The National Republican Congressional Committee is calling on Democratic candidates for Pinellas County’s Congressional District 13 seat to renounce President Barack Obama’s plan to shut down Guantánamo Bay in Cuba.
“Do Charlie Crist and Eric Lynn support the President and his dangerous policy,” the NRCC asked in an email. “Or will they finally stand against President Obama and put the safety of American citizens before the liberal’s insatiable political need to close GITMO?”
“I was working for the President at the Pentagon when he made his first push to close the facility at Guantanamo Bay, I supported him then and I support him now,” Lynn responded. “Along with Donald Trump’s intolerant rhetoric, this detention center is one of the most powerful recruiting tools for terrorist groups in the Middle East and it is time we shut it down. We have maximum security prisons that already deal with some of the most dangerous criminals in our country like Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and they are more than equipped to handle the prisoners currently in Guantanamo Bay.”
Obama sent a plan Tuesday to Congress outlining a plan to close the facility and transfer prisoners. It examined 13 potential facilities. Some of the 91 remaining prisoners at Guantánamo Bay have been deemed too dangerous to be transferred to other countries and would have to be moved to a facility in the U.S.
“There are currently 91 remaining detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, 35 of which are expected to be transferred by summer while the rest are awaiting trial or deemed too dangerous to transfer,” the NRCC email read. “In December, we learned that al-Qaida leader Ibrahim al-Qosi, a former GITMO detainee who was transferred out in 2012, has returned to the battlefield and appeared in a new al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.”
The email claims that nearly 30 percent of detainees released from Guantánamo Bay are either confirmed or suspected to have re-engaged in terrorist activity. They cite a report from the Director of National Intelligence.
“It is unconscionable for Charlie Crist and Eric Lynn to stand silently as President Obama moves forward with his irresponsible plan and puts safety of Americans at risk,” said NRCC Communications Director Katie Martin. “Charlie Crist and Eric Lynn need to start standing up for the American people instead of letting a lame duck president steamroll our national security as he heads toward the exit.”
Obama listed closing Guantánamo Bay one of his campaign priorities in 2008. His administration says the base is used as a recruitment tool for terrorists and closing it would remove that enticement. It would also save an estimated $65 to $85 million a year meaning the estimated $290-$475 million cost to retrofit an American facility for transferred detainees would be offset in about five years.
Crist has not released a public statement on the proposed plan to shutter Guantánamo Bay and didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. And it’s a topic that has been overall quiet among the two Congressional candidates.
Crist has had a shifting political stance on issues in Cuba. As governor, he opposed lifting the long-standing trade embargo with the island nation but later favored it during his unsuccessful 2014 bid for Governor. Crist had said after announcing he was running for Congress he would be traveling to Cuba, but has not made the trip.
Lynn has traveled to Cuba and has said he plans to push for things like a consulate in St. Pete.
“Under current law, the Obama administration is prohibited from moving GITMO prisoners to U.S. soil, and only 27 percent of American citizens support the President’s plan to close the facility,” the NRCC wrote. “Will Charlie Crist and Eric Lynn stand by silently, risking the safety of American citizens as President Obama fights to fulfill a campaign promise he made to the extreme left?”
Crist and Lynn are running in the Democratic Primary to replace outgoing CD 13 Representative David Jolly who is running on the Republican ticket for Marco Rubio’s U.S. Senate seat.
