(November 8, 2007)--The U.S. House gave given overwhelming approval Thursday to a massive defense spending bill, awarding the Pentagon a $40 billion budget increase but leaving the question of war financing unresolved.
The $471 billion bill includes millions of dollars for Central Texas defense projects and for a study of the causes of post-traumatic stress disorder involving Fort Hood and the Waco VA Hospital.
What the bill does not include, however, is the president's nearly $200 billion request for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, except for an almost $12 billion infusion for new troop vehicles that are resistant to roadside bombs.
The House-Senate compromise measure would be the first of 12 appropriations bills for the budget year that began Oct. 1 to be signed into law by Mr. Bush.
Much of the increase in the defense bill is devoted to procuring new and expensive weapons systems, but it also provides enough money to give U.S. military personnel a 3.5 percent pay raise.
Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, praised the measure, which includes $3 million to rehabilitate training areas at Fort Hood and $1 million for Fort Hood, the University of Texas and Texas A&M University for support of the Army’s transformation to digital warfare.
“It is vital to the success of our military that they receive the tools and resources they need to protect our country,” Carter said.
“I am pleased to have secured funding for critical projects that will enhance our nation’s defense and ensure that our military remains the best and strongest in the world.”
Click Here For More Information About Fort Hood Projects
Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, secured $5 million for research at Waco’s L-3 Communications to improve systems on the Navy’s EP-3 surveillance aircraft and $1 million for research at Waco’s Advanced Concepts and Technologies, International, which is working in improved systems for detecting airborne chemical and biological contaminants.
Click Here For More Information About Waco Defense Projects
Edwards also secured $2.7 million for the Waco VA-Fort Hood study of PTSD.
The program was created with $3 million that Edwards secured in the 2006 defense healthcare bill.
“This groundbreaking research project is an important part of realizing our goal of making the Waco VA a world-class PTSD and mental health care research center, and it is one of the few programs in the country focusing on the links between genes and brain anatomy in the development of PTSD and mental illness in our combat soldiers,” Edwards said.
Click Here For More Information On PTSD Funding
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