Congressman Sam Graves (MO-06) led a letter urging House and Senate Defense Appropriations Committee Leaders to fully fund the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in the final appropriations bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022.
“Cutting funding for the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant would be devastating not just for our communities, but our country,” said Graves. “It would cost hundreds of skilled craftsmen their good-paying jobs here in Missouri. They can’t be replaced by just anyone off the street. If we lose these folks to other industries, it’s going to make it extremely difficult to ramp production back up in the face of a crisis. That’s particularly concerning given escalating tensions around the globe.”
The Administration’s FY 2022 budget proposed cutting small arms manufacturing funding by 30 percent, which could cost an estimated 500-700 jobs at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence, Missouri. Congressman Graves worked hard to make sure those cuts were reversed in the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act. However, the Defense Appropriations Bill for FY2022 still needs to fully fund the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant at authorized levels to ensure these jobs remain in Missouri and production capacity can be ramped up to respond to future crises.
The full letter can be found by clicking here.
