Bush Signs Funding Bill, including NMT projects

The following was supplied to New Mexico Tech by Sen. Pete Domenici's office.

WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 2, 2006 – U.S. Senator Pete Domenici today reported that President Bush has signed into law the FY2007 Defense Appropriations Bill, a $436.6 billion spending package that includes at least $61 million added by the Senator to support military projects in New Mexico.

The bill was signed into law late Sept. 29, just days before the start of the Oct. 1 start of the new federal fiscal year.

Domenici played a direct role in crafting the measure as a member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Domenici secured $61 million for 27 defense projects carried out at Kirtland and Holloman Air Force Bases, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), as well as Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories. The bill also supports the New Mexico National Guard and research done by New Mexico universities and defense contractors in the state.

“I am pleased this bill is now law and that resources will be in place to support our military men and women in uniform. One aspect of that is ensuring that R&D continues on new generations of weapons and equipment that will make our fighting forces more effective. A lot of this development and testing work is carried out in New Mexico, which is why the bill is important to our state,” Domenici said.

Overall, the Defense Appropriations Bill provides $86.0 billion for military personnel, including a 2.2 percent across-the-board pay raise. It provides $119.8 billion for operations and maintenance, and fully funds readiness programs key to the war on terror. The bill provides an additional $70 billion for operations related to the war on terror. Another $75.7 billion is provided for Pentagon research, development, test and evaluation activities. The bill is $4.0 billion below the President’s budget request.

Important to the future of Holloman Air Force Base where the Air Force is beginning to retire the F-117 Stealth Fighters, Domenici supported increased funding to support a multiyear procurement (MYP) program for purchasing the F-22A Raptor fighters that will replace the F-117 aircraft. The bill provides $2.71 billion for the purchase of 20 F-22A in FY2207, and makes $210 million available for the F-22A MYP.

The Air Force intends to establish two F-22A squadrons (36 aircraft) at Holloman as its third Raptor operational wing.

“I believe we are right to advance the multiyear procurement contracts so that the F-22A Raptors for Holloman are ready as soon as possible,” Domenici said.

The following is a review of the New Mexico-related projects for which Domenici helped secure funding:

• Expeditionary Unit Water Purification-II (Otero County) – At Domenici’s request, $3.25 million in Navy research and development funding is provided to continue support for the EUWP project which is doing work in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico.
• Water Security Program (New Mexico State University and General Electric) – At Domenici’s request, $1.0 million to support a joint effort to develop desalination water treatment technologies with military and civilian applications.
• Individual Water Purifier System (IWPS) (Marine Corps and Miox Corp., Albuquerque) – At Domenici’s request, $1.65 million provided to fund an unfunded Marine Corps priority for procurement of additional IWPS systems next year.
• White Sands Missile Range Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) – At Domenici’s request, $2.6 million to allow the Army to carry out a range-wide EIS at WSMR in order to ensure it is ready to accept future testing activities in a timely manner.
• Radar Tag Emitter (RaTE) (Sandia National Laboratories) – At Domenici’s request, $1.0 million to support this Sandia and General Atomics project to develop the next generation of “blue force tackers,” a radar tag.
• UAV Systems and Operations Validation Program (USOVP) (NMSU Physical Science Laboratory) – At Domenici’s request, $1.95 million to continue the USOVP at the Las Cruces airport, which supports testing of UAV platforms and systems in civil airspace on a routine basis alongside manned aircraft.
• Long Wavelength Array (LWA) (UNM-Naval Research Laboratory) – At Domenici’s request, $1.65 million for LWA, which will be a very large aperture radio astronomy telescope. This program builds on the existing Very Large Array (VLA) on the Plains of San Augustin in Socorro County.
• Holloman High Speed Test Tract (Holloman AFB 46th Test Group) – At Domenici’s request, $3.9 million is provided to continue development of the Holloman High Speed Test Track.
• Magdalena Ridge Observatory (MRO) (New Mexico Tech consortium) – At Domenici’s request, $3.9 million through the Office of Naval Research, Naval Research Laboratory allow New Mexico Tech to work toward completing the development and construction of optical instruments and adaptive optics systems.
• Beta Energy Cells (BEC) for Defense Intelligence Applications (AFRL) – At Domenici’s request, $1.0 million through the AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland AFB to complete the development phase of BEC research and make prototype products available to defense and intelligence users.
• High Speed Communication Assemblage Upgrade (Laguna Industries, Laguna Pueblo) – At Domenici’s request, $1.95 million to continue the Army effort to modernize its common user communications system through the ACUS modernization program.
• Integrated Warfighter Information System II (United International Engineering Inc., Albuquerque) – At Domenici’s request, $2.1 million to support the IWIS II System, which as a single ISR tool, will provide Navy Seals and other Special Operations Command operators with an integrated sighting system.
• High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility (HELSTF) (WSMR) – At Domenici’s request, $2.6 million is provided to modernize facilities at HELSTF, DOD’s only facility dedicated to testing and evaluating high-energy laser weapon programs. The bill also funds HELSTF at the budget request, $16.6 million.
• HMX Requalification Program (Los Alamos National Laboratory & TPL Inc.) - At Domenici=s request, $1.3 million to advance the HMX Requalification Program to minimize the contamination impact caused by residues (HMX) from high explosives. TPL Inc. in Albuquerque, LANL, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center are involved in this work at Fort Wingate in McKinley County.
• Integrated Spacecraft Engineering Tool (AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate) – At Domenici’s request, $1.3 million to develop, demonstrate and validate an integrated spacecraft engineering tool to support rapid prototyping and collaborative RDT&E of advanced spacecraft and aerospace vehicles.
• Field Programmable Gate Array (AFRL, UNM, Sandia & LANL) -- $1.0 million to support an AFRL-led collaboration of nine technology organizations working on a Field Programmable Gate Array project, which could result in a FPGA Mission Assurance Center in New Mexico.
• Integrated Control for Autonomous Space Systems (ICASS) (AFRL): At Domenici=s request, $1.6 million to continue development of this space systems program, which involves the AFRL.
• Adaptive Optics Lasercom (AFRL) – At Domenici’s request, $2.5 million is provided for ongoing development of this Adaptive Optics Lasercom communications system.
• Playas (N.M.) Command and Control Network (New Mexico Tech) – At Domenici’s request, $3.25 million to complete development of a Command and Control Network at Playas, a New Mexico Tech-operated training, research, development, test and evaluation complex.
• New Mexico National Guard Emergency Power Source – At Domenici’s request, $1.1 million to procure and place 28 hydrogen fuel cells in armories in New Mexico to serve as an emergency source of energy and improve readiness.
• New Mexico National Guard Counterdrug Program – At Domenici’s request, $1.35 million to support New Mexico National Guard counter-drug activities on the Southwest Border.
• High-Throughput Laboratory Initiative (Los Alamos National Laboratory) – At Domenici’s request, $6.0 million to support at LANL and UCLA proposal to establish a network of high-throughput automated laboratories that can process and test deadly human and animal pathogens.
• Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) (Honeywell, Albuquerque) – At Domenici’s request, $5.3 million provided to begin system development and demonstration phases for MAV, a small, light weight, and portable surveillance and intelligence gathering aircraft.
• MEDEVAC Thermal Imaging Upgrades – At Domenici’s request, $2.6 million to support system improvements for MEDEVAC helicopters, which provide significant enroute patient care for wounded military combatants and war victims.
• University Strategic Partnership (UNM, New Mexico Tech, NMSU) – At Domenici’s request, $1.0 million more than the President’s request of $5 million to continue support for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) University Strategic Partnership Program.
• Silicon-28 Deposition Methodology Project (New Mexico State University) – At Domenici’s request, $1.0 million to develop electronic switches made from advanced materials, like silicon-carbide, to improve electrical power for combat systems.
• Combat Support Hospitals (Alaska Structures of Las Cruces) – At Domenici’s request, $2.0 million is provided to allow the Army Medical Department (AMEDD) to make progress toward meeting its requirement for 24 Combat Support Hospitals and work toward procuring 164-bed hospital shelters.
• Non-Nuclear Earth Penetrator – At Domenici’s request, $1.95 million provided to continue development of a non-nuclear, deep penetrating munition.
• Airborne Laser (ABL) Program (Kirtland AFB) – Domenici supported the budget request, $631.6 million for ABL in FY2007.

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