FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2012 file photo, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks during a news conference in the Great Hall at Union Station in Chicago. The state of Illinois wants to sell the Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., to the federal government, but before the federal Bureau of Prisons can buy the state’s vacant penitentiary it needs permission from Congress to shuffle some money around within its budget. Durbin is opposed to the stance by Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who chairs a key subcommittee and refuses to sign off on the changes saying they amount to an improper earmark. Illinois politicians of both parties are increasingly steamed by Wolf's opposition to a project that could create 1,100 jobs in northwest Illinois. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)