| WASHINGTON, D.C. – While many programs do not fare well in conference committees, U.S. Congressman Marion Berry (D-AR, 1st) announced today Arkansas State University (ASU) received an additional $7 million in funding during the Defense Appropriations Conference Committee – bringing their total up to $12 million for two projects.
Berry, from his seat on the Appropriations Committee, originally secured $5 million to ASU for a remote sensing project – less than half of what is needed to complete the project. Continued pressure from Berry, as well as Arkansas Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, has lead to a $7 million addition from the Conference Committee – made up of Senate and House Appropriators.
“Today ASU has been given their deserved recognition as a center for scientific excellence,” Berry said. “This is a prime example of what can occur when an entire delegation works to support an organization with an exemplary reputation. Every recognition Rural America earns is a benefit to the entire community and this project is no different. I congratulate ASU and thank the rest of the Arkansas Congressional Delegation for their efforts.”
Utilizing their expertise with experimental lasers and detection of minute substances, ASU will work with other schools across the country to research and create remote detection techniques capable of sensing minute levels of potentially dangerous nuclear, chemical and biological substances. The two solutions are similar: Both provide near real time detection and confirmation of nuclear and chemical particles in the atmosphere, soil and bodies of water from clandestine explosives.
However, the SHADES (Standoff Hazardous Agent Detection Evaluation System) program – funded at $1.5 million – will seek to use nuclear and chemical particles to detect the location of weapons of mass destruction, while the SSRID (Standoff Sensor for Radionuclide Identification) program – awarded $10.5 million - will use the detected particles to determine contamination levels from such weapons.
The Conference Report for the Defense Department Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2005 is slated to come for a vote before the House of Representatives today and is expected to pass. It will then go to the Senate where it is also expect to pass, and finally the bill will go to the President’s desk for his signature, which is expected. |
