Schock issues statement

Rep. Aaron Schock issued the following statement following Thursday’s meeting:

“Arcelor’s decision to close the Hennepin plant will have a devastating economic impact on Putnam County and the Illinois Valley area. When the company first made their announcement, I hosted a meeting in Washington with Senator Durbin, company officials, union representatives and U.S. government agency personnel to do everything possible to find a way to keep the plant opening. Senator Durbin and I also made it clear that if it would be impossible for ArcelorMittal to keep the plant operating, that keeping it closed and slowly cannibalizing the plant’s equipment over a 20-year-period was completely unacceptable.

At that meeting we received assurances from the company that they would entertain offers to sell the plant. I have followed up on the offers Arcelor received from other investors to buy the plant. At this point, union officials and I are both extremely concerned that ArcelorMittal is not negotiating in good faith with regards to offers to buy the plant. We are working together to keep up the pressure on the company to sell the plant if they are not going to keep it operating themselves.”