This afternoon I signed a petition put forward by Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas stating opposition to President Obama’s planned closing of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Senator Roberts has taken the lead on this issue because Fort Leavenworth in Kansas is a potential site for the administration to bring terrorists into the United States.

By now, we are all familiar with the type of individuals who are housed at Guantanamo Bay. They are, some by their own admission, absolutely committed to the destruction of the United States and the deaths of innocent Americans. They do not care if you are a Republican or a Democrat. They do not care what race you are, what religion you believe or if you believe they should be allowed access to our justice system or not. They do not see red states and blue states. They only see Americans they want to destroy and will use any means to further that goal.

It is clear the Obama Administration did not follow the tried and true advice: look before you leap. In their race to appease the radical left in our country, they announced the closing of Guantanamo Bay without a full accounting of the consequences. Now nations are refusing to take these terrorists off our hands, the White House’s self imposed deadline to have a plan in place has been missed and our nation, already drowning in debt, is looking to spend millions of dollars recreating a similar facility on American soil to do nothing more than score some public relations points. Senator Sam Brownback, also of Kansas, had this to say in today’s Washington Post:

"It makes no sense to spend millions and millions of dollars to build what we already have at Guantanamo. Fort Leavenworth is a medium security facility with one maximum security wing that can house only 30 prisoners. That wing could not handle all that is required for detainees, support staff, and court facilities. . . . This is a bad idea chasing after another bad idea on a hurry up timeline."

I have consistently said that I am absolutely opposed to bringing these terrorists to the United States and giving them access to United States courts. They are not criminals. They are combatants in a war that cost America more than 3,000 lives on September 11 and many more since. Terrorists who have no respect for, and want to destroy, the foundations of our liberty do not have the right to benefit from them.

If you wish to add your voice, Senator Roberts' petition can be found here.