Rick Crawford Named Co-Chair of House Steel Caucus

U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark.

U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., has been named co-chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Steel Caucus.

Crawford will lead the group alongside Rep. Mike Bost, R-Illinois. The caucus was founded in the 1970s to promote the domestic steel industry and its workforce.

“Steel isn’t a product that we can depend on other nations to produce for us,” Crawford said in a news release. “Critical to our country’s infrastructure, military and economy as a whole, a strong domestic steel industry is a national security imperative that also provides excellent opportunities for people across the country living largely in rural areas like my district, the second most steel producing district in the nation.

Crawford represents Arkansas’ 1st District, which includes Mississippi County, the No. 2 county for steel production in the country. Ranked No. 1 is Lake County, Indiana, where the city of Gary is a major hub of the United States Steel Corporation.

Nucor Corp., the largest steelmaker in the United States, has a three-decade history in Mississippi County and operates four facilities there, employing nearly 1,700 workers. Mississippi County is also home to Big River Steel, a $1.3 billion steel plant near Osceola.