By Bill Raack, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri agrees with President Obama that the country's prison facilities are secure enough to house terror suspects from Guantanamo.
The president Thursday defended his decision to close the prison facility in Cuba and send some of the detainees to the U.S. McCaskill says she believes the administration will be careful to protect citizens from these inmates.
"The notion that America can't figure out a way to lock these people up someplace in a way that will keep America safe is silly. Of course we can. Of course we can lock these people up and keep America safe," McCaskill said. "And the more quickly we can shut down the recruiting tool for terrorists the safer we're gonna be."
McCaskill's fellow senator from Missouri, Republican Kit Bond, does not agree. He says placing Guantanimo detainees in U.S. prisons would pose an unnecessary risk to citizens, giving them full access to the U-S court system and create the possibility of escape.
"Just recently the FBI Director Mueller told Congress that bringing Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States would pose a number of possible risks even if they were kept in maximum security prisons and I agree with that," Bond said.