Rep. Cole Votes for Defense Authorization Legislation

WASHINGTON – Congressman Tom Cole voted today for the FY07 Defense Authorization bill (H.R. 5122) that will ensure our servicemen and women have every tool they need to fight and win the War on Terror. This legislation also gives funding authorization for key Oklahoma projects associated with Tinker Air Force Base and Fort Sill in Lawton.

Congressman Cole, through his position on the powerful Rules Committee, was able to add language into the bill that will exclude the non-line of sight cannon from any funding cuts authorized for the Future Combat Systems program. He was also able to add language in the bill during the Rules Committee meeting to fund the Joint Fires and Effects Trainer System (JFETS).

"I am very pleased I was able to add this language into the bill that could help prevent further delays to the production of the non-line-of-sight cannon. I believe it is time to move forward on this weapon system and will be working to ensure this language is included in the final version of this legislation," Congressman Tom Cole said. "I will also be working to ensure the projects for bases in Oklahoma will be included in the final bill."

As the point man for all defense related issues that come before the Rules Committee, the Congressman is in a unique position to advocate for Oklahoma-specific priorities.

The following projects were requested by Congressman Cole and authorized by the House:

$8 million for an electrical substation at Tinker Air Force Base. The current substation at Tinker has had numerous failures associated with its operation resulting in electrical outages and downtime. A new substation would prevent future interruption to their power grid.
$5 million for Fire/Trainer II/Joint Fires and Effects Trainer System. This will continue the funding stream for the Joint Fires and Effects Trainer System operations at Fort Sill.
$4.5 million for a B-1B molecular sieve oxygen generation system (MSOGS) reliability improvement program at Tinker Air Force Base. These funds would be used to produce MSOGS to provide aircrew with unlimited breathing gas that is essential during extended long-range combat missions
$2.5 million for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) Enhanced Command and Control at Fort Sill. These funds would insert Command and Control capabilities on the HIMARS launcher platform and add a long range communication capability to the launcher vehicle.

Congressman Cole offered language during the Armed Services mark-up of the bill to ensure Tinker Air Force base and other air depots across the country are able to secure capitol funds to help them update and modernize their facilities

The FY07 Defense Authorization bill authorizes an additional $50 billion in supplemental funding to support the war on terror’s operational costs, personnel expenses and the procurement of new equipment. It authorizes additional funding for force protection including up-armored humvees, humvee improvised explosive device (IED) protection kits and gunner protection kits, IED jammers and state-of-the-art body armor.

FY recommends an additional increase of 30,000 personnel for the Army and 5,000 personnel for the Marine Corps and an increase for the Army National Guard by 17,100 over the original budget request. H.R. 5122 provides a 2.7% pay raise for members of the armed forces.

"This legislation makes every effort to give our troops what they need while they are the front lines protecting our country," Congressman Cole said. "It also makes great strides to protect health care for our service men and women."

The Defense Authorization bill rejects the Department of Defense’s proposed fee increases retirees must pay under the TRICARE standard health program and zeroes out co-pays for generic and formulary mail order prescriptions. To ensure that a comprehensive policy and fiscal basis for sustaining future military health care benefits are in place, H.R. 5122 recommends an independent review by a task force, the Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). H.R. 5122 also adds $735 million to the Defense Health Program to restore funding cuts included in the DOD budget request in anticipation of increased beneficiary cost shares, which as mentioned, H.R. 5122 prohibits.

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