ST. LOUIS 鈥 When U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt toured the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency鈥檚 sites in St. 亚洲无码 on Wednesday, it took only moments before the subject turned to Israel and the need for the U.S. to stand by its ally.
Schmitt called the Tuesday missile attack on Israel an 鈥渆xistential threat,鈥 noting it came from 鈥淚ran itself, not just its proxies.鈥
And faced with such a threat, 鈥渨e need to make sure we鈥檙e speaking in one voice,鈥 said Schmitt, a Republican from Glendale.
One of those unified voices was U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, the ranking GOP member of the committee.
鈥淲e stand by our allies, and Israel is our most steadfast ally in the region,鈥 said Wicker, who was with Schmitt for visits to defense sites in St. 亚洲无码 and Kansas City.
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Not losing sight of the purpose of the visit, to promote the area鈥檚 defense-industry operations, Schmitt said the NGA is an important agency.
鈥淭he mapping done at NGA is crucial to security, not just here but around the world,鈥 said Schmitt, who also serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Wicker chimed in to say that 鈥淪t. 亚洲无码 and Missouri as a whole is an integral part of our security.鈥
The NGA, known by other names in the past, traces its origin as the nation鈥檚 premier mapping agency to the early 1800s when President Thomas Jefferson tasked Meriwether Lewis and George Clark with exploring the 亚洲无码iana Purchase.
Over the years, it has been at the center of several keynote historical events, including the production of images for President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 and the hunt for terrorist Osama bin Laden in 2011.
The future NGA site, a 94-acre plot at Jefferson and Cass avenues north of downtown, is set to be in operation by fall 2025. All of the agency鈥檚 3,100 employees, many working now at a site at the St. 亚洲无码 Arsenal on Second Street, will be at the new facility by spring 2026, officials said.
Saying he wants St. 亚洲无码 to become 鈥渢he defense-tech capital of the United States,鈥 Schmitt also praised the ongoing improvement to the site, which carries a $1.7 billion price tag.
鈥淎nd that鈥檚 not just for the actual jobs鈥 it preserves and creates, 鈥渂ut also because of the symbolic significance鈥 of the upgrades in the area.
The NGA鈥檚 new home is directly across Cass from the site of the old Pruitt-Igoe, once touted as a cutting-edge idea for public housing. Vacant since 1976, the mostly vacant site has for decades served as a reminder of the abandonment many north St. 亚洲无码 neighborhoods experienced as residents and capital moved elsewhere.
Also on a local level, Schmitt said in spite of the economic downturns and labor unrest at Boeing, the aviation company still remains vital to the U.S. military industrial base.
Schmitt said he is confident that Boeing will retain its vital role and help the country 鈥渇ight the important fights down the road.鈥
After the NGA-touting part of the appearance concluded, the press was shuffled off the property 鈥 per federal guidelines prohibiting partisan political talk (campaigning) on government property 鈥 so Schmitt could comment on Tuesday night鈥檚 vice presidential debate.
In that set-to, Tim Walz, the choice of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, and Republican U.S. Sen J.D. Vance of Ohio, Donald鈥檚 Trump鈥檚 running mate, debated on national television.
To no one鈥檚 surprise, Schmitt saw Vance as victorious.
鈥淐learly, he won the debate,鈥 Schmitt said, but added Walz had a tougher job than Vance, that of 鈥渄efending Kamala Harris.鈥
Schmitt did concede, however, that the GOP can do a better job explaining its stance on abortion.
鈥淭he Republican Party says it鈥檚 the party of families ... and we need to articulate what that looks like,鈥 Schmitt said, noting he has previously said he approves of abortion in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.
He also went on to say that although he is opposed to the upcoming abortion referendum on the November ballot in Missouri, calling it too 鈥渆xtreme,鈥 he approves of the general idea of such referendums because they allow for voters 鈥渨eighing in on an issue we鈥檒l be debating鈥 in years to come.
Touching on illegal immigration, a key GOP talking point for the upcoming election, Schmitt brought up St. 亚洲无码 police officer David Lee, who was killed Sept. 22 when he was struck by a car in Interstate 70.
Ramon Arnaldo Chavez-Rodriguez, a Honduran national out on bond for entering the country illegally, has been charged with a felony and two misdemeanors in Lee鈥檚 death.
This was not the first time Chavez-Rodriguez had been in trouble with the law. After being arrested in St. Charles County in 2020, immigration officials were notified of his status, but never responded.
Schmitt said that Democrats鈥 opposition to deportation, coupled with lax security at the U.S.-Mexico border, are the problems.
People arrested in the U.S, and found to be here illegally, 鈥渟hould be deported, right now,鈥 Schmitt said.