U.S. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) today announced he will attend President Trump’s visit to Granite City with hundreds of steelworkers, who are now back to work, and help share their stories. Davis represents Madison County with U.S. Reps. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) and John Shimkus (R-Ill.).
Here are the stories of Bert Elliott and Pat Archer, two Granite City steelworkers who will attend the President’s visit alongside Davis.
“After being out of work for 26 months, I was proud to return to Granite City Works this March,” said Bert Elliott. “Over the last several months, hundreds of steelworkers like myself have been able to get back to what we do best: producing quality, American-made steel that is the best in the world. I’m pleased and thankful to be back working in Granite City.”
“As a third-generation worker at Granite City Steel, it is humbling to see the president come to Madison County to help celebrate the return of hundreds of quality jobs,” Pat Archer said. “The steel industry provides jobs that support thousands of families throughout the area. Returning to work has been uplifting to me and my family, and has allowed me to reopen my small business in Troy, Illinois.”
“So much of the focus has been about what could happen and fear of the unknown that I think some have lost sight of what has happened and what these jobs mean to these workers and their families,” said Davis. “You can hear stories like Bert and Pat’s across my district and throughout the country who have been put back to work because of policies in Washington that are helping this economy grow. Since coming to Congress, I have been working to get stronger trade enforcement so American companies, like Granite City Works, can fight back against China who for years have violated our trade laws in order to decimate our manufacturing industry. This is about good-paying jobs that have come back to this community and they should be celebrated.”
Steel manufacturing is not only important because of the direct jobs it provides, but also the revenue it generates to the area.
“The Leadership Council SWIL supports the rebuilding of US Steel Corporation in Granite City, Illinois,” said Ronda Sauget, Executive Director of Leadership Council SWIL. “This plant supports a significant number of good paying sustainable jobs in the facility and hundreds of steel industry related positions in our region. Producing steel generates tremendous backward and forward supply chain of revenue generating activities and well paid jobs for so many people. We are proud to see US Steel building its workforce and diversifying its product production lines to have a more stable economic future at the facility. Producing high quality steel in our regional economy is good for Granite City and good for our region!”
