Congressman Cole Votes for Defense Funding Bill, Oklahoma Projects
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Cole voted for the FY2005 Defense Appropriations Conference Report, H.R. 4613, which increases funding for the Department of Defense and provides the resources necessary for the American military to fight the Global War on Terrorism. This legislation passed in the House last night, 410-12.
"The Department of Defense Conference Report provides a $23.8 billion increase in defense spending over FY 2004. It directs funding to many projects in Oklahoma and fully funds the NLOS Cannon," Congressman Cole said. "I am proud to vote for a bill that increases pay for our military and gives them the resources they need to protect our country."
Following are highlights of the fund included in the FY2005 Defense Appropriations bill for Oklahoma.
- $3.4 million for Excalibur Life Cycle Improvements. These funds will increase production quantities and create economic efficiencies for Excalibur artillery munitions;
- $3 million to help integrate Excalibur Munition with Paladin in the Fort Sill area;
- $3.5 million for AN-TPQ Radar Processing Replacement at Fort Sill
- $5.4 million at Tinker Air Force Base for the AN-ALQ-172 Airborne Electronic Attack Upgrades (AEA). The ALQ-172 provides the B-52H with the only already installed reduced risk Airborne Electronic Attack receiver;
- $1 million for Teleoperated Semi-Autonomous Robots at Tinker Air Force Base
- $600,000 for OC-ALC O2 Repair Facility Upgrade at Tinker Air Force Base
- $2.8 million for Tinker Air Force Base for KC-135 Improvement Toilet System
- $6.6 million for APN 241 Color Weather Radar AFRC C-130 at Tinker Air Force Base
- $1.3 million for LEAn Depot Engine Repair (LEADER). LEADER will improve the quality of Tinker Air Force Base maintenance operations, reduce repair flow time, facility footprint, and repair costs.
- $4.8 million for a research program at The University of Oklahoma for suborbital rockets.
- $2.5 million for Center of the Study of Human Operation performance (C-Shop) at the University of Oklahoma
- $5 million for the Institute of Creative Technology for the Call for Fire and Joint Fires and Effects at Fort Sill
- $2.5 million for the Institute of Creative Technology for the T&E Modeling and Simulation Technology at Fort Sill
- $2.6 million nation-wide for National Guard Meteorlogical Measuring Set-profiler
"These projects will have a great economic benefit on our state and increase the strength of our military bases. These funds are important as Oklahoma's military instillations continue to play an integrated, central role in our national defense," Congressman Cole said.
The Conference Report provides $2.9 billion for the Army's Future Combat System, the Army's premier modernization effort. This amount is an increase of $1.2 billion over fiscal year 2004. The Conference Report fully funds the requested amount for the Non Line of Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) and directs its fielding by not later than 2010. The Conference Report also establishes a new funding line for the Non Line of Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS) and includes $58 million for this effort.
H.R. 4613 includes $25 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and over $461 billion for the overall Defense budget. The Conference Report must now pass in the Senate.
"While the Defense Appropriations bill does much to modernize and strengthen our military, I continue to believe we must expand the size of the regular Army and Marine Corps," Cole said. "This bill does not have enough funds to allow for a permanent expansion in manpower without reducing expenditures on other vital programs. I hope we can address this issue next year," Cole declared.
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