This week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the Fiscal Year 2007. This legislation authorizes $447.5 billion for the Department of Defense to fund critical defense needs, including troop protection, operation and maintenance, research and development, and wartime appropriations to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Congressman Conaway was instrumental in helping fund two projects important to West Texas. Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo received $1.7 million in funding for their Distributed Common Ground Station (DCGS) Formal Training Unit. The DCGS training unit is under the 17th Training Group at Goodfellow, and is the Air Force’s single focal point for the development of standardized training materials.
“The success of this unit is critical as the United States looks to enhance our ability to gather, analyze and act on intelligence,” said Conaway. “I am glad that Congress recognizes the vital role that Goodfellow plays in fighting and winning the Global War on Terror.”
The bill also includes funding to support the construction of a next-generation nuclear reactor in Andrews, which will be used to conduct scientific research and train nuclear engineers studying at the University of Texas at the Permian Basin in Odessa.
Conaway went on to say, “UTPB is an outstanding institution, and bringing this initiative to the area will certainly further their opportunities. I am proud that members of Congress were able to come together to pass this bill with such an overwhelming bipartisan vote. I want to especially thank Senator Hutchison for all of her hard work in the Senate for this initiative.”
Among other things, the conference report to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (H.R. 5631) provides the following:
Full funding for a 2.2 percent military personnel pay raise; $1.9 billion for new improvised explosive device countermeasures to protect our troops on the ground; Almost $23 billion to ensure the Army and Marine Corps troops are fully equipped with updated and refurbished equipment; $9.4 billion for ballistic missile defense; $937 million to fight narcoterrorism and fund the Department of Defense’s counter-drug activities; and $70 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
