President Obama is asking for more than $230 million in the 2011
budget to buy and prepare an idle Illinois prison to house terrorism
suspects now detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The Justice
Department budget for 2011 unveiled Monday calls for about $172 million
for the federal government to acquire and renovate the state-owned
prison in Thomson, Illinois, and another $66 million to eventually
staff and equip it.
The budget requires congressional approval,
and several lawmakers in both the House and Senate have vowed to block
the funds, potentially preventing the transfer of many of the 192
remaining Guantanamo detainees to U.S. soil.
"Even though
Americans are facing tremendous economic challenges, the administration
has chosen to spend $237 million dollars in taxpayer money to provide
free travel, room and board in Thomson, Illinois for some of the most
dangerous Guantanamo detainees," said a statement Monday by Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign
Affairs Committee. "It is time for the president to focus on the
security and economic needs of the American people, rather than on the
needs of those dangerous extremists who seek to do us harm."
Even if the funds are approved by the start of the 2011 budget
year in October 2010, Justice Department officials said Monday the
transfer of any detainees was unlikely to start until several months
later.
In addition to the cost of the Illinois
prison, the Justice Department budget seeks another $73 million dollars
for the transfer, prosecution and incarceration of five Guantanamo Bay
detainees currently slated to stand trial in criminal court for their
alleged roles in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Justice
Department officials told reporters that includes about $23 million for
security, $15 million for transportation, $15 million for litigation,
$7 million for detainee housing and another $12 million for related
expenses.
Gary Grindler, the acting deputy attorney general,
said the Justice Department is committed to a civilian trial for Khaled
Sheik Mohammed and four others charged in the September 11, 2001, terrorism case. Grindler said no decision has been made on whether the trial would be moved from New York City.
White
House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs also said Monday that the government
was still examining whether to hold the trial in New York City or
somewhere else.
Federal officials informed New York authorities
that the cost of a long-running trial in New York City could approach
$1 billion.
New York officials including Mayor Michael Bloomberg
are increasingly opposed to conducting the trial in Manhattan due to
the high cost and disruptions it would cause.
Julie Menin,
chairwoman of a city community advisory agency, proposed four
alternative locations for the trial within the Southern District of
Manhattan: Governors Island, Stewart Air National Guard Base in
Newburgh, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the Bureau of
Prisons jail complex at FCI Otisville.
The latter three are all
in Orange County, New York, a county less than an hour away from New
York City, county executive Edward Diana told CNN.
Diana opposes holding the trial in Orange County, and warned he would mount a legal challenge to try to stop it.
A
West Point spokesman said last week that no one has officially
requested a review of demands for such a trial, which would require
in-depth study of legal and security concerns.
Comments (0)
Tell friend
Print
