FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact: Margaret Wicker McPhillips
June 26 , 2007	(202)224-6414

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee approved nearly $225 million in funding to be directed to Mississippi, Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) announced today.  Nearly $22 million in Department of Energy funding would be directed to Mississippi-based initiatives, while nearly $203 million in funding for Army Corps of Engineers water projects would be provided to meet needs in Mississippi.  Cochran serves as the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee. 

“In recent years our nation has witnessed the need for adequate support of the Corps of Engineers as well as the economic impact natural disasters can have on a nation so exclusively dependent on oil for its energy supply.  The level of investment we make today in our nation’s water infrastructure and diversification of our energy supply will significantly affect the way-of-life of our citizens long into the future.  I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure Mississippi plays a key role in this investment.”

Mississippi-specific highlights within Department of Energy funding include $11 million for the Sustainable Energy Research Center at Mississippi State University, $1 million for gulf hydrates research at the University of Mississippi, $1 million for alternative fuel cell membrane research at the University of Southern Mississippi, and $2 million for Bioengineering Research Training Complex at Jackson State University.  In addition, Mississippi entities would be eligible to receive portions of the bill’s $20 million in funding for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, $12 million for the Delta Regional Authority, and $75 million for the Appalachian Regional Commission.

Under the water portion of the bill, $10 million would be provided for the Yazoo Backwater project, $20 million for the Mississippi Headwaters project, $10 million for the DeSoto County Regional Wastewater System, and $19 million for Section 592 projects in Mississippi, and $12 million for Pascagoula Harbor.  Mississippi entities would also be eligible to receive funding through the nearly $52 million allocated for Mississippi River levee construction, nearly $12 million allocated for Mississippi River levee maintenance, and $50 million for waterway-related initiatives.

The bill will be considered later this week by the full Senate Appropriations Committee.