Two Democratic senators and two congressmen Saturday pledged their support to turn the mostly unused Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., into a federal prison that also would house some terrorist detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Tom Harkin of Iowa toured the prison Saturday morning with U.S. Reps. Phil Hare of Rock Island and Bruce Braley of Waterloo. The legislators then met behind closed doors with 50 local and county elected officials at Buck’s Barn Resort.

They then briefly answered reporters’ questions before the senators left to return to Washington, D.C., for a health-care reform vote.

The legislators said Thomson is the best choice for the federal prison and terrorist detainees. They said that the prison is nearly empty and that the Thomson area needs the jobs.

Hare’s district borders on the Thomson area, and Braley represents the area directly across the Mississippi River from Thomson. The prison is about 50 miles northeast of the Quad-Cities.

Some correctional officers and spouses questioned the legislators at Buck’s Barn, concerned that the federal jobs may go to others and not the guards currently at Thomson.

The legislators were accompanied on the tour by Phil Carter, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs; Harley Lappin, director of the federal Bureau of Prisons; and Michael P. Randle, director of the Illinois Department of Corrections.

If Thomson is chosen, the federal government would purchase the prison and lease part of it to the Department of Defense to house the detainees and then use the rest for 1,600 federal prisoners.

The proposal would create up to 3,200 direct and indirect jobs, according to Obama administration estimates.