WASHINGTON – Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) urged support for preserving Minor League Baseball clubs across the country, including those in Davenport, Burlington and Clinton, in response to Major League Baseball’s (MLB) proposal to eliminate 42 teams nationwide.
“Baseball is part of our country’s rich history. Growing up and going to baseball games with your friends and family is something that Americans all across the country have in common. I want Iowans to continue to have access to Minor League Baseball. Each and every team in the state plays an important role in their communities. I’m proud to join a bipartisan group of my colleagues and support this resolution standing with our Minor League teams,”
Grassley said.
“I’ve heard from folks in the Quad Cities, Burlington, and Clinton about how our Minor League clubs are important sources of community pride and are key contributors to our local economies and charitable causes,”
Ernst said. “It would be a terrible loss, for our communities and for the many lifelong baseball fans across our state, for us to see them go. Along with Senator Grassley and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, I’m urging support for our Minor League clubs in Iowa who represent and provide for our state, communities, and baseball fans.”
MLB has proposed to eliminate 42 Minor League teams nationwide in 2020, including the Quad Cities River Bandits, the Burlington Bees and the Clinton LumberKings.
The
bipartisan Senate resolution states that the Senate “supports the preservation of Minor League Baseball clubs in 160 communities across the United States.” In addition to Grassley and Ernst, the legislation is cosponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.).
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