February 01, 2019

Duckworth Discusses Infrastructure Investments with Quad Cities Leaders, Meets with Rock Island Arsenal Officials

 

[MOLINE, IL] — U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) visited the Quad Cities today to discuss important investments to the region’s infrastructure. Duckworth met with Moline Mayor Stephanie Acri and Rock Island Mayor Mike Thoms to tour the I-74 Corridor Reconstruction Project, which will relieve congestion and increase capacity throughout the corridor by upgrading parts of the existing interstate and adding a new Mississippi River crossing. Photos from today’s events are available here.

“As the new ranking member of the Senate Transportation and Safety Subcommittee, one of my top priorities is securing much-needed infrastructure investments for Illinois and passing new legislation to rebuild our aging roads, bridges, highways and locks and dams,” Duckworth said. “Repairing and modernizing our nation’s aging infrastructure helps make traveling safer and it brings good-paying jobs to our communities. I will continue to do everything I can to support important projects like the I-74 Corridor Reconstruction happening here in the Quad Cities — and I will continue my work in the Senate to ensure the long term success of the Rock Island Arsenal.”

As a new member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Duckworth also met with the leadership of the Rock Island Arsenal to discuss her efforts to ensure the long-term success of the Arsenal and learn the leaders’ priorities. Duckworth has been a strong advocate for the Rock Island Arsenal and was able to get a bipartisan amendment into the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to help ensure the long-term success of the Rock Island Arsenal. Duckworth’s bipartisan amendment, which she offered alongside U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Joni Ernst (R-IA), ensures the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) first seeks out existing government-owned spaces on military installations like Rock Island to house government offices before it leases commercial space for government purposes. The Duckworth amendment ensures DOD uses Rock Island's facilities more efficiently, protecting it from any future base realignment and closure (BRAC) processes. 

Duckworth began the day with a briefing from community leaders on how to best reach hard-to-count communities to get a whole and accurate 2020 Census count, which will help the state of Illinois get its fair share of federal funding. 

 

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