Durbin Meets with Local Officails to Discuss Thomson Correctional Center Plan of Action

Press Release

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin met today with local officials and economic development groups from Carroll and surrounding counties, as well as with the office of the Governor Pat Quinn and the Bureau of Prisons to discuss the regional impact of transferring detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the state of the art Thomson Correctional Center.

"Thomson Correctional Center -- a high security prison -- has been sitting empty for eight years. The Obama Administration has put forward a plan to make it the safest prison in America," said Durbin. "This move will have a tremendously positive impact on the local economy -- creating more than 3,000 jobs and injecting more than $1 billion into the local economy. This is an opportunity to dramatically reduce unemployment, create thousands of good-paying jobs and breathe new economic life into this part of downstate Illinois."
Illinois law enforcement authorities have endorsed this plan in a letter to the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General last month, and more than 30 villages, towns, cities, counties, chambers of commerce, and other community and business organizations have sent letters, approved resolutions, or otherwise expressed their support for this plan.

Today's meeting provided the next steps for an action plan to work with local authorities closely as this process moves forward.

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