Durbin: Time for Congressmen to End Excuses and Increase Pressure on the Only Person Holding Up Sale of Thomson
Calls on Obama Administration to resubmit request to reprogram funds for the purchase of Thomson prison
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - While calling on the Obama Administration to send a new reprogramming request to Congress for the acquisition and activation of the Thomson Correctional Center, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today said that members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation should stop making excuses and start increasing pressure on Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) – the only person standing in the way of the federal government’s purchase of the prison.
In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr. and Deputy Attorney General James Cole, Durbin wrote: “Some in the Illinois Congressional Delegation continue to look for excuses such as [the issue of detainees] to take the pressure off of Mr. Wolf and to suggest that the Obama Administration is somehow to blame for the delay. Simply put, the State of Illinois and the Bureau of Prisons have agreed on a price and a process for purchase, the federal funds have been identified, and the issue of detainees has been settled. The only hold up is the signature of Congressman Wolf on a standard reprogramming request. Any suggestion of other outstanding issues is inaccurate.”
Durbin added that recently, members of Congress have brought up the divisive issue of whether or not Guantanamo Bay detainees would be transferred to Thomson prison despite the fact that it was made clear over a year ago, in an April 4, 2011 letter, that the Obama Administration abandoned that plan. Additionally, in response to questions from Durbin during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in June, Holder again confirmed that the Obama Administration will never seek to transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees to Thomson Correctional Center, but remains committed to purchasing Thomson and opening it as a maximum-security federal prison.
In today’s letter, Durbin said the Administration could further affirm their commitment by resubmitting a reprogramming request to Congressman Wolf: “I respectfully ask you to promptly resubmit a reprogramming request to Congress for the acquisition and activation of Thomson. Governor Pat Quinn and I stand ready to work with you to open the Thomson Correctional Center as a modern, federal maximum security prison that brings significant jobs and economic benefits to the region.”
The sale of Thomson enjoys bipartisan support from members of the Illinois and Iowa Congressional Delegations as well as broad-based local and state support. Sale of the facility will lead to significant job creation, more than 1,100 jobs, and inject at least $1 billion into the region’s economy. The DOJ believes that the acquisition of Thomson will help alleviate serious federal prison overcrowding, currently running as high as 50 percent over rated capacity, and help increase the safety of the system’s prison guards.
Text of the letter is below:
July 11, 2012
The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, DC 20530
The Honorable James Cole
Deputy Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Holder and Deputy Attorney General Cole:
I write today to ask that the Department promptly send a new reprogramming request to Congress for the acquisition and activation of the Thomson Correctional Center in Carroll County, Illinois, for use exclusively as a Bureau of Prisons maximum security facility.
As you know, in May 2011, the Department and the State of Illinois agreed on a purchase price of $165 million. The Department then transmitted a request to Congress for the reprogramming of these funds from within the Department of Justice/Bureau of Prisons accounts. Senator Barbara Mikulski, Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science, approved this reprogramming request. However, her House counterpart, Congressman Frank Wolf, denied the request. Mr. Wolf’s rejection of this reprogramming and his continued opposition to this project has denied my home state hundreds of important jobs for more than 14 months.
I have repeatedly pointed out that the sale of the Thomson Correctional Center to the federal government enjoys broad-based local and state support. It will lead to significant economic development in the Northwestern Illinois/Eastern Iowa region, including more than 1,100 direct jobs. The Bureau of Prisons believes that the acquisition of Thomson will help alleviate the safety problems associated with serious federal prison overcrowding, currently running higher than 50 percent over rated capacity in maximum security facilities, and especially help increase the safety of the system’s prison guards.
I appreciate your restatement last month at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that the Obama Administration will not seek to transfer any detainees from U.S. facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to Thomson. While I believe that this issue was settled more than a year ago, some in the Illinois Congressional Delegation continue to look for excuses such as this to take the pressure off of Mr. Wolf and to suggest that the Obama Administration is somehow to blame for the delay.
Simply put, the State of Illinois and the Bureau of Prisons have agreed on a price and a process for purchase, the federal funds have been identified, and the issue of detainees has been settled. The only hold up is the signature of Congressman Wolf on a standard reprogramming request. Any suggestion of other outstanding issues is inaccurate.
I respectfully ask you to promptly resubmit a reprogramming request to Congress for the acquisition and activation of Thomson. Governor Pat Quinn and I stand ready to work with you to open the Thomson Correctional Center as a modern, federal maximum security prison that brings significant jobs and economic benefits to the region.
I appreciate your continued support of this project.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator