Under orders from President Barack Obama, the U.S. Justice Department moved forward Tuesday with the purchase of Illinois' long-dormant Thomson prison, cutting a $165 million check to the cash-strapped state and bypassing the objections of a powerful veteran Republican U.S. House member who had blocked the sale.
"At this point, the president had to intervene and do this directly. I hope people understand he's doing it for his state," said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the state's senior senator and No. 2 Democrat in the chamber. Durbin acknowledged it was a "rare" move to bypass the written approval of a high-ranking House Appropriations Committee member to proceed with the purchase of the facility in northwest Illinois.
Chicago Tribune News article:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-10-03/news/ct-met-durbin-quinn-thompson-prison-1003-20121003_1_thomson-prison-guantanamo-bay-wolf