Congresswoman Cheri Bustos joined Senator Dick Durbin, at right, at the Rock Island Arsenal, to celebrate progress on the Jointless Hull Large Format Tool and to commemorate the future site of the world’s largest 3D metal printer.
During her decade representing the Illinois Quad-Cities, Congresswoman Bustos has worked with Senator Durbin to secure more than $172 million in funding, to support work at the Rock Island Arsenal, including $45 million for the Jointless Hull project. Combined with the $829 million in Federal infrastructure funding the lawmakers helped secure, for the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP), Bustos and Durbin have brought more than $1 billion to support programing conducted out of the Rock Island Arsenal.
This year, Bustos also successfully included an additional $80 million in funding for the Arsenal, in legislation passed out of the House Appropriations Committee for FY 2023.
Highlights from the Congresswoman Bustos’ remarks during the event’s press conference can be found below.
“This is one of our largest employers in this region. So, we want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to do right by the Arsenal.”
“We’ve heard the calling of the men and women who work here, the artisans who work here, to make sure that those jobs are not just saved, but that we can grow and be an arsenal of the future. This is all about the future. The Arsenal is all about…the 21st century.”
“We have gone from the factory floor to the foxhole, in every single war and conflict that [America has] been involved with, going back to the Civil War. This puts us in the military of the future.”
“This is likely my last visit to the Rock Island Arsenal as a Member of the U. S. House of Representatives. I asked my staff to look back, and…what we’ve been able to bring to the Arsenal over those last ten years has been more than $1 billion.”
[I am] “very, very proud to be here today with my good friend Senator Durbin and very proud that we’ve been able to deliver for the Quad-City community.”