U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) applauded the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) recent decision to keep the NGA West complex in Missouri.
The NGA was considering four potential sites to relocate its NGA West complex — three were in Missouri and one was in Illinois. Blunt and Graves were at the forefront of efforts by Missouri’s congressional delegation to keep the facility in the state.
Blunt met with NGA Director Robert Cardillo numerous times, and he joined U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) in a 2015 bipartisan letter calling for the NGA West complex to remain in-state.
“The North St. Louis location will allow the NGA to continue its mission, and recruit the next generation of intelligence professionals seeking the type of urban, car-optional lifestyle the city provides,” Blunt said. “In addition, the North St. Louis site provides unparalleled access to graduate school opportunities and high-tech neighbors, is a designated Promise Zone, and is convenient to Lambert Airport and the NGA’s other facility in Arnold, Mo. I’m glad the NGA recognized North St. Louis as the best location for the new west headquarters, and I look forward to continuing to work with the agency as the project moves forward.”
Graves joined other members of Missouri’s House delegation in sending a letter to Cardillo last year to support keeping the NGA West campus in Missouri. The lawmakers wrote that doing so would retain current jobs and create even more IT and technology-based jobs in the state.
“It is huge for Missouri that the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is going to keep their facility in our state and I am proud to have played a role in making that happen,” Graves said. “This decision preserves the jobs of nearly 3,000 Missourians, and ensures the agency’s long-standing and successful relationship with our community. Missouri will remain at the forefront of critical intelligence that ensures the safety of Americans.”