Congressman
Henry E. Brown, Jr.

Posted by: Brown Staff (May 12, 2009, 04:49 PM)

I am proud to support H.R.1178, legislation that unanimously passed the House of Representatives today requiring an assessment of how the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) can support homeland security missions.

Consisting of 57,000 volunteers from all across the country, equipped with 500 planes, the Civil Air Patrol stands ready to support the United States Air Force and the Department of Homeland Security in the event of a natural disaster, a man-made emergency, border security issues or terrorist threats.

Overall, the studies approved by this legislation will find that using CAP resources to bolster our border security and assist in disaster response is a sensible and cost-effective measure that passed here today will ensure that the Civil Air Patrol is functioning properly and supporting both the United States Air Force and the Department of Homeland Security to the best of its ability.

For more information on H.R. 1178, click here and for more information on the Civil Air Patrol, click here.

Posted in Defense, Homeland Security | View Full Posting

Posted by: Brown Staff (April 03, 2009, 10:52 AM)

Last night the President's Budget passed the House and Senate with NO Republican votes in either chamber.
Read about my support of the alternative GOP budget plans that offered reasonable solutions for middle class families, focused directly on creating jobs, tax relief and empowering small businesses to survive and grow.

Posted in Defense, Economy, Energy, Environment and Wildlife, Health Care, Homeland Security, Retirement, Taxes | 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

Posted by: Brown Staff (November 11, 2008, 04:20 PM)

MAKING VETERANS A PRIORITY 365 DAYS A YEAR

WASHINGTON, DC- Congressman Henry E. Brown Jr. (R-SC) made the following statement regarding America’s bravest citizens as he and the rest of the nation celebrated our Veteran’s individual sacrifices on this Veterans Day:

“In times of war, one is constantly reminded of the selflessness many of our uniformed men and women have displayed in recent years. Veterans Day is a time to reflect on those and the acts of all of our nation’s protectors.

I am proud to serve as a member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, prioritizing the needs of our veterans and current service members, and am even more proud of the fact that, at a time when almost all federal agencies are seeing their budgets held level or reduced, veterans funding has more than doubled since I took office in 2001.

As a former Chair of the VA Committee’s Subcommittee on Health, I am especially glad that so many of these increases will help ensure that qualifying veterans have access to the highest quality health care and benefits at VA facilities, including the nearly 100,000 veterans living in the First District.

While increasing veterans’ benefits is a top priority, making sure that the delivery and execution of those benefits is swift and productive is important as well. I supported legislation to reform the disability claims review system to reduce the backlog and provide veterans with the benefits they deserve in a timely manner. 

I have also supported and introduced influential veteran’s legislation that has designated ALS as a service connected disorder as well as legislation that would double the pension for Medal of Honor recipients.  I am a proud cosponsor and supporter of the Post-9/11 GI Bill and a sponsor of The Military Surviving Spouse Equity Act, which would provide equality in benefits for the thousands of surviving spouses of military retirees. 

Locally, I worked with area veterans’ service organizations to bring the Moving Wall to the District this past October, allowing coastal South Carolina veterans, their families, and average citizens a unique opportunity to pay respects to the heroes of the Vietnam Era. 
 
It is important that we remember, not only on this day, but every day of the year, that our Veterans have risked their lives to protect us, and I remain tirelessly committed to working towards ensuring they receive the health care,  benefits and legislative support  they have earned in service to this country.”

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Posted in Defense, Veterans | View Full Posting

Posted by: Henry E. Brown (September 11, 2008, 12:22 PM)

Today, I joined my colleagues and on the grounds of the Pentagon for the dedication of the Pentagon Memorial.  We were joined by President Bush, many of those who were inside the Pentagon on that fateful day, and by the rescue workers who bravely charged into the smoke and flames without regard for their own safety.  The ceremony was not just to dedicate the memorial, it was to honor the lives of those lost and recognize the strength of their surviving family members and the unfailing resolve of our nation. 

After the ceremony, every member of Congress, both House and Senate, went to the Capitol steps to mark that even during times of partisan disagreement, we still can stand together as a Congress and as a nation.  I will certainly be reflecting a great deal today, thinking back to an event that so changed our nation and remembering those who were lost seven years ago today.  You can read more of my thoughts as part of a statement I released earlier today.

Posted in Defense, Homeland Security | View Full Posting

Posted by: Henry E. Brown (August 28, 2008, 02:05 PM)

An important new piece of Lowcountry history was made earlier this month, as Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Center (SSC) Charleston celebrated the integration of the 10,000th Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle. MRAP vehicles, which are specially designed and manufactured to protect troops from IDEs and other treats they face in Iraq, are outfitted with a full complement of communications, computers, command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) equipment at SSC Charleston.

Four soldiers who have used MRAP vehicles in Iraq provided first-hand accounts of the vehicles capabilities and offered vivid testimony as to their life-saving role in support of their mission.

While MRAPs are built by many companies around the country, including in Charleston, all of them must come to SPAWAR for final integration to make them ready for the warfighter.  And getting them ready requires a full team effort with so many partners, especially Charleston’s 841st Transportation Battalion, Charleston Air Force Base 437th and 315th Airlift Wings, and many commands on¬ the Naval Weapons Station. 

I have been proud to support this effort in Congress, working with my colleagues to provide the funding needed to buy these vehicles and get them into the field protecting our troops as soon as possible.  However, if the hard working folks in Charleston hadn’t stepped up, they never would have gotten there. 

And they certainly did get there – going from inception to full rate production in little over a year.  The team generally integrates 5 MRAPs a day, but has completed as many as 69 in one day to make sure they are on the way to protect our troops.  Indeed, the Secretary of the Navy has compared the work done at SPAWAR to the work done at the Naval Shipyard more than 65 years ago when we fought a different enemy. 

Hats off to these hard working Lowcountry residents – your country owes you a debt of gratitude. 

Posted in Defense | View Full Posting

Posted by: Henry E. Brown (July 23, 2008, 06:50 PM)

When our service men and women return home from combat zones all over the world, they never expect to be denied entrance into the airports of their own country.

Believe it or not, this has been occurring to our nation’s bravest. In September 2007, soldiers returning home from Iraq were denied access to the terminal building at Oakland International Airport.  The passengers aboard this military charter had already been screened in Kuwait and granted access to the terminal at Kennedy International Airport in New York. 

My colleagues on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and I took particular notice of this occurrence.  After looking into things, we requested that the Department of Transportation investigate the incident. 

The report revealed the need for a uniform process for handling members of the Armed Forces coming into U.S. commercial airports. As a result, the Department of Defense, the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration signed a Memorandum of Understanding that outlines proper protocols for ensuring that our soldiers are always treated with respect at commercial airports.

This new policy will be going into effect immediately.  Our fighting men and women should be able to see the families as soon as possible after landing – and not have to sit through a security line.  For more information on the Memorandum of Understanding go to http://republicans.transportation.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=441.

Posted in Defense, Transportation, Veterans | View Full Posting