{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://lynnjenkins.house.gov/press-releases/icymi-why-we-dont-want-guantanamo-in-our-backyard/", "ICYMI: Why We Don't Want Guantanamo In Our Backyard", "2015-12-01", "2015", "2015-12", "Republican", "House", "KS", "Lynn Jenkins", "J000290", "lynnjenkins.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins (KS-02) and LeavenworthMayor Lisa Weakley published a joint editorial in the Independent Journal Review explaining their bipartisan opposition to President Obama\u2019s attempts to transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This comes after President Obama continues efforts to close Guantanamo, despite Congress having passed laws making any prisoner transfer illegal, and his signature on the FY216 National Defense Authorization Act. The text of the editorial is as follows:\r\n\r\n\t\u00a0\r\n\r\n\tWhy We Don\u2019t Want Guantanamo In Our Backyard\r\n\r\n\tCongresswoman Lynn Jenkins & Mayor Lisa Weakley\r\n\r\n\tIJ Review\r\n\r\n\tDecember 1, 2015\r\n\r\n\tThere is a reason that people across the country stand firmly in opposition to the President Barack Obama\u2019s proposal to shut down the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay and transfer dangerous detainees to American soil.\r\n\r\n\tIt isn\u2019t safe. The 107 detainees at Guantanamo Bay are there because their own countries refuse to take them back, believing the detainees are too dangerous.\r\n\r\n\tWe understand the President has campaign promises he\u2019d like to keep. However, as he considers issuing an executive order closing the facility and transferring the terrorists to places in the United States, we ask that he hear us out. As elected officials representing Leavenworth, Kansas \u2014 one potential destination for the detainees \u2014 he needs to understand the devastating impact his actions could have on communities like ours.\r\n\r\n\tIn 2008, the City of Leavenworth initially became aware of the possibility of a transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees. That\u2019s when a grassroots, bipartisan effort began against such an idea.\r\n\r\n\tSince that time, the City Commission, along with federal and state representatives, have worked steadfastly to educate why Leavenworth is not a suitable location. Most people can\u2019t even believe this is being considered, to put detainees in a small, rural setting.\r\n\r\n\tBefore he possibly chooses the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, the President needs to understand that moving these terrorists to our community will jeopardize our families, schools and downtown businesses. Several folks have already said that they will leave our community should the President choose Fort Leavenworth. These are the world\u2019s most dangerous terrorists.\r\n\r\n\tFort Leavenworth is known as the home of the U.S. military\u2019s only maximum-security facility. What a lot of people don\u2019t realize is that Fort Leavenworth is a campus-like setting with a mission to serve as the Intellectual Center of the Army. Here, we host the best and brightest international military leaders to train and exchange ideas with the U.S. military\u2019s rising leaders. The Combined Arms Center also uses lessons learned from the collective military community to write doctrine \u2013 a tool that ensures our military can adapt to modern warfare.\r\n\r\n\tBut should this transfer move forward, many of our Middle Eastern allies who send officers to train at Fort Leavenworth would likely stop the practice.\u00a0Ask anyone in the U.S. military leadership and they will tell you Fort Leavenworth is an invaluable resource, allowing us to gain knowledge from outside sources and build strategic partnerships with our allies, which is integral in keeping us safe. Is the President willing to endanger crucial military training practices and strategic partnerships with our allies to make good on a misguided campaign promise?\r\n\r\n\tThe President worries that GITMO is a motivation for further terrorism, but wouldn\u2019t simply shifting the detainees to the mainland make their next location the same thing? It could cause folks to leave Leavenworth, weaken our community, and devastate on our local economy.\u00a0We ask that the President begin listening to the American people and drop his misguided plans of possibly transferring Guantanamo Bay detainees to Fort Leavenworth or any other American facility.\r\n\r\n\t# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://lynnjenkins.house.gov/press-releases/icymi-why-we-dont-want-guantanamo-in-our-backyard/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.1223670337349176, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}