Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
The proposed move of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Illinois is something U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley says he can and will fully support.
“Our primary concern has always been ensuring the safety and security of Iowa’s families,” Braley said Wednesday during a conference call with reporters. “That’s why, rather than just demagoguing on the issue, I traveled to Thomson on two separate occasions.”
U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley
After it was announced that the Illinois facility, just across the Mississippi River from Clinton, was being considered as a possible U.S. holding site for Guantanamo detainees, Braley met with officials from the White House, Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. He also attended a town hall type meeting with the residents of Thomson and has spoke with elected officials from the portions of Iowa geographically closest to the proposed site.
“During all of those conversations, the people I spoke to, repeatedly assured me and the residents in the area that were committed to enhancing this maximum-security prison that already exists — a state-of-the-art facility — and making sure that it would be the most secure facility in America,” he said.
“If you look at the numbers, it is undeniable that it will have a tremendous economic impact on the communities surrounding the prison, many of which have high levels of unemployment, and would bring as much as a billion dollars to the area and create 3,000 jobs. That’s why I’m committed to continuing to work very closely with the White House, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and other appropriate agencies to make sure that my constituents’ interests and concerns about their security are strongly considered as the plan progresses.”
The facility, which has remained mostly vacant since it was opened in 2001 due to Illinois budget issues, is expected to house fewer than 100 terror detainees along with more than 1,000 other extremely dangerous federal prisoners. According to information provided by the White House, federal authorities would purchase the existing facility from Illinois, and several significant upgrades would be made prior to use. Specifically, a courtroom would be constructed on site as well as possible medical facilities. Braley said he is not yet aware of any appropriations figures before Congress in connection with the Thomson site.
While federal authorities can move forward with purchasing the facility, it cannot move detainees to the site unless a law passed earlier this year that prohibits transfer of those individuals to prisons on U.S. soil is either modified or rescinded. Authorities will also need to determine how they will deal with certain detainees deemed too dangerous for release, but lacking sufficient evidence for prosecution in either federal court or in military commissions.
“We have the capacity to make sure that we protect the citizens around these federal facilities, and that is why I believe the transfer of detainees to Thomson is a sound policy and good for the people I represent,” Braley said.
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