Earlier this year, I co-sponsored the G.I. Bill of Rights, which will significantly improve the lives of our nation's brave and deserving veterans. This bill will increase the benefits our men and women in uniform receive today, and will provide long overdue benefits for the veterans and military retirees who have already served our great nation. This legislation essentially modernizes the current G.I. Bill, which has been in place since 1944 and was enacted to honor and assist our veterans of World War II. 

For military retirees and the families of those who died in the line of duty, the G.I. Bill of Rights repeals the Disabled Veterans Tax, and puts an end to the unfair Military Families Tax. This bill will also improve efficiency and accuracy of benefit claims -- veterans with a service-related disability claim have a right to expect timeliness in resolving their appeals, and this is not happening today. 

The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. has an ongoing nationwide effort to collect oral histories from America’s veterans from World War I through current conflicts throughout the world.   The Veterans History Project aims to collect recorded oral histories, pictures, letters, and journals of veterans.  To date, the Library of Congress has successfully collected more than 40,000 personal histories.  I encourage you, this Veterans Day, to contact the Library of Congress at 888-371-5854 or by visiting their website www.loc.gov/vets, and obtain a veteran’s oral history kit and reach out to veterans in your community and ask them to share their story with you so their story can be preserved in the Library of Congress.

I would personally like to recognize and express my heartfelt gratitude to Sheila Lampkin of Monticello, Arkansas for her contributions to the Veterans History Project.  Upon learning of the Veterans History Project, Sheila has personally collected over 30 oral histories throughout Monticello and the surrounding communities.  Her tireless effort and continued dedication will ensure that the stories of Arkansas’ veterans will be preserved for decades and generations to come for not only the children of veterans and their families, but as an important element of our history at America’s Library of Congress.

On this Veteran’s Day, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the soldiers across this great country. These selfless individuals and their families make tremendous sacrifices to serve our country.  I am forever grateful to our veterans for all they have done to keep our nation free. 

The FY 2006 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Conference Report is expected to be passed by both the House and Senate this week, and is then expected to be signed into law by President Bush, the six Arkansas lawmakers said. 

The six members of the Arkansas Congressional Delegation who fought for the projects announced today are as follows: Senators Blanche Lincoln (D) and Mark Pryor (D), Representatives Marion Berry (D-1st), Vic Snyder (D-2nd), John Boozman (R-3rd), and Mike Ross (D-4th).

The annual Energy and Water Development spending bill is one of twelve appropriations bills passed each year by Congress. It includes funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation, most of the Department of Energy, and a number of independent agencies. The legislation also includes funding for key Arkansas water projects at various stages of development. The following earmarks are included in the legislation: 

$12 million for the Delta Regional Authority. This is an increase of $6 million from what President Bush’s budget included. The Authority provides long-term coordination among federal, state, and local entities committed to economic development in the Lower Mississippi Delta region.

$900,000 for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) for the production and storage of Hydrogen at the Nanotechnology Center of Excellence. 

$500,000 for Solar Energy research at UALR. 

$1 million for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Cancer Research Center. 

$500,000 for the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute (CARTI)/Mountain Home for the acquisition of an electronic portal imaging device. 
 

The Energy and Water Conference Report directs the Corps of Engineers, using $9 million in appropriated funds, to continue construction of the water withdrawal features of the Grand Prairie Irrigation project. Both Lincoln and Berry who are supportive of the project, noted the project is intended to protect groundwater resources within a 1.4 million acre area, which includes nearly 50 percent of all rice production acreage in the nation. 

The bill also includes language that will move White River Minimum Flows toward implementation at Bull Shoals and Norfork Lakes and will move the process forward toward construction of a fish hatchery in the tailwaters at Beaver Dam.

The bill also includes funding for projects aimed at improving navigation, flood control and the environment:

Small Navigation Projects

$500,000 for the Blytheville Harbor;

Flood Control Projects

$75,000 for Wynne;

Projects for Improvement of the Environment

$130,000 for Ditch 28 in Mississippi County;

$100,000 for Millwood Lake and Grassy Lake;

The bill also includes funding for the following key Arkansas water projects at various stages of development:

Planning & Investigations

Dark Hollow, North Little Rock, $100,000;

Hot Springs Creek Study, $100,000;

White River Basin Comprehensive Study, $800,000;

Southeast Arkansas irrigation project (Boeuf Tensas project), $315,000;

Pine Mountain Dam, $100,000;

Red River Navigation Study, Southwest Arkansas, $150,000;

Southwest Arkansas watershed study of Red River & Little Red River Basins, $100,000;

Bayou Meto, $1.64 million;

Construction

Francis Bland Floodway Ditch (Eight Mile Creek), $3.274 million;

Montgomery Point Lock and Dam, $20 million;

St. Francis Basin (AR & MO), $6.8 million;

Mississippi River Levees (AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO & TN), $51 million;

Channel Improvements (AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO & TN), $43 million; 

Red River Emergency Bank Protection (AR & LA), $3.2 million;

Red River Below Denison Dam (AR, LA & TX), $3 million;

Operations and Maintenance (projects listed were increased over Administration's request)

Mississippi River Levees (AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO & TN), $11.5 million;

Helena Harbor, Phillips County, $382,000;

Helena Harbor, $387,000;

Yellow Bend Port, $158,000;

White River, $900,000;

Ouachita and Black Rivers (AR & LA), $13.887 million;

St. Francis Basin, AR & MO; $8.8 million;

Other Operations and Maintenance

Channel Improvement, AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO &TN, $63 million;

Helena Harbor, Phillips County, $382,000;

Inspection of Completed Works, $580,000; 

Lower Arkansas River, North Bank, $532,000;

Lower Arkansas River, South Bank, $295,000;

White River Backwater, $1.33 million;

Tensas Basin, Boeuf and Tensas Rivers (AR & LA), $2.47 million;

Beaver Lake, $5.170 million;

Blakely Mt. Dam, Lake Ouachita, $10.084 million;

Blue Mountain Lake, $1.163 million;

Bull Shoals Lake, $5.753 million;

Dardanelle Lock and Dam, $5.872 million;

DeGray Lake, $6.145 million;

DeQueen Lake, $1.074 million;

Dierks Lake, $1.045 million;

Gillham Lake, $984,000;

Greers Ferry Lake, $5.047 million;

Inspection of Completed Works, $179,000;

McClellan-Kerr Navigation system,$31.559 million;

Millwood Lake, $1.604 million;

Narrows Dam, Lake Greeson, $3.908 million;

Nimrod Lake, $1.490 million;

Norfork Lake, $4.086 million;

Ozark - Jeta Taylor Lock and Dam, $4.636 million;

Project Condition Surveys, $6,000.