WASHINGTON -U.S. Rep. Richard Baker, R-Baton Rouge, announced today that House-Senate conferees have agreed upon a FY ’07 Homeland Security Appropriations bill that will grant the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium $145,000,000, of which Louisiana State University (LSU) will receive $22 million.

”This award reflects LSU’s continuing excellence as a leader in this field, and everyone in Louisiana should be proud of the work they’re doing to help keep Americans safe,” said Baker, who championed the funding request in Congress.

LSU is a member of a consortium consisting of four universities (LSU, New Mexico Tech, Texas A&M;, and the Nevada Test Site at Department of Energy) that is preparing first responders for events caused by weapons of mass destruction. This program is run under the auspices of the Department of Justice and it will continue to train the two million-plus first responders in the United States and significantly add to the infrastructure protection of this country. With the aftermath of September 11, training of first responders became imperative in Homeland Security efforts.

The new funding will bring the total to $130 million that LSU has received since 1999 for its domestic preparedness work as part of the consortium.