just this, 15 of my House Republican colleagues and I also wrote a letter this month to Congressmen David Obey and Jerry Lewis, Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Appropriations respectively, expressing our opposition to the proposed funding in the FY09 War Supplemental to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, and the relocation of those detainees to other facilities, including military installations in the United States.

Posted in Homeland Security, Terrorist Detainees | View Full Posting

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: TIME NAMES CHARLESTON #2 SPOT TO RELOCATE GITMO DETAINEES

Posted by: Brown Staff (January 23, 2009, 06:00 PM)

If Not Gitmo, Then Where Should Terror Detainees Be Held?
By Sophia Yan
Time Magazine
Friday, Jan. 23, 2009

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1873669,00.html

With President Barack Obama having ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay military detention facility within a year, the U.S. faces the challenge of finding a new lockup for terrorism suspects currently behind bars, and those captured in future. Reports released by the Pentagon, the Center for American Progress, and Human Rights Watch, among others, have recommended several possible sites, most of them in military bases. But moving the Gitmo inmates almost anywhere on U.S. soil would likely set off a political firestorm.

Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha, a Democrat, is ready to see the captives moved to his own state, saying they would be "no more dangerous in my district than in Guantanamo." His constituents are far from convinced. Some see an economic benefit, because building a maximum-security prison would provide jobs. But others don't want terror suspects in their backyard. Diane Gramley, president of the 12,000-member American Family Association of Pennsylvania, has described Murtha's idea as "ludicrous." (See pictures from inside Guantanamo)

And Murtha is rare among legislators on Capitol Hill in his willingness to have the suspects incarcerated in his district. Most are vociferously opposed to the idea. Possible Gitmo replacement sites include:

1. U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
Fort Leavenworth includes a 515-bed military prison, the only maximum-security prison in the Department of Defense. There are special confinement units in which inmates can be held for up to 23 hours a day. Other security protocols involve chaining prisoners' ankles before showering; when leaving their cells, inmates are always escorted by two or three staff members. The detention center presently holds 440 major offenders, most of them serving lengthy sentences. There are correctional and treatment programs on site.

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, and Senator Sam Brownback, a Republican, have publicly opposed the idea of bringing Gitmo inmates to Leavenworth, which is in close proximity to its surrounding community, including an airport, farms, and hospitals. Brownback, terming such a transfer as "unwise and unsafe," has also introduced legislation calling for 90 days notice prior to transferring enemy combatants to another possible site, in Charleston, SC.

2. U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, South Carolina
A medium security prison, the brig can hold up to 288 inmates — and has already been used to detain several terror suspects, including Jose Padilla and Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marril. The facility is in walking distance to the Port of Charleston, and within two miles of civilian residences. Local Congressman Henry Brown, a Republican, has said moving Gitmo inmates there would be a "a high-risk move...I am fearful for what they might bring with them, and I think it would put the local citizens at risk."

3. Camp Pendleton, San Diego, CA
As the Marines' largest training facility on the West Coast, the 125,000-acre Pendleton is not lacking for space. But the local Republican Congressman, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, has mounted a fierce campaign against transferring detainees there. "The facilities, as they stand right now, are not designed to house large populations of inmates — they're not prisons," says Hunter's spokesperson, Joe Kasper. Pendleton has more than 2,600 buildings and structures, and 7,300 housing units with 14,000 military family members.

Hunter introduced legislation on Thursday to prohibit the transfer of Gitmo inmates to Pendelton or to the nearby Miramar Air Station. "Redirecting these detainees to Camp Pendleton would present a serious threat to surrounding military installations and resources, as well as the community's civilian population," Hunter wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates earlier this month.

4. Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, San Diego, CA
The 23-acre Miramar facility can hold up to 400 prisoners, and is currently staffed by over 200 personnel. It is roughly 50 miles from Miramar Air Station, home of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

Miramar was included in the bill introduced by Congressman Hunter to prohibit transferring Guantanamo detainees to existing facilities, or to construct new detention facilities in the same areas.

5. U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility, Florence, CO
Called "Supermax" — and sometimes, the Alcatraz of the Rockies — this Federal prison 90 minutes outside Denver, "houses offenders requiring the tightest controls," according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Current inmates include convicted 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussawi, 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef, and self-styled 'Unabomber' Ted Kaczynski.

The 37-acre prison has 490 beds and at present holds 430 prisoners. Like Leavenworth, it has solitary confinement units enclosed by steel doors. Extreme security is enhanced by motion detectors, cameras, laser beams, attack dogs, 1,400 remote-controlled steel doors and 12-foot high razor wire fences throughout the facility.

6. Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York City, NY
Located in lower Manhattan across the street from the Federal courthouse, the high-rise Metropolitan Correctional Center primarily detains pre-trial or holdover inmates. These prisoners are held under high security.

Posted in Berkeley County, Charleston County, Defense, Homeland Security, Terrorist Detainees | View Full Posting

 

Obama Signs Executive Order to Close Guantanamo; Brown: Congress Should Have Final Say

Posted by: Brown Staff (January 22, 2009, 03:36 PM)

Today, President Obama signed an executive order beginning the process that will eventually close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (you can read the executive order here). Many in the Congress, the press, and the security community have raised the point that this closure brings with it more questions than it answers - most importantly, what will happen to the detainees?

With the Naval Brig at Charleston continually named one of the possible locations for the eventual transfer of these detainees, Congressman Brown today clearly stated that any future decision for housing these detainees must be made by Congress and not a Washington bureaucrat:

"...while this executive order officially closes the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, it is essential that these individuals, some of the most dangerous terrorists captured during the War on Terror, only be moved after a full evaluation of all available and appropriate locations...Congress should have the final say as to where these most dangerous detainees are held if they move to the US, not the Washington bureaucrats. After all, the members of Congress are the ones who will potentially be moving the most dangerous residents of Guantanamo into their own backyards."

You can read the rest of the Congressman's statement here.

Posted in Berkeley County, Charleston County, Defense, Homeland Security, Terrorist Detainees | View Full Posting