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TO URGE THE UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE NOT TO TRANSFER OR RELEASE DETAINEES AT GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION CAMP IN CUBA TO SOUTH CAROLINA OR TO RELEASE SUCH DETAINEES IN THIS STATE, AND TO URGE THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO PASS MEASURES PROHIBITING SUCH TRANSFERS OR RELEASES.
Whereas, the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks necessitated the War on Terror, an international military campaign against certain terrorist organizations and regimes; and
Whereas, in the course of waging the War on Terror, the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp was established at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba to detain extraordinarily dangerous persons, to interrogate detainees in an optimal setting, and to prosecute detainees for war crimes; and
Whereas, over seven hundred and eighty people captured in the War on Terror subsequently have been housed in the prison, and in recent years efforts to transfer these prisoners to the United States have developed; and
Whereas, mindful of its obligation to protect the public safety of the citizens of South Carolina and those who visit our State for business or pleasure, the General Assembly strongly objects to any effort to move known or suspected terrorists housed in Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp to South Carolina; and
Whereas, the General Assembly respectfully implores the United States Secretary of Defense, who statutorily has final authority to transfer these prisoners, not to transfer any of these prisoners to South Carolina; and
Whereas, the General Assembly also implores the United States Congress to take measures to prohibit the transfer of these prisoners to South Carolina, whether it be in an explicit prohibition or the refusal to fund the cost of such transfers. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, urge the United States Secretary of Defense not to transfer or release detainees at Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp in Cuba to South Carolina or to release such detainees in this State, and to urge the United States Congress to pass measures prohibiting such transfers or releases.
Be it further resolved that copies of this resolution be forwarded to the Honorable Ashton B. Carter, United States Secretary of Defense, and the members of the South Carolina Congressional Delegation.
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