House Approves Defense, Homeland Security Funding
Funding for Local Projects Receives Final Approval

September 25, 2003

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman David Dreier (R-CA), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, voted this week to approve final versions of the legislation that will fund the continuing war on terror. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 Homeland Security Appropriations Act Conference Report was approved also with broad support, 417-8 and the FY 2004 Department of Defense Appropriations Act Conference Report was approved by a wide bipartisan margin, 407-15.

"Just two years after September 11, 2001, the war on terror continues today on multiple fronts," Dreier said. "These two funding measures will equip our troops as well as our first responders with the tools they need to combat terrorism here at home and abroad. Making this kind of investment in our national security is the best message we can send to those who would do us harm. We must spend whatever it takes to protect and defend America."

The Fiscal Year 2004 Homeland Security Conference Report, H.R. 2555, provides $29.4 billion for operations and activities of the Department of Homeland Security. The Fiscal Year 2004 Defense Appropriations Conference Report, H.R. 2658 provides a total of $368.2 million in spending authority for the Department of Defense in the coming year. Of local interest, the bill includes $7.5 million for the La Verne based Full Spectrum Active Protection Close-In Layered Shield (FCLAS) project. This project is an integrated sensor/interceptor package that will be placed at key points on the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) hull. The FCLAS project represents a technological leap forward in vehicle defense against shoulder-launched anti-tank munitions, providing soldiers operating tanks with exceptional protection from munitions fired directly at them.

H.R. 2658 also includes $3 million for the City of Hope National Medical Center for continued cancer research. Additionally, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Air Containment Monitoring System will receive $1 million to enhance the technology already used to perform analysis of toxic chemicals in the Southern California Region. The funding will enable the SCAQMD to provide valuable air monitoring assistance to local military bases and first responders when events occur that have significant public air quality impacts, including terrorist events.