Republicans running for their party’s nomination to succeed retiring 1st District Congressman Ed Whitfield are in agreement that President Barack Obama’s plan to close the naval station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba should be blocked.
Hickman County Attorney Jason Batts says closing the military prison at the base would be a mistake because some of the prisoners are too dangerous to be brought to the United States.
"The Obama administration’s proposal to bring an unknown number inside our borders and hold them in locations that have yet to be revealed is chilling," Batts said in a statement.
Former Whitfield field director Mike Pape is calling for swift action from GOP leaders in Congress to reject Gitmo's closure.
"Many American families including my own have lost loved ones in the battle to round up these terrorists and to keep America safe," Pape said in his own statement, released a day after Batts'. "President Obama's unrelenting desire to bring these killers to our shores and to house them in our communities and near our homes is unacceptable."
James Comer, who left office as Kentucky's commissioner of agriculture earlier this year after an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid, says he will fight any such proposals if he’s elected.
"President Obama's proposal to close Guantanamo Bay would put our nation at risk," Comer told WKMS. "I am adamantly opposed to the transferring of terrorist detainees to American soil."
Trigg County cattle farmer and Army veteran Miles Caughey says the base should actually be utilized more.
"It's highly ridiculous to close it," Caughey said. "We should be filling it up more than it is now."
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says Obama’s plan isn’t a solution, saying any attempt to move prisoners to the U.S. would amount go a “Guantanamo North”.
The two Democrats vying for their party's nomination - Paducah attorney Tom Osborne and Army veteran Sam Gaskins of Hopkinsville - could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Kentucky's primary election is set for May 17.
