Sen. Young joins call to protect civilian jobs at Crane

On Saturday, Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., released a copy of a letter he was sending to new U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis that sought exemption for 130 workers at the Crane Army Ammunition Activity whose terms of employment are due to expire during the 90 days covered by the hiring freeze.

On Sunday, Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., released a copy of a letter he also had sent to Mattis, which sought a general exemption for civilians working at both the Army activity and the larger Naval Surface Warfare Center at Crane.

"These activities are mission critical and need to be able to continue to hire the (Department of Defense) civilians they need to continue their important national security work," Young wrote in his letter. "For this reason, NSWC Crane and CAAA certainly should qualify for a potential national security exemption consistent with the presidential memorandum."

Young wrote that an across-the-board freeze of Defense Department civilian workers could undercut activities and programs that are vital to the nation's military, such as tasks carried out at Crane.