District 23 stretches from Grissom Air Reserve Base in Miami County, then north to Wakarusa. When the federal government and U.S. president pay attention to this area of the country, it grabs our attention and we listen to the message. The White House announced that the president would visit Wakarusa to give a speech on the economy and to make an announcement. His speech was to be heard by an invitation-only audience.
Since Wakarusa is in House District 23, I felt that I should be invited. When the invitation did not come, I phoned our congressman and made my case. His office staff agreed with me. Tuesday afternoon, I received a phone call inviting me to the Wednesday noon event. "Be there between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. and report to will-call for admission."
I drove more than 50 miles to Wakarusa, and arrived at the Monaco plant with people lining the street to wave their signs supporting or opposing the administration's proposed health care plan. I was escorted into the factory and given my assigned seat. The chair was between Rep. Peggy Welch (D-Bloomington) and Rep. Charlie Brown (D-Gary).
Following the President's speech, I was interviewed by Channel 13 and the Indianapolis Star. Both asked me why I was the only Republican legislator in attendance. My response was this, "This is a 75% Republican district; why are all these Democrats here?"
Attitude adjustment was necessary, and I was very happy for Navistar to receive a $39 million grant. This grant is to assist in the new venture of making an electric delivery vehicle at the plant.
The conundrum I faced was my disagreement with these give-away programs from Washington and the windfall that this company would receive. I am very happy for the town of Wakarusa. They will see a closed RV plant reopen to create employment opportunities for the residents of Elkhart County. However, there are hiccups along the way.
Navistar's labor force is a unionized, and the RV industry has traditionally been known as a non-unionized industry. Replacing the RV industry labor with unionized labor will cause a philosophical adjustment in attitude in Wakarusa.
I am pleased that the federal government will assist small town Indiana with job creation. The irony is that this grant will result in a major change in managerial philosophy. The union shop will require some folks to make hard decisions. I trust they will do the right thing.
A visit from the president is not always easy. Good things can happen and I believe they will.
More later,
Bill Friend |
