CHER
I
BUSTOS
17TH
DI
S
TA
ICT,I
lliNOIS
The PresidentThe White House
QCongre~~
of
tbe
~ntteb
~tate~
J!}ou9'e
of
ll\epre9'entatibe9'
~nssbinnton
,
il\f!
20515-13173 April,20131600 Petmsylvania Ave.,
NW
Washington,
DC
20500Dear Mr. President,
1
009
LONGWOATHHOUSE
OFFICE
BUILDING
WA
SHINGTON,
DC
20515(202)225-5905
Iamrequesting thatyouprioritize the activation
of
Illinois' ThomsonCorrectional Center inyour
FY
14 budget proposal. According
to
the Bureau
of
Prisons (BoP),$168million is neededto begin the process
of
activating andstaffingthis long-delayed facility thatthe Department
of
Justice purchasedfrom
the
State
oflllinois
inOctober 2012toaddress thechJonicovercrowding
of
our
federalprisonsystem.Highersecurityprison facilities, includingpenitentiaries,are currentlyoperating at54 percent
over capacity and medium-security institutionsare44 percent over capacity.Thiscritical
problem puts thesecurity
staff
and inmates alike
at
risk.The ThomsonCorrectional Center can
inunediatelyalleviate
some
of
thisovercrowding withhigh-security bedspace that would
accommodate 2,600high-security imnates, inadditionto200minimumsecurityinmates.
Overcrowdingalso strainsthe infrastructure
of
BoP
facilities,includingwater, sewage, andpowersystems.Thefrustration and anger from alack
of
resourcesis a precursorto inmateviolence, whichposesadditional riskto prison
staff
and otherimnates.Thomson prison, whenfullyactivated,wouldalso add1,100
jobs
in
our
regionandisexpected
to
generatemore than$122million in localexpenditures,$19 million in labor income,and $61
million insales atlocalsmallbusinesses.
The
prison's activationwouldnotonlybegood for
our
economy,it wouldgenerate a sense
of
prideamongst thesurroundingcommunities toseethe
dormant facility, that to this point has beena constantreminder
of
brokenpromises,finally beput togooduse.
On behalf
of
the
prison
staff
who risk their lives daily in crowded prisonsthroughoutthecountry, aswellas
my
constituentsinIllinois' 17thCongressional District, thank you in advance
foryour consideration
of
this important request.Sincerely,
~
·
~
heriBustos
Member
of
Congress
PRINTE
DON
RECYCLED
PAPER
RepCheriBustos
