Congressional Dems block release of security data to Illinois delegation

Should Congress debate the decision to relocate Gitmo detainees to Illinois with the full picture of the security issues involved? House Democrats blocked Republicans from releasing the full data on security, after which Rep. Pete Hoekstra released this statement 30 minutes ago (emphases mine):

U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., released his opening statement from today’s House Intelligence Committee meeting related to the intelligence impacts on the transfer of terrorist detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the United States. On the day that President Obama is to announce the transfer, Democrats rejected Hoekstra’s request to provide access to relevant security information related to the detainees to members of the Illinois congressional delegation. They also watered down his resolution of inquiry on the intelligence impact, rendering it useless for the purposes of transparency and conducting oversight into the administration’s Guantanamo Bay decision-making.

Opening Statement for Congressman Peter Hoekstra
House Intelligence Committee Meeting on Guantanamo Bay
As Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate your scheduling today’s meeting to consider H. Res. 923, a resolution I sponsored to require the President to produce to the Committee all documents that relate to the potential loss of intelligence collection that may result from bringing Guantanamo detainees to the United States.

This matter is extremely timely. The Administration informed us last night that it intends to move hard-core al Qaeda terrorists to the United States for detention, even though right now that use of funds is prohibited by law and even though it has refused to brief either this Committee or the Committee on Armed Services in advance with respect to its intentions. In fact, we learned late last week that this move was close when a draft Executive Order was made public last week – not by the “most transparent Administration” in history, but instead by a blog. The decision has been made even though the relevant Committees of Congress still have not been consulted or briefed.

The American people have a right to know about the hardcore terrorists being brought to their neighborhoods, the threats that they pose and the serious issues that do not yet appear to have been addressed that must be answered before taking such an extreme step. One of these questions is the impact of such a move on intelligence collection, including potential warning of future attacks on the United States or intelligence that could affect the safety and security of the American communities in which the terrorists will be relocated. My resolution would require fuller disclosure and transparency on potential intelligence losses.

Before addressing the specifics of my resolution, Mr. Chairman, I also must address a related matter. On December 8, 2009, Republican members of the Illinois delegation – including Representatives Manzullo, Shimkus, Biggert, Kirk, Johnson, Roskam and Schock – requested access to classified information held by the Committee that I believe should be highly relevant to any decision to bring Guantanamo detainees to the State of Illinois. I reinforced this request in a follow-up letter dated December 11, 2009 and made an independent motion under the Committee Rules that a redacted version of the classified material be made available to these Members. The Committee Rules explicitly require such requests to be considered at the “earliest practicable opportunity.”

The classified information in question has been briefed to at least you and I for several months, and is in no way new to the Committee – you will remember that we had to fight to have the full Committee briefed. It is also highly material to the decision that will directly affect citizens in the districts of each of these Members of Congress. Simple fairness demands that we consider this request immediately.

That’s why I was surprised to receive a letter from you yesterday refusing to consider this request at today’s business meeting as the Rules specifically require. Mr. Chairman, you indicated you have refused to consider this request because “We have not yet been able to secure feedback … from the Administration.” The material in question has been condensed by my staff to one page. I find it difficult to believe that this material could not be reviewed in a day.

Although the Rule permits such consultation with the Administraion, nowhere does it authorize delaying the required prompt consideration of a Member’s request for this purpose. This is the next scheduled business meeting of the Committee, and it is certainly practicable to consider the urgent requests of these Members today. Refusing to do so in my view does not comply with the Committee Rules and can only further reinforce the public perception that the Administration is hiding critical facts from most Members of Congress and the public.

The Committee should not need permission from an Administration that has so completely refused to share any information with Members of Congress who have a direct interest in their districts in the threats that may be posed by Guantanamo detainees. “Next year” will be far too late.

Accordingly, I wish to make a formal point of order on the record that the failure to consider either the request of the Members of the Illinois delegation for access to the information, or my separate request to provide the information to those members is inconsistent with the express requirements of Committee Rule 12 that such request be considered at the “earliest practicable opportunity.” I urge you to reconsider this matter, and request that my objection be formally entered into the record.

Mr. Chairman, if we cannot have full transparency today, I hope that we can at least obtain some transparency with respect to potential losses to foreign intelligence collection from any movement of Guantanamo detainees to the United States, which is the subject of my resolution.

I have asked repeatedly for briefings on this matter, beginning almost immediately after the President’s Executive Order to implement his campaign promise to close Guantanamo by the end of the year – a promise that almost certainly will not be kept. For almost a year now, there has been little but stonewalling and a refusal to discuss the hard questions. I have asked until I am blue in the face. There have been no answers.

That is why I introduced H. Res. 923, which would require the President to provide the Committee with any documents that “relate to the effects on foreign intelligence collection of the transfer of detainees held at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, into the United States.” I would hope that all Members of this Committee would want any information that is available to conduct oversight on this topic, because we currently have almost none. I cannot imagine why the resolution should be contentious or controversial, and I hope that all Members of the Committee will support it on a bipartisan basis.

The decisions that will be announced today on Guantanamo detainees need to be fully considered in sunlight, not forced upon the American people who have not been given access to all of the facts. This Committee has a right to know on behalf of the American people, and I hope we can take a small step today toward some meaningful transparency. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

If the committee cannot consider the request because the White House is stonewalling the request, then the committee should be subpoenaing the appropriate administration officials to get an answer. That should take place before Obama moves a single detainee. If it doesn’t, Congress should act to block such action until the White House starts working with Congress on the issue.

Mike Pence (R-IN) blasted the decision today as a pander to international opinion rather than increasing public safety:

“I was here at the Capitol on September the 11th. I watched the smoke rise from the Pentagon. I walked in the ashes of Ground Zero one week later. Terrorism is not theoretical to me. That’s why, like most Americans, I was astonished to read this morning’s press reports that the Obama Administration is about to transfer over seventy known dangerous terrorists from the military detention facility in Guantanamo Bay outside the United States to a prison inside the United States in the heartland of America, in the state of Illinois.

“By moving known terrorists to American soil, the Obama Administration is putting international public relations ahead of public safety. How does closing Guantanamo Bay make us safer? How does moving over seventy known terrorists, to a facility in my beloved heartland of this country, make our families more safe? And how does it even make sense? Mr. President: rescind this order; reconsider your decision, put the safety and security of the American people ahead of international public opinion.”

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