U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat and assistant Senate
majority leader, announced Tuesday that the Obama administration will
purchase the unused Thomson prison from the state of Illinois for $165
million.
Durbin hailed the acquisition as an instance of
collaboration between Gov. Pat Quinn and the U.S. Justice Department
Federal Bureau of Prisons. “This historic action will lead to the
creation of hundreds of construction jobs and over 1,000 permanent jobs
at this facility,” Durbin said in a statement.
Cheri Bustos, the
Democratic nominee in the 17th congressional district that includes the
village of Thomson, said the sale was “great news because there should
be no higher priority than putting people in our district back to work,”
in an e-mailed statement.
While the agreement might indeed prove a boon
to an economically troubled region, it emerged out of exasperation with
U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Virginia), chairman of the House appropriations
subcommittee that controls the Justice Department budget. Read more »
Dueling letters fired off by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and
U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Virginia) indicate that Illinois will not
complete a sale of the unused Thomson Correctional Center in Carroll
County anytime soon – thanks largely to Wolf’s ill will toward Attorney
General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama.
In a sweeping four-page missive
(PDF) to Durbin Friday that begins with quoting Simon & Garfunkel’s
“The Boxer” (“Man hears what he wants to hear…and disregards the
rest”), Wolf explained that his problem is not with the senator. “I don’t
want this situation to develop into a ‘Durbin v. Wolf’ battle,” he added.
Instead, Wolf's gripe is with Obama's alleged abuse of power.
Also,
despite assurances to the contrary, Wolf writes that Guantanamo
detainees may end up in Thomson or another federal facility. “I do not trust this
administration not to acquire Thomson to make room in other high
security prisons to transfer detainees to the U.S," Wolf wrote.
The 17th Congressional District race between U.S. Rep. Bobby Schilling
(R-Colona) and Democratic nominee Cheri Bustos of East Moline is a
nationally-watched battle. This is not only because the race is close,
but also due to a bevy of high-profile local issues.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said under oath
before a Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday what he has said for well
over a year – that the dormant prison in Thomson, Illinois the federal Justice
Department wants to buy would never hold detainees currently at
Guantanamo Bay.
Instead, the facility, built by the state
government in 2002 only to languish, will house federal inmates. According to the claims by Illinois Democrats and Republicans, the Obama administration, and village of Thomson, use of the prison in such a capacity would revive a downbeat
local economy.
Yet one lawmaker has evidently stopped the
conversion of Thomson Correctional Center to a Federal Bureau of Prisons operated facility: U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (pictured), a Republican from Virginia. “The matter has
been discussed and debated for over a year,” said U.S. Senator Dick
Durbin, an Illinois Democrat at the Senate committee meeting. “It was
held up by one Republican Congressman.” Read more »
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat and assistant Senate
majority leader, announced Tuesday that the Obama administration will
purchase the unused Thomson prison from the state of Illinois for $165
million.
Dueling letters fired off by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and
U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Virginia) indicate that Illinois will not
complete a sale of the unused Thomson Correctional Center in Carroll
County anytime soon – thanks largely to Wolf’s ill will toward Attorney
General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama.
