Marathon Pundit: Ill. GOP: When will Rep. Jerry Costello end his silence on Gitmo North?

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Ill. GOP: When will Rep. Jerry Costello end his silence on Gitmo North?

The silence among some members of the Illinois Democratic delegation regarding Gitmo North continues.

From an Illinois Republican Party press release:

CHICAGO – Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady today called on Congressman Jerry Costello to end his silence on Governor Quinn and Senator Durbin's plan to build a new Gitmo facility in Thomson, Illinois to house up to 215 Al Qaeda terrorists.

On October 1, 2009, Costello was one of only 88 Democrats in Congress who voted to keep Gitmo open and strip language from the Homeland Security Appropriations bill allowing terrorists to come to the United States (Roll Call 746). But in the days since Quinn and Durbin announced their plan to close Gitmo and bring Al Qaeda terrorists to a new military detention facility in Illinois, Costello has remained silent.

“Jerry Costello was not sent to Congress to sit on the sidelines. I hope Jerry Costello will have the courage to do what’s right and oppose bringing Al Qaeda terrorists to Illinois,” Brady said.

According to a survey of 1,781 likely Illinois voters conducted Monday night, less than one-third of Illinois voters support a plan to move terrorists from Gitmo to Thomson, Illinois while 57 percent call it a “bad idea.” Sixty percent of women and 58 percent of independents oppose the plan. Even Democrats narrowly oppose the plan, 44.5 percent to 43 percent.

Yesterday, Democratic Congresswoman Melissa Bean told the Lake County News Sun and the Daily Herald she opposes transferring Guantanamo detainees to Illinois without substantial assurances regarding potential security threats.