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Ayotte Slams Braley for Plan to Move Guantanamo Terrorists Near Iowa

Iowa Democrat backed transfer in 2009

Thomson Correctional Center
Thomson Correctional Center / AP
September 11, 2014

U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R., N.H.) on Wednesday blasted Iowa Democrat Bruce Braley for backing a plan that would transfer terrorist prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to a facility near the Iowa-Illinois border, the Quad-City Times reports.

Braley, the Democratic Senate candidate for Iowa’s open seat this fall, said he supported the relocation of the detainees in 2009 before the $350 million plan collapsed due to congressional opposition. Ayotte said on a conference call with the Republican Party of Iowa that moving prisoners to the Thomson Correctional Center would harm national security:

"I think (Braley’s) plan to house terrorists in Iowa’s backyard is not only dangerous but also could present a number of legal issues that could make it more challenging for us to gather intelligence when we need to protect our country as we interrogate those individuals," Ayotte said.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in 2012 said the government would not move Guantanamo prisoners to Thomson.

"We will not move people from Guantanamo, regardless of the state of the law, to Thomson. That is my pledge as attorney general," Holder said during a June 2012 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

Braley remains in a virtual tie with his Republican opponent Joni Ernst in the Iowa Senate race, according to the Real Clear Politics poll average. The contest could be crucial to the GOP’s efforts to retake the Senate majority this fall.