FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 14, 2007
CONTACT: Matt Mackowiak
Sen. Hutchison: House, Senate Agree to Well-Deserved Pay Raise for Troops
Senate-Approved Defense Authorization Bill Ready for President
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, today voted in favor of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Defense Authorization bill (H.R.1585) conference report, readying the measure to be sent to the President. The Senate passed the conference report by a vote of 90-3. It was passed (370-49) in the House Wednesday night.
“With today’s vote, we are closer to giving our troops a well-deserved pay raise,” Sen. Hutchison said. “The Defense Authorization bill will also provide funding for the training and equipment our military needs to carry out its mission.”
The bill authorizes:
·$648.3 billion in defense funding, including a 3.5% pay raise for military personnel
·$12.3 billion to pay, train and equip additional troops added to the services through the end of FY 2008 as a part of the Grow the Force initiative to add 92,000 active-duty personnel to the Army and Marine Corps
·$128.5 billion dedicated to operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Global War on Terrorism.
·$4.8 billion to upgrade Bradley Fighting Vehicles, M-1 tanks and Strykers
·$3.8 billion for the Army’s Future Combat Systems program
The bill also contains provisions authored by Sen. Hutchison requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit two feasibility studies to congressional defense committees prior to April 2008.
The first study will determine the feasibility of establishing a Border State Aviation Training Center, which could be housed at Ellington Air Force Base that would take advantage of existing RC-26 training components nationwide. The study would identify where a new training center could best be located to prepare for missions in support of local, state and federal drug enforcement activities.
The second study will determine the feasibility of utilizing existing military personnel and infrastructure in the San Antonio area (or installing new infrastructure) and at Kelly Air Field to house a National Disaster Response Center as a central hub for responding to the needs of displaced and injured victims of man-made and natural disasters in the United States.
Other sites similar to Kelly Air Field’s and San Antonio’s military infrastructure will be looked at nationwide as well to determine locations with the most efficient costs and benefits for the center.
Sen. Hutchison is a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.
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