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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The federal government has expressed the intent to
3close Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and relocate some of the 91
4detainees remaining in the prison to top-security locations on
5American soil; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson,
7Illinois was purchased by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in
8October of 2012 and is one of the top-security locations being
9considered for relocating the detainees; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The United States Department of Justice has voiced
11opposition to using the Thomson Correctional Center as a
12federal prison for Guantanamo Bay detainees because the Justice
13Department made a public commitment in 2012, after purchasing
14the facility, that it would not relocate detainees to the
15correctional center; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Then United States Attorney General, Eric H.
17Holder, Jr., pledged to the United States Senate Judiciary
18Committee in 2012 not to move detainees from Guantanamo Bay
19"regardless of the state of the law"; and
 
20    WHEREAS, According to a senior administration official of
21the Justice Department, federal funding for the Thomson

 

 

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1Correctional Center was approved based on the understanding
2that no Guantanamo Bay detainees would be transferred to the
3center; and
 
4    WHEREAS, These detainees are unlawful enemy combatants and
5should be detained in a purpose-built facility constructed for
6the specialized duty of confining such criminals under
7extraordinary conditions of high security, including: (a) the
8maintenance of a sufficiently secured perimeter around the
9facility, and (b) specially trained and specialized security
10guards who are members of the United States Armed Forces or be
11persons who have undergone equivalent training to members of
12the United States Armed Forces; and
 
13    WHEREAS, The Thomson Correctional Center does not meet the
14standards for housing unlawful enemy combatants for an
15indefinite amount of time, especially not for those who have
16committed some of the most heinous crimes and are considered
17public threats such as these detainees; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Housing these detainees in the State of Illinois
19may cause unrest in the community and pose a risk to the
20citizens of Illinois; therefore, be it
 
21    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
22NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we

 

 

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1state the belief that the Thomson Correctional Center, located
2in the thickly-populated rural section of northwest Illinois
3near the Mississippi River, is not a suitable location for the
4indefinite detention of some 91 unlawful enemy combatants from
5Guantanamo Bay; and be it further
 
6    RESOLVED, That we urge the federal government to remember
7the pledge set forth by United States Attorney General Eric H.
8Holder, Jr. that the Thomson Correctional Center would not be
9used to detain prisoners from Guantanamo Bay; and be it further
 
10    RESOLVED, That we urge President Barack Obama and his
11administration, in the weightiest terms, to reconsider the
12decision to close the facilities on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on
13the grounds that such location is by far the safest and best
14suited location for the indefinite detention of unlawful enemy
15combatants; and be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
17delivered to the President of the United States, the members of
18the Illinois congressional delegation, and the Governor of
19Illinois.