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Tuesday, September 26, 2006
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BOEHLERT: ROME LAB FUNDING TO INCREASE BY OVER 18-PERCENT
House Approves Defense Spending Bill for Fiscal Year 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-New Hartford) today announced that the Air Force Research Laboratory's (Rome Lab) two primary funding accounts - combined -- would increase by 18-percent under the fiscal year 2007 Defense Appropriations bill Conference Report, approved by the House of Representatives earlier today. Boehlert was also able to secure an additional $3.8 million in specifically earmarked projects for research and development projects at Rome.
"The news for Rome just keeps getting better," Boehlert said. "Coming off a big win in the recent BRACC, the additional funds demonstrate a strong endorsement of the work at Rome by the Pentagon and the entire U.S. Congress. The scientists and engineers at Rome are on the forefront of the Global War on Terrorism and today's announcement is proof that research performed at Rome is essential to winning 21st century conflicts.
Additional Rome Lab Projects to receive funding include:
$1 million for the Advanced Course in Engineering (ACE) Cyber Security Boot Camp to educate and train ROTC cadets and civilian undergraduate students at Rome Lab in cybersecurity. At Boehlert's request, the nationally recognized ACE program was recently extended to the high school level through a cybersecurity course being taught at Rome Catholic High School, with plans to extend the concept throughout Mohawk Valley schools in future years.
The new money will fund the travel, tuition and support for sixty students who will study and receive training in cyber security at Rome Lab, NEADS and local companies. Boehlert has secured over $4.2 million in previous budgets to help establish the ACE and starting in 2008 it is expected that the Air Force will include annual funds for the ACE program at Rome.
$1.5 million for the MASINT Warfighter Visualization Tools research project that seeks to give intelligence analysts or military commanders access to more accurate and timely information by integrating and displaying data from a wide spectrum of intelligence sources and sensors. MASINT is particularly beneficial in identifying obscured and hidden targets. Several local defense companies including ITT at the Griffiss Business and Technology Park carry out this research.
$1.3 million for Intelligence Equipment to improve, identify, and characterize Hard and Deeply Buried Targets (HDBT) and other Underground Facilities (UGF) that can house weapons of mass destruction.
The Rome Lab budget is in the $600 million range and the lab and related contractors employ 1,400 scientists and engineers in Rome. According to a report release by Rome Lab, the annual impact of area expenditures for Rome Research Site totaled $66.2 million in fiscal year 2005. In addition, the Rome Research Site's FY 2005 Economic Impact Analysis estimates that AFRL Rome Research Site was responsible for an additional 1,670 indirect jobs in the five counties. The estimated annual dollar value of the local jobs created was $54 million. The Rome Lab serves as anchor tenant for the Griffiss Business and Technology Park.
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Editor's Note - For nearly the last 24-years, which includes three rounds of BRACC, Boehlert has played a key role in retaining and growing defense operations in Rome. In addition, to showcasing the work conducted at Rome to high-level Pentagon officials, Boehlert has secured millions of dollars in funding to revive the former Griffiss Air Force Base into a bustling business and technology park.
Some examples of funding for Rome projects secured by Boehlert include:
- $9.6 million for construction of NEADS facility
- $12.8 million for construction of $25 million state-of-the-art Rome Lab facility
- $10.2 million for renovation of DFAS facility
- $5.2 million to establish the ACE program-now a national leader in cybersecurity education
- $41 million in joint NASA-Air Force research at Rome Lab
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