WGEM.com: Quincy News, Weather, Sports, and RadioQuinn: Prison decision 'very shortly'
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Associated Press - December 10, 2009 9:24 AM ET
Corrected Version
CHICAGO (AP) - Gov. Pat Quinn says he expects a decision "very shortly" on whether the federal government will buy a prison in western Illinois to house Guantanamo Bay detainees.
President Barack Obama has promised to close the military-run detention center in Cuba, and his administration is looking for another plan to house detainees.
Sen. Dick Durbin has said the nearly empty Thomson Correctional Center is apparently the leading candidate.
A joint Illinois legislative committee plans a public hearing on Dec. 22 concerning the proposed sale.
Federal officials already have toured the facility and talked with Illinois lawmakers.
Quinn supports selling the prison to jump-start the economy in the rural Carroll County farming community where the prison is located.
A number of Republican lawmakers have raised concerns about bringing detainees to Illinois.
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