Washington, DC - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that the Senate Armed Services Committee had authorized $14.9 million in Defense projects that will benefit the Capital Region, including $2.5 million for Benet Labs’ Rarefaction Wave Gun and $12.4 million for the Lightweight 155-mm Towed Howitzer which has its cannon assembly manufactured at Watervliet Arsenal.

The news came as the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which Senator Clinton is a member, approved the FY 2007 Department of Defense (DOD) Authorization bill yesterday. The passage of the bill marks the first stage in the Department of Defense appropriations process. Now that the authorization bill has been passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee, the bill will be sent to the Senate floor before heading into the appropriations process. The House of Representatives passed their version of the bill Wednesday.

“This bill is important not only for our potential military capabilities, but for New York’s economy. In addition to enabling our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines to have the best training, the best equipment and the best facilities in the world, it makes a number of significant investments in local technology and local companies, which is always welcome,” Senator Clinton said. “New York companies are already developing the cutting edge technology that will take our military into the future. I am pleased that we can continue to support them and the local economy with these kinds of meaningful investments.”

Senator Clinton announced that the bill contained a number of highlights for New York, including -

The preservation of over $200 million in funding military construction projects for New York which were included in the President’s Budget and which Senator Clinton fought hard to maintain;

The preservation of funding for the VH-71A Presidential Helicopter Program. Lockheed Martin-Owego is the prime contractor on the program; and

The inclusion of a provision, which Senator Clinton proposed, to name the new laboratory building at the Air Force Research Site in Rome, NY in honor of retiring Rep. Sherwood L. Boehlert (R-New Hartford). Rep. John M. McHugh (R-Pierrepont Manor) also secured a companion amendment in House defense authorization legislation.

“During his distinguished Congressional career, Sherry Boehlert has been the foremost champion in Congress of the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome. With his impending retirement from Congress, it is only fitting that we name the new laboratory building after Congressman Boehlert,” said Senator Clinton.

The bill also included two important amendments that Senator Clinton sponsored to force the Department of the Army to address serious concerns regarding pay issues of wounded soldiers and to analyze troop readiness.

In a continuing effort to ensure that those who have given so much are not further burdened with resolving pay account issues, Senator Clinton’s wounded soldier pay audit amendment directs the Secretary of Defense to establish a toll-free call assistance center focused on providing wounded members of the Armed Forces, or their primary next of kin, with help relating to military pay issues. The Senator’s amendment also requires the Department of the Army to conduct an audit of its wounded soldiers’ pay accounts and report back to Congress in 120 days. As recently as April 26, 2006, a Government Accountability Office report found that nearly 1,300 battle-injured soldiers and soldiers killed in combat in the first 4 years of the Global War on Terror, had incurred a total of $1.5 million in debt. Press reports have also revealed that the Army has granted more than 600 requests by soldiers for debt forgiveness - totaling more than $600,000 - on the basis that the debt was wrongly charged. This is just the latest in a series of actions taken by Senator Clinton on this significant issue as the treatment of wounded soldiers remains one of her top priorities. In the past, she has called on Congress to hold hearings, written to the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the Army to investigate specific cases, and called for reviews of the broader problems with the pay process, particularly as it applies to those wounded in a combat zone.

“I am deeply troubled, as I think we all should be, about continuing reports of soldiers who have been withdrawn from combat on the basis of medical issues and have experienced payroll problems or have been wrongly charged for certain services or equipment. It is simply unacceptable that we should be billing our soldiers for debts wrongly incurred or exacerbated by bureaucratic pay and personnel systems,” Senator Clinton said. “We must do everything in our power to avoid placing wounded soldiers in the position of having to resolve payroll problems or to request debt forgiveness. These warriors are recovering from the injuries they sustained while they were fighting for our country and they should not have to deal with this kind of additional burden.”

Senator Clinton’s amendment addressing our military’s readiness is part of a continuing effort to study the current state of our ground forces and better highlight where Congress should focus its efforts to ensure the continued preparedness of our Army and Marine Corps.

“I am concerned about the strain on the ground forces of our Nation’s military and their ability to continue at the current pace in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other theaters of operation. We must continue to focus on recruiting and retaining our forces, training and equipping them in a manner that ensures they are able to meet today’s challenges and future requirements,” Senator Clinton said.

Local funding details include:

$2.5 million for Benet Labs’ Rarefaction Wave Gun

The Senate Armed Services Committee bill authorizes $2.5 million in funding for Benet Labs to continue their work on the Advanced Technology Lightweight Armament System-Rarefaction Wave Gun (ATLAS-Raven) project. This system supports the goal of developing an ultra-lightweight combat vehicle that will significantly enhance the ability of all services to rapidly deploy to trouble spots worldwide. The ATLAS system will provide the enabling technologies for unprecedented reductions (50%) in the weight of large caliber high muzzle energy cannons. These weight reductions in the gun system will reduce vehicle weight and allow for air transportability. Benet Labs, located within the Watervliet Arsenal, received $2.5 million in FY 06 funds for this project.

$12.4 million for the Lightweight 155-mm Towed Howitzer which benefits Watervliet Arsenal

The M777A1 Lightweight 155mm Howitzer cannon is a joint program with the US Marine Corps and US Army to replace the aging 198 towed howitzers. The M777A1 improves upon M198 performance with networked fires at almost 50% of the weight of the M198. Watervliet Arsenal manufactures the cannon assembly for the M777A1 Lightweight 155mm howitzer.

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