Three of Iowa’s top elected officials are in St. Louis, Missouri today trying to persuade the federal government to keep hundreds of jobs at the Rock Island Arsenal. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is leading the Iowa delegation that also includes Senator Tom Harkin and Governor Tom Vilsack. They’re speaking at a hearing of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission on the recommendation to move 17-hundred jobs from Rock Island to Michigan and Ohio. The Iowa delegation is joining with the Illinois delegation to argue that the Rock Island jobs should be retained. In a statement released prior to the hearing, Grassley says he’ll talk about several areas where he thinks the Department of Defense has moved jobs from Rock Island without using the BRAC guidelines. He says he will also ask the Commission to look at the many features that make the Arsenal a very valuable military facility.
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