Belleville News Democrat

The tug-of-war between Illinois and Missouri over the location of the highly coveted new western headquarters for the $1.75 billion National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency took a new turn Thursday. That’s when U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, decried an effort by some Missouri House members to insert, late Wednesday night, into a military construction spending bill an extra $801,000 for “land and transfer acquisition activities” for the site in North St. Louis that has won preliminary approval for NGA West.

“The other side of the river is appropriating funds that have yet to be authorized,” Bost said in a statement issued late Thursday afternoon. “Until the House and Senate negotiate a final compromise on military construction, this is nothing more than a hollow victory. We still have ample opportunity to fight for an investigation into the serious flaws and omissions that plagued the site selection process.”