What They Are Saying About Senator Scott’s Efforts to Keep Gitmo Detainees Out of South Carolina

Charleston, SC – U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) has been leading the charge, along with colleagues in and outside of South Carolina, against President Obama’s plan to relocate dangerous international terrorists currently held in the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp in Cuba to any domestic sites on US soil, including one in South Carolina. His fight continues to garner the attention of editorial boards, local and national media.

SOUTH CAROLINA…

Times & Democrat Editorial: “Fearing South Carolina is again about to become the home that no other state wants to be has leaders rightly standing up against federal plans to transfer terrorist detainees from the U.S. prison facility at Guantanamo Bay near Cuba to military prisons in South Carolina and Kansas. […] Joining in opposition are South Carolina Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and Kansas U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, who authored an opinion column for the Wall Street Journal making key points about why the Obama plan is unwelcome and a very bad idea. [“Guantanamo terrorists don’t belong in S.C.,” Times & Democrat, 8/28/15]

Post & Courier: “Scott, who lives in Hanahan, has called the detainees ‘the worst of the worst,’ including planners of the 9/11 attacks and the attack on the USS Cole. ‘They should stay right where they are – in cells at the prison on Guantanamo Bay,’ he said recently.” [Schuyler Kropf, “Gov. Nikki Haley draws line in the sand over Gitmo prisoner transfer to Navy brig,” Post & Courier, 8/20/15]

The State: “Obama could issue an executive order to move the detainees. But Scott said he would fight bringing detainees to anywhere in the nation – even if it means withholding federal money. ‘If you jeopardize American security, all bets are off the table,’ Scott said Thursday. ” [Andrew Shain, “Gov. Nikki Haley opposes moving Guantanamo Bay detainees to SC,” The State, 8/20/15]

WIS Columbia: “South Carolina Senator Tim Scott has also been vocal on social media about the potential move. Our leaders are drawing a line in the sand and I agree with them. Enemy combatants of the United States don’t belong here. South Carolinians need to send a united message to national leaders: find somewhere else to house the people many see as terrorists.” [“Terrorists should not be held in SC,” WIS Columbia, 8/25/15]

The State: “U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-N. Charleston, immediately blasted the idea of sending the Gitmo prisoners to the Palmetto State.” [Lolita C. Baldor, “Pentagon assessing S.C. brig as an option for Guantanamo,” The State (Associated Press), 8/14/15]

NATIONALLY…

Washington Times Editorial: “President Obama is pleased with himself for his diplomatic opening to Cuba. The rest of us wouldn’t be pleased with what he wants to close. The president’s long-standing goal of shuttering the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay appears to be advancing apace. This was one of Cuban President Raul Castro’s demands for the “normalization” of relations with the United States, and he doesn’t need to twist Mr. Obama’s arm. Closing the prison at Gitmo, however, raises the large problem of where to put the prisoners. Nobody wants them in his backyard. […] ‘These detainees are the worst of the worst, including planners of the September 11th attacks and the attack on the USS Cole,’ says Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a Republican. ” [“‘No’ to closing Guantanamo,” Washington Times, 8/18/15]

The Hill: “Republican state leaders and lawmakers are pushing back against the Pentagon’s potential plans to relocate Guantanamo Bay detainees to prisons in their states […]Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) has also vowed to fight any transfers to Kansas, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has started a petition against such transfers.” [Kristina Wong, “Republicans ramp up effort to block Gitmo transfers to their states,” The Hill, 8/26/15]

Newsmax : “A plan by the Protection Division to maneuver Guantanamo detainees to prisons on U.S. soil is towards the regulation and harmful to Americans, says Sen. Tim Scott […] The Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, S.C., is likely one of the army amenities being thought-about to take the prisoners taken within the conflict on terror as President Barack Obama makes an attempt to satisfy his pledge to shut the jail on the U.S. army base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.” [Times Staff, “Sen. Tim Scott: Bringing Gitmo Prisoners to US Soil Puts Lives in Danger,” Newsmax, 8/26/15]

Los Angeles Times: “Senior lawmakers in Kansas and South Carolina remain fiercely opposed to relocating detainees to their states, however, and opposition in the Republican-led Congress appears overwhelming…Opponents argue that no U.S. facility is as secure as the offshore site in Cuba.” [W.J. Hennigan, “Pentagon is on the hunt in U.S. for Guantanamo replacement,” Los Angeles Times, 8/18/15]

Senator Scott has also written an editorial for Post & Courierand an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, which he co-authored with Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS).

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