by Christi Parsons
The Obama administration plans to purchase a state prison in rural Thomson, Ill., regardless of whether Congress allows terrorist suspects to be transferred there, a Department of Justice official said today.
In a letter to a member of the Illinois delegation to Congress, Asst. Atty. Gen. Ronald Weich spelled out the administration's intent to go ahead with plans to buy the near-empty Thomson prison, even if lawmakers refuse to approve its use as a new home for detainees at the military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
At the very least, Weich said, the federal Bureau of Prisons intends to use the facility for high-security federal inmates. The letter comes in response to questions from Rep. Donald Manzullo, the Republican who represents the area in Congress.
The Department of Justice has asked for $237 million in next year's budget to buy and begin operating the facility in Thomson. It also has the option of requesting funds sooner than that to upgrade the security provisions at the prison and prepare it for its intended use.
President Obama has directed the agency to buy the facility "to fulfill both of the goals of reducing federal prison overcrowding and transferring a limited number of detainees out of Guantanamo," Weich wrote in the letter. The Thomson prison is critical to Obama's plan to shut down infamous Guantanamo prison, which administration officials consider to be a recruiting tool for anti-American extremists worldwide.
However, the department "would be seeking to purchase the facility in Thomson even if detainees were not being considered for transfer there," the letter says.
Such an assurance could ease some objections to the Thomson purchase by members of Congress. Some are worried about the political and security fallout of moving terror suspects to a domestic site. Unless Congress changes current law, Guantanamo inmates couldn't be transferred to the U.S. for any purpose other than trial.
Yet that accommodation could raise concerns from local and state officials anxious for the jobs that would come with the expanded use of the facility.
The Department of Defense's operation would involve one third of the prison's space, though the number of Guantanamo detainees to be moved there is uncertain. The Bureau of Prisons would use most of the prison.
Manzullo has voiced support for opening the Thomson Correctional Center as a federal prison because it would provide jobs for the area. He has said he has "serious reservations" about moving Guantanamo detainees there.
Comments
Uh, in a time of record budget deficits, where's the $237 million going to come from?
Just asking....
Posted by: Equal time | March 18, 2010 12:49 PM
Equal Time,
According to Dick Cheney, deficits don't matter. The $237 million will come from the same place that the $700,000,000,000.00 defense budget comes from. The taxpayers. That was easy.
Posted by: Doug R. | March 18, 2010 2:32 PM
The feds don't have any money - China owns it and the taxpayers will be making the payments.
Posted by: vla | March 18, 2010 5:47 PM
Doogie,
Vice-President Cheney never saw deficits of this magnitude. Those during the Bush-Cheney years were a couple of % point of GDP, unlike BO's which are over 10% of GDP. In one-term, BO will have larger deficits than Bush-Cheney did in 8 years.
Posted by: Terry | March 18, 2010 6:25 PM
"Ronald Reagan proved that deficits don't matter" was what I thought Shooter actually said.
Sorry Bush and the REplicans crashed the US economy.
"Starve the Beast" got a little out of control, didn't it?
Like Mickey Mouse in the Sorcerer's Apprentice, those forces can't be controlled once let loose.
They let the banks turn themselves into casinos. Finally the game of Musical Chairs had to end. Paulson, Greenspan, their friends had chairs to sit on when the music ended. The others, including the American people, not so much.
So, now, the Beast will definitely NOT be starved.
Au contraire, the Beast will be fed and fed until a new, reallocated American economy is created.
Barack has to spend on WW II scale public spending in order to pull the plane out of the nosedive, doesn't he?
Since America is the only superpower left (though ill equipped for asymmetrical warfare), this expenditure can only be made on domestic programs. No WW III this time.
First installment payment on America's future: health care for, if not all, many more.
Posted by: ornery | March 19, 2010 2:44 AM
Oh Terri,
Yellowbelly Cheney never saw combat in VietNam either. He was scared to death of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Communists. He ran away from them. You also fail to mention, Bush-Cheney inherited a budget surplus and pretty much a prospering economy from Bill Clinton. We are in the chaotic mess we are in because of 8 years of illegitimate Bush-Cheney/ republican policies. The derelict republican party has bankrupt the U.S. and they are out to destroy the working and middle class Americans. Again, chickenhawk Cheney told us all deficits don't matter.
Posted by: Doug R. | March 19, 2010 8:35 AM
Wake up! people, just look at where this prison is located. Its Dickie Durbins' home town. This is Illinois politics run amuck. Its all payback for
the Senators' loyalty to Pres.NObama.
God help our country.
Posted by: Paul | March 19, 2010 10:48 AM
Paul,
Thompson Illinois is no where near Durbin's hometown.
Doogie,
The fact that Dick Cheney did not serve in VietNam is irerelavant to the issue. I don't remember Vice-President Cheney saying he loathed the military like a former Commander-In-Chief. I doubt of BO would know which end of a rifle to hold without looking at TOTUS for instructions.
President Bush inherited a projected surplus. He also inherited an economy 40 days from a recession and he inherited a terrorism problem that had been festering for years.
If you have the cajones, please tell me which Bush-Cheney policy led to the recession. It's time for you to quit hiding behind mommy's skirt and man-up.
Posted by: Terry | March 19, 2010 6:13 PM
What the heck, it's only money. Take from one government -- the Feds -- and give to another -- ILLINAUSEA!!
A trillion here; a trillion there; pretty soon we're talking real money!!
Posted by: NAVYFLYER09 | March 19, 2010 8:36 PM