Congressman Sorensen Leads Bipartisan Effort Urging Congress to Support the Rock Island Arsenal

Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17) joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers in a letter pushing the four Senate and House leaders of the Armed Services Committee to include provisions that support the Rock Island Arsenal in the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). It comes as the four leaders of the Armed Services Committees are currently engaged in negotiations over the final text of the legislation.

The group of lawmakers sending the letter included Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02), who all represent the Arsenal and its workers.

“I was proud to advocate for the men and women of the Rock Island Arsenal who keep our country safe and our local economy strong as I negotiated and helped pass this year’s NDAA through the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Congressman Sorensen. “The provisions I secured will protect good-paying jobs, strengthen the Arsenal for years to come, and create new opportunities for working families across our region. The Arsenal is critical to our nation’s national security, and I’m continuing to fight to pass these provisions into law.”

Among the provisions the bipartisan group advocated for in the final text of the NDAA were major wins for the Rock Island Arsenal Congressman Sorensen secured in the House-passed version of the NDAA:

• Congressman Sorensen’s Arsenal Workload Sustainment Act, which incentivizes private industry to partner with arsenals by giving preference to public-private partnerships in Army contracting, creating a more predictable, sustained workload to protect and create jobs.  

• The bill bans the Army’s funding to restructure the Rock Island Arsenal’s Army Sustainment Command (ASC) and Joint Munitions Command (JMC), until they provide a plan that includes a timeline and information about any job cuts and the impact to our readiness.  

• The Army will be required to provide more information about upcoming changes tied to its Army Transformation Initiative—ensuring communities like those around the Rock Island Arsenal are informed and prepared.  

• The bill authorizes funding for ongoing projects at Rock Island Arsenal and Bradley University, modernizing this vital defense facility and supporting research opportunities.

• It blocks funding from being used to enforce President Trump’s ban on collective bargaining for DOD workers, directly supporting the rights of our union workers at the Rock Island Arsenal.  

• The Department of Defense is directed to explore public-private partnerships at arsenals and other key military industrial sites, opening the door to local innovation and economic growth.  

  
  

The letter was sent to Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Jack Reed (D-RI), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and Congressmen Mike Rogers (AL-03) and Adam Smith (WA-09), Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee.

You can read the full letter here.