FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 23, 2003
Contact:  Marie DesOrmeaux
(202) 225-3772
 
House Passes Defense Authorization
Ross announces more than $2 billion to benefit Fourth District Defense Projects
 
(Washington, D.C.) Fourth District Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) today announced that within the House-passed Defense Authorization bill for Fiscal Year 2004, $2.027 billion will benefit defense projects in Arkansas’s Fourth Congressional District.

“We have worked hard over the past few months to secure funding for these projects,” Ross said, “and I am glad to see that they have made it through the first major hurdle.  In total, an additional $115 million above the President’s budget request was secured for our district, and that means more jobs and economic opportunities for working families in our defense industry.  I am also pleased that $132.9 million was included to begin the chemical demilitarization operations at the Pine Bluff Arsenal.  Much planning has gone into this operation to destroy the Arsenal’s chemical stockpile, and for the safety and security of the Pine Bluff community, I am glad to see it get underway. 

“The defense contractors at Highland Industrial Park in East Camden provide jobs for many South Arkansas working families.  The products that they make not only protect our men and women in uniform but also our country, as was demonstrated in Operation Iraqi Freedom.  I am very proud of their service to our country, and am pleased that the Defense Authorization legislation provides the funding to continue this important work.  There is still much work to be done in the appropriations process, and I will continue working to ensure that these projects in our district receive proper funding.”

Fourth District projects included in the house-passed Defense Authorization are as follows:

East Camden Defense Contractors: 
·          Extended Range Active Missile (ERAM) - $76.9 million
·          Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile (PAC-3) - $688 million (this number includes $90 million above the President’s request)
·          Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) - $786 million
·          Line-of-Sight Antitank (LOSAT) - $43.2 million
·          High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) - $124 million
·          Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) - $138.4 million ($9 million above the President’s request)
·          Hydra 70- $32.981 million ($11million above the President’s request)

Pine Bluff Arsenal:
·          Start-up of demilitarization operations at Pine Bluff - $132.9 million
·          120 mm Mortar Illumination Round – $5 million ($5 million above the President’s request


Press Release            Press Release List            Press Release