Durbin Discusses Rock Island Arsenal With Army Secretary And Chief Of Staff
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, today met with U.S. Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll and Chief of Staff of the Army General Randy George as the Senate Appropriations Committee reviews the Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget request. During their meeting, Durbin reiterated the importance of supporting jobs at the Rock Island Arsenal and underscored that the Arsenal has been critical to supplying well-made equipment quickly to the military during times of need.
“Rock Island Arsenal plays a serious role in ensuring our nation’s military readiness and in the economy of the Quad Cities region. Today, in my meeting with Army Secretary Driscoll and Chief of Staff General George, I urged them to protect the Arsenal’s workforce and workload,” said Durbin.
Photos of the meeting are available here.
In March, Durbin introduced the bipartisan Arsenal Workload Sustainment Act, which would incentivize private industry to partner with arsenals by giving preference to public-private partnerships in Army contracting. As no workload requirement currently exists for Army arsenals, the legislation would provide arsenals with a more predictable, sustained workload throughout the year and allow them to keep costs low while remaining competitive with private industry in the manufacturing or procurement of defense products. The bill would have a direct impact on Rock Island Arsenal, helping the arsenal to maintain existing union jobs, attract new projects and workers, and keep costs down.
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