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The governor has been
leading a coordinated effort for more than two years with the
Illinois congressional delegation, other elected officials and local
leaders to prevent the Rock Island Arsenal and Illinois' other bases
from ending up on the Defense Base Realignment and Closure list that
will be announced in September. The Rock Island Arsenal contributes
more than $1.1 billion to the state's economy each year and supports
nearly 20,000 jobs. "The Rock Island Arsenal is helping our
soldiers fight for our country, which is why we have fought so long
and hard to save this tremendously valuable military institution,"
Gov. Blagojevich said. "We have taken that fight to the Pentagon and
presented our comprehensive analysis as to why the arsenal holds
such extensive military value. But the battle isn't over yet,
because we think there is even more that the arsenal, and the
thousands and thousands of hardworking men and women who come to
work there every day, can do to keep America and our troops safe. We
won't stop fighting until this mission is accomplished."
U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill.,
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and U.S. Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill.,
along with other state and local officials, joined Gov. Blagojevich
at the announcement.
The Rock
Island Arsenal plays a critical role in ensuring the safety and
security of our country, while it also makes enormous contributions
to the Illinois economy. With a keen awareness of the arsenal's
tremendous collective value, Gov. Blagojevich has relentlessly
advocated for the arsenal's retention and expansion since the
earliest days of his administration. He launched a strategic plan to
convince top decision-makers in Washington that the arsenal should
continue serving our country with distinction and has led a coordinated effort to make the most compelling case possible for why the Rock Island
Arsenal and Illinois' other military installations should not only
stay off the BRAC closure list but be asked to take on additional
missions. Highlights of that effort include the following:
- To help ensure the state made the
strongest case possible from the outset to save the arsenal, Gov.
Blagojevich hired a military affairs specialist to help present
the arsenal's compelling case to Department of the Defense.
- On Feb. 14, 2005, Gov.
Blagojevich sent Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity Director Jack Lavin to Washington, D.C. for an
important meeting with Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for
Installations and Environment Phil Grone, the Pentagon's point
person on base closings. As part of a comprehensive partnership,
Rock Island Mayor Mark Schwiebert, Rock Island County Board
Chairman James Bohnsack and Quad Cities Development Group
President Thom Hart also were invited on the trip by the governor
and were in attendance.
- On April 11, 2005, Gov.
Blagojevich provided $200,000 to the Rock Island Arsenal
Development Group to market the arsenal as a viable business site
and attract new tenants to its vacant industrial space, bringing
new jobs to the community and major economic investment to the
region. The grant funding, which leveraged an additional $200,000
in funding from the state of Iowa, comes as part of the governor's
ongoing commitment to invest in development at the arsenal so that
it can act as a more dynamic engine of economic growth for the
area.
- On April 6, 2005, Gov.
Blagojevich signed Executive Order No. 2005-4, directing all state
land-use planning agencies to coordinate with Illinois military
installations in order to maintain and improve the bases' immense
military value. The order ensures that when the Department of
Defense comes to Illinois seeking to expand, the state stands
ready and willing to meet its needs.
[to top of second column in this article] |
 Gov.
Blagojevich has also led Illinois' efforts to ensure the men and
women at Rock Island Arsenal enjoy the highest quality of life.
Those efforts include:
- Signing legislation offering
in-state tuition benefits to all military members stationed within
the state.
- Signing legislation increasing
the death benefits for soldiers from Illinois killed in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
- Signing legislation to protect
business owners called up for Guard duty.
- Extending POW/MIA scholarship
benefits to the dependents of Guard members.
- Offering the National Guard Grant
program that provides Guard members with full tuition and fee
reimbursement for four years at all state institutions of higher
education.
Gov. Blagojevich is continuing the
strong partnerships that have existed between the state of Illinois,
the congressional delegation and the local community to preserve and
strengthen the Rock Island Arsenal and will keep working to let the
commission know that Illinois will assist in any way possible to
bring new missions to the base.
Rock Island Arsenal is a center for
logistics and sustainment excellence for the Department of Defense.
It is the home to four major U.S. Army headquarters organizations
that have regional and global responsibilities -- ranging from Army
munitions management to regional installation management. The
arsenal also houses more than 50 other Department of Defense
organizations and provides infrastructure support to all the
organizations on the island.
The Army's Joint Manufacturing and
Technology Center-Rock Island has the technical expertise and
equipment to provide full-service design and prototyping,
manufacturing, and testing and simulation for a wide variety of
products, from rapid response to warfighter requirements, for all of
the armed services. These state-of-the-art facilities house the only
vertically integrated metal manufacturing complex for the Department
of Defense. The arsenal is one of the world's largest weapons
manufacturing facilities. Products include gun mounts and recoil
mechanisms for artillery, spare parts, and tools, sets, kits and
outfits that support military equipment in the field. This
manufacturing mission has been called on to support short-notice,
critical items for soldiers in the field, including armored door
kits for Humvees, weapons pedestals and electronic night sights for
our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The installation has a
state-of-the-art fiber-optic network that has the capacity to double
the number of users and the ability to handle twice its current
amount of traffic. Through new business avenues, the arsenal is also
partnering with some nonmilitary entities to assist and advance
manufacturing technologies in the private sector.
The BRAC Commission will publicly
release its report by Sept. 8 and will send it to President Bush.
The president has until Sept. 23 to approve or disapprove the list.
Then, by Nov. 7 the president must submit the list to Congress, which must
also approve or disapprove the list.
[News release] |
