U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt speaks with KFEQ/Eagle Radio News Director Brent Martin/Photo courtesy of Sen. Blunt's office
By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A Missouri United States Senator says cooperation between Missouri and Kansas was a key to landing two United States Department of Agricultural research agencies in Kansas City.
The USDA is moving the Economic Research Service and the National Institute for Food and Agriculture from Washington, D.C. to downtown Kansas City.
Sen. Roy Blunt says the Missouri and Kansas Congressional delegations joined together to push for re-locating the agencies to the greater Kansas City area.
“This is one area where the regional members of Congress have stuck together in this discussion in a way that was very helpful,” Blunt tells KFEQ News in a studio interview. “We’re not going to fight about what side of the state line it’s on, Mr. Secretary. We think these are the reasons that this is the best location of the locations you’ve narrowed it down to.”
The tactic worked.
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and his team chose the Kansas City area out of 135 bids from communities across the country. USDA since has chosen to relocate the two agencies on Pennsylvania Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. Secretary Perdue will travel to the location on Friday to hold an event with Missouri and Kansas officials.
The move will bring 560 jobs, many high-paying, to the greater Kansas City area.
Blunt says the move makes sense, both because it will save the federal government money and because it will re-locate the agencies closer to eight of the country’s best land-grant universities.
Blunt says the work of the two USDA research arms is growing in importance.
“What’s going to happen in world food demand is going to make science, as it relates to food and research, even more important than it’s been in the past,” according to Blunt.
Blunt dismisses criticism of the move. Some in Washington claim the USDA is moving the two agencies, because the Trump Administration doesn’t like its studies on politically sensitive issues, such as climate change. They also claim the agencies will lose valuable scientists who refuse to relocate to the Midwest.
Blunt rejects the arguments and points out the move will bring the two agencies within three hours of eight of the best land-grant universities in the country.
“But also, part of that plant and animal research corridor, that really begins in St. Louis and goes all across our state and takes a nice turn up to St. Joe,” Blunt says. “I think it’s going to be a great time to have these key jobs here in one of the most dynamically growing parts of the world economy over the next 25 or 30 years.”