In light of the new scare tactic from Senator Cochrans supporters aimed at Jackson County voters - specifically involving whether Ingalls Shipbuilding can survive without Senator Cochran in office - I decided to do a little research. In 1977, Ingalls Shipbuilding had 25,000 employees, the most ever in its history. Senator Cochran was elected to Senate in 1978. By the early 1990s, Ingalls only had roughly 15,000 employees. Today, Ingalls employs approximately 11,000 workers. These are real numbers that shouldnt be ignored. Senator Cochran has been Mississippis Senator during this workforce shrinkage. As a lifelong resident of Jackson County, having grown up in Pascagoula, Ive witnessed firsthand the shrinkage of Ingalls workforce - and Ive read too many times where contracts for new ships were diverted from our area up to Bath, Maine or Newport News, VA. Ive had family members and friends that were forced to either move or look for new jobs when these contracts ultimately werent awarded. I also watched Ingalls in the late 90s attempt to enter the commercial shipbuilding industry (cruise ships) and build vessels for Israel and other foreign navies to maintain business when US contracts werent being awarded. Still, the main topic at the dinner table remained: theres another round of lay-offs expected at Ingalls. Weve all had that talk. Senator Cochran has been Mississippis Senior Senator throughout this time. On another note, I am just barely old enough to remember when Singing River Island was just a pile of mud with good fishing before the Navy decided to build a base on the island. In 5th grade, I remember holding up a sign on Market Street as Trent Lott paraded a delegation of Navy officials through town to convince them of the importance of the base to the community. That disaster was averted - though only for a short time. In 2006, Naval Station Pascagoula was closed permanently and the community took a hit. Senator Cochran was Mississippis Senior Senator at the time. Now - our neighbors in Harrison County are going to see Keesler AFB take a hit when C-130s are transferred to Little Rock, Arkansas. Senator Cochran raised opposition to the move - but it is still going forward. To be clear - despite Senator Cochran enjoying the 2nd highest seniority among Republicans in the US Senate (only behind Sen. Orin Hatch), those planes are still scheduled to move off the Gulf Coast. I will not deny that Senator Cochran has done many things for our community and our State - and he deserves our respect and recognition. But we cant allow ourselves to be fooled by opinion articles looking to scare Jackson County citizens into voting for Senator Cochran when those of us that live here know that the past 20 years have seen a tremendous amount of work-force shrinkage in our community. We cant now allow ourselves to be duped into believing that Jackson County will not survive in a Cochran-less Senate. Its time for a change - and we need to send some new blood up to Washington to fight for Mississippi, and for Jackson County. Im voting for Chris McDaniel to replace Thad Cochran on June 24.
Posted on: Mon, 09 Jun 2014 15:44:09 +0000
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