Washington, DC - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that the Senate Armed Services Committee has authorized $260.7 million in Defense and Military Construction projects that will benefit the North Country, including $3 million for Portal Dynamics’ Aviation/Missile Life Cycle Management Command Integrated Digital Environment Pilot Program, $248 million in Military Construction funding from the President’s Budget for Fort Drum and $9.7 million in funding from the President’s Budget for the ANG Queensbury Readiness Center.

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.”

“I am also pleased that once again we have recognized Fort Drum’s critical importance to our military and to Northern New York. We continue to ask so much of the troops at Fort Drum and we need to make sure we give something back, to the facility and the community,” Senator Clinton said.

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:

$3 million for Portal Dynamics’ Aviation/Missile Life Cycle Management Command Integrated Digital Environment Pilot Program

The Senate Armed Services committee bill authorizes $3 million for the development of a real time management of Army Aviation logistics at Fort Drum, NY through a web portal application. This system demonstrates the value of using Internet-based software tools for collecting, summarizing and moving relevant maintenance and repair activities for the aircraft. The project will lessen soldiers’ burdens by providing the warfighter an unprecedented ability to manage their combat systems with a look-forward capability.

$248 million in Military Construction funding from the President’s Budget for Fort Drum, including:

Construct Barracks AMF - $40 million

Combined Arms Collective Training Facility - $16.5 million

Construct Barracks AMF - $29 million

Construct Barracks Complex, Increment 2 - $16.5 million

Child Development Center - $7.4 million

Brigade Complex #1, Phase 1 - $36.5 million

Brigade Complex #2, Phase 1 - $37.4 million

Brigade Complex #3, Phase 1 - $42.4 million

ANG Maneuver Area Training Equip Site, $12.658 million

Tricare – Fort Drum Dental Clinic - $9.7 million

$9.7 million in funding from the President’s Budget for the ANG Queensbury Readiness Center

The Armed Services Committee bill includes $9,763,000 to construct a facility to house units including the 466th Area Medical Company and a Military Police company. Plan is for a 49K square feet facility and 22K square feet unheated storage / vehicular facility.

###