[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6521-6522]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL

  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.

[[Page 6522]]

  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.

                          ____________________