Nelson Calls on Congressional Oversight Committees to Pursue Information on Botched Foxconn-Oshkosh Defense Postal Deal

Appleton, Wis. – Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson today sent letters to the relevant U.S. House and Senate committees seeking answers from Foxconn and the U.S. Postal Service as Oshkosh Defense sought a site to produce the next generation of Postal vehicles.

The botched deal, reported Monday in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, was brushed off by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who has publicly shrugged his shoulders at 1,000 hometown union jobs moving to non-union South Carolina.

But before then, according to news reports, Oshkosh Defense approached Foxconn about use of buildings in its failed 3,000-acre project in Mt. Pleasant, Wis., promoted by Johnson and now largely vacant and judged an unmitigated disaster.

Nelson has been a vocal opponent of the Oshkosh move and the Foxconn boondoggle.

In his letters (attached) to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which already is seeking information from the Postal Service regarding the South Carolina move, and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, on which Johnson sits, Nelson asked for the committees to expand their inquiries to include the Foxconn deal.

Wrote Nelson:

“At a time when the United States is struggling to make investments in our workforce and in developing a coordinated national industrial plan that grows our economy while tackling the existential issue of global climate change, understanding Foxconn’s and Oshkosh Defense’s treatment of public resources is vital for an informed public.”

In a separate statement, Nelson said, “It’s no surprise that Ron Johnson did nothing to help workers or Wisconsin and has no interest in why these jobs are going to South Carolina. But we need answers now to mitigate the twin disasters that are Foxconn and the Oshkosh Defense move out of Wisconsin. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to electrify our Postal vehicles while creating family-supporting union jobs. I hope Congress can get to the bottom of this mess so these corporations fueled with taxpayer money will do the right thing for workers and the planet.”

Nelson for Wisconsin