Rock Island Arsenal

Floor Speech

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise today to talk about a bill I introduced yesterday, the Army Arsenal Strategic Workload Enhancement Act of 2012.

I am grateful to be working with seven of my colleagues on this issue: Senator Kirk, Senator Grassley, Senator Harkin, Senator Pryor, Senator Boozman, Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand. Each of us understands the strategic contributions that arsenals make to our national defense. I am pleased that we have a bipartisan bill to put those capabilities on a firm footing for the future.

I know that the men and women at Rock Island Arsenal in my home State of Illinois deserve that firm footing. I was there just last month, seeing again for myself their good work to equip our troops.

The Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, JMTC, employs some 1,700 highly skilled workers, at least half of whom are veterans. The JMTC is the heart of Rock Island's 8,600-person workforce, every one of them dedicated to providing our troops with what they need.

For more than 10 years now, they have made critical weapons, parts and materiel for our men and women on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan. Very often, they have produced items in a crisis, when no one else including the private sector could do it. And they have made it by the deadline and kept it affordable.

The arsenal has made things like up-armored HMMWV kits to protect against improvised explosive devices, IEDs, at a time in the war when, frankly, we were caught flat-footed by the threat. They have produced portable tool sheds so that vehicle maintenance can take place in theater instead of having to pull those vehicles off the front lines. When the Army depleted its stock of a small but critical component for artillery repair, Rock Island stepped up to provide it on short notice.

These are the little-known, lifesaving contributions made by this arsenal.

So my colleagues and I have come together on a bipartisan basis to make sure this strategic asset has a strong future. Our bill would require the Army to create a strategic plan to ensure each arsenal receives the workload it needs to keep its workers' skills sharp. The Army does this type of systematic planning for some of its subdivisions, but not for arsenals. This bill addresses that.

Our bill also would ensure that these arsenals can compete for any military contract, defense-wide. Too often, arsenals are passed over in the contract process. But this bill will ensure these connections happen.

Rock Island's highly skilled workforce has a proven track record. It is in everyone's interest to strengthen this competition.

These two core provisions will help to ensure the long-term health of Rock Island Arsenal. They build upon a bipartisan effort last year by the Illinois and Iowa delegations to expand the arsenal's ability to enter into public-private partnerships. We have seen how these partnerships can drive innovation in new areas like titanium and metal alloys. And they cost the government nothing, all the while assisting in keeping the factory warm and these critical skills available when our country needs them when our troops need them.

I appreciated Senator Levin and Senator McCain working with us through the National Defense Authorization Act last year to ensure these provisions were included. I look forward to working with them this year as well.

Rock Island Arsenal is a little-known gem in our military with great importance for our country. I hope we may continue to support their critical role by advancing the ideas I have discussed today.

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