Target Dems Lay Out the Welcome Mat for Gitmo Prisoners

FYI, a version of the release below went out to the following districts: Leonard Boswell (IA-03); Gerry Connolly (VA-11); Martin Heinrich (NM-01); Mary Jo Kilroy (OH-15); Dan Maffei (NY-25); Ed Perlmutter (CO-07); Mark Schauer (MI-07); Kurt Schrader (OR-05); Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01); David Wu (OR-01); and John Yarmuth (KY-03).

Washington- Gerry Connolly rolled out the red carpet for terror suspects today when he cast a vote against a measure requesting that his party leaders include language prohibiting the transfer of Guantanamo Bay prisoners to the United States from the 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations bill. With his stunning ‘no’ vote, Connolly not only voted to open the door to possible terrorists, but he also refused to request that all Guantanamo Bay detainees be added to Homeland Security’s “No Fly List” and shunned the idea of transparency by refusing to request that the bill be available to the public for 72 hours before receiving an up or down vote. (House Roll Call 746)

Not long ago, a senior member of Connolly’s own party objected to Democrat proposals to transfer Guantanamo prisoners to the United States. That didn’t stop Connolly from turning his back on Northern Virginia families who want to keep terror suspects out of their back yard.

“A senior Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday warned against sending detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Fort Leavenworth prison in Kansas, saying it could endanger U.S. relations with Muslim countries.

“It was also another thorn in President Barack Obama’s effort to quickly close the controversial U.S. prison in Cuba.””

“Skelton is the first senior Democrat to raise issues with moving the Guantanamo detainees to Kansas, but follows a news conference last week in which Kansas Republican Senator Sam Brownback and Republican Representative Jerry Moran blasted suggestions of moving the detainees there.” (Jeremy Pelofsky, “Democrat opposes sending Guantanamo detainees to Leavenworth,” Reuters, 8/10/09)

“Gerry Connolly’s refusal to stand up to his party’s reckless attempts to bring terrorists to the United States is a slap in the face to the Northern Virginia families who expect their congressman to fight to keep them safe,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “Connolly has repeatedly refused to stand up for Northern Virginia families, but this time it’s a matter of national security. When will Connolly get the message that Americans’ safety is more important than his blind partisanship?”

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