Congressman
Henry E. Brown, Jr.

Posted by: Brown Staff (October 28, 2009, 05:25 PM)

CHARLESTON, SC - Today, Congressman Henry E. Brown Jr. (R-SC) made the following statement after Boeing Company officials made the long-awaited announcement that they have selected North Charleston as the new location for the second 787 Dreamliner assembly line:

“Boeing’s announcement that they have chosen North Charleston, South Carolina as the location of their newest assembly line for the 787 is incredible news for the Lowcountry and our state. 

I, along with the rest of the state of South Carolina, warmly receive Boeing’s expanded presence in our community and the bright future of employment and prosperity that they bring with them. 

The greatly anticipated arrival of Boeing’s 787 marks an important milestone in our state’s involvement in commercial aviation, and I am proud that the First District has been chosen to be an even more important part of its production.

I would like to congratulate the South Carolina delegation, our state legislators, state officials and all the other parties involved for their hard work and efforts in getting Boeing to North Charleston.

It certainly is a wonderful company, run by the outstanding leadership of Mr. James McNerney, Jr. and we are proud to welcome them to the Palmetto state.”

Posted in Charleston County | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (May 20, 2009, 03:05 PM)

By 2030, Charleston roads could be clogged like Atlanta unless the system is improved.

• Congestion would have jumped by 70 percent by then.
• South Carolina has the fourth highest traffic fatality rate in the country.
• The death rate is five times higher on rural roads than other highways.
• Twenty-eight percent of the state's roads are in poor or mediocre condition
• 20 percent of its bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete

Posted in Berkeley County, Charleston County, Dorchester County, In Case You Missed It, Transportation | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (January 23, 2009, 06:00 PM)

If Not Gitmo, Then Where Should Terror Detainees Be Held?
By Sophia Yan
Time Magazine
Friday, Jan. 23, 2009

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1873669,00.html

With President Barack Obama having ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay military detention facility within a year, the U.S. faces the challenge of finding a new lockup for terrorism suspects currently behind bars, and those captured in future. Reports released by the Pentagon, the Center for American Progress, and Human Rights Watch, among others, have recommended several possible sites, most of them in military bases. But moving the Gitmo inmates almost anywhere on U.S. soil would likely set off a political firestorm.

Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha, a Democrat, is ready to see the captives moved to his own state, saying they would be "no more dangerous in my district than in Guantanamo." His constituents are far from convinced. Some see an economic benefit, because building a maximum-security prison would provide jobs. But others don't want terror suspects in their backyard. Diane Gramley, president of the 12,000-member American Family Association of Pennsylvania, has described Murtha's idea as "ludicrous." (See pictures from inside Guantanamo)

And Murtha is rare among legislators on Capitol Hill in his willingness to have the suspects incarcerated in his district. Most are vociferously opposed to the idea. Possible Gitmo replacement sites include:

1. U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
Fort Leavenworth includes a 515-bed military prison, the only maximum-security prison in the Department of Defense. There are special confinement units in which inmates can be held for up to 23 hours a day. Other security protocols involve chaining prisoners' ankles before showering; when leaving their cells, inmates are always escorted by two or three staff members. The detention center presently holds 440 major offenders, most of them serving lengthy sentences. There are correctional and treatment programs on site.

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, and Senator Sam Brownback, a Republican, have publicly opposed the idea of bringing Gitmo inmates to Leavenworth, which is in close proximity to its surrounding community, including an airport, farms, and hospitals. Brownback, terming such a transfer as "unwise and unsafe," has also introduced legislation calling for 90 days notice prior to transferring enemy combatants to another possible site, in Charleston, SC.

2. U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, South Carolina
A medium security prison, the brig can hold up to 288 inmates — and has already been used to detain several terror suspects, including Jose Padilla and Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marril. The facility is in walking distance to the Port of Charleston, and within two miles of civilian residences. Local Congressman Henry Brown, a Republican, has said moving Gitmo inmates there would be a "a high-risk move...I am fearful for what they might bring with them, and I think it would put the local citizens at risk."

3. Camp Pendleton, San Diego, CA
As the Marines' largest training facility on the West Coast, the 125,000-acre Pendleton is not lacking for space. But the local Republican Congressman, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, has mounted a fierce campaign against transferring detainees there. "The facilities, as they stand right now, are not designed to house large populations of inmates — they're not prisons," says Hunter's spokesperson, Joe Kasper. Pendleton has more than 2,600 buildings and structures, and 7,300 housing units with 14,000 military family members.

Hunter introduced legislation on Thursday to prohibit the transfer of Gitmo inmates to Pendelton or to the nearby Miramar Air Station. "Redirecting these detainees to Camp Pendleton would present a serious threat to surrounding military installations and resources, as well as the community's civilian population," Hunter wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates earlier this month.

4. Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, San Diego, CA
The 23-acre Miramar facility can hold up to 400 prisoners, and is currently staffed by over 200 personnel. It is roughly 50 miles from Miramar Air Station, home of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

Miramar was included in the bill introduced by Congressman Hunter to prohibit transferring Guantanamo detainees to existing facilities, or to construct new detention facilities in the same areas.

5. U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility, Florence, CO
Called "Supermax" — and sometimes, the Alcatraz of the Rockies — this Federal prison 90 minutes outside Denver, "houses offenders requiring the tightest controls," according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Current inmates include convicted 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussawi, 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef, and self-styled 'Unabomber' Ted Kaczynski.

The 37-acre prison has 490 beds and at present holds 430 prisoners. Like Leavenworth, it has solitary confinement units enclosed by steel doors. Extreme security is enhanced by motion detectors, cameras, laser beams, attack dogs, 1,400 remote-controlled steel doors and 12-foot high razor wire fences throughout the facility.

6. Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York City, NY
Located in lower Manhattan across the street from the Federal courthouse, the high-rise Metropolitan Correctional Center primarily detains pre-trial or holdover inmates. These prisoners are held under high security.

Posted in Berkeley County, Charleston County, Defense, Homeland Security, Terrorist Detainees | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (January 22, 2009, 03:36 PM)

Today, President Obama signed an executive order beginning the process that will eventually close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (you can read the executive order here). Many in the Congress, the press, and the security community have raised the point that this closure brings with it more questions than it answers - most importantly, what will happen to the detainees?

With the Naval Brig at Charleston continually named one of the possible locations for the eventual transfer of these detainees, Congressman Brown today clearly stated that any future decision for housing these detainees must be made by Congress and not a Washington bureaucrat:

"...while this executive order officially closes the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, it is essential that these individuals, some of the most dangerous terrorists captured during the War on Terror, only be moved after a full evaluation of all available and appropriate locations...Congress should have the final say as to where these most dangerous detainees are held if they move to the US, not the Washington bureaucrats. After all, the members of Congress are the ones who will potentially be moving the most dangerous residents of Guantanamo into their own backyards."

You can read the rest of the Congressman's statement here.

Posted in Berkeley County, Charleston County, Defense, Homeland Security, Terrorist Detainees | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (January 22, 2009, 09:43 AM)

The Consolidated Naval Brig in Charleston, with some critical infrastructure elements highlighted:

Posted in Berkeley County, Charleston County, Defense, Homeland Security, Terrorist Detainees | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (January 03, 2009, 04:07 PM)

The Charleston Chamber of Commerce has come out in opposition to transfering terrorist detainees from Guantanamo to the Consolidated Navy Brig at the Charleston Naval Weapons Station.  Congressman Brown has introduced legislation to prevent this from occuring.

Charleston Chamber Letter on Gitmo Brig 122908

Posted in Berkeley County, Charleston County, Defense, Dorchester County, Homeland Security, Terrorist Detainees | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (November 21, 2008, 03:38 PM)

The Consolidated Naval Brig in Charleston:

View Larger Map

Or the area around the federal supermax prison in Florence, Colorado:
View Larger Map

Posted in Berkeley County, Charleston County, Defense, Homeland Security | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (November 19, 2008, 05:14 PM)

Below is legislation introduced by Congressman Brown to prevent terrorist detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from being moved to the Naval Brig in Charleston. hr7272

Posted in Berkeley County, Charleston County, Defense, Homeland Security, Terrorist Detainees | View Full Posting