(Washington, DC)  --  U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-Concord) today announced that he secured $12 million in funding for two local companies in the annual spending bill that funds the Department of Defense.   The Fiscal Year 2005 Defense Appropriations Bill was approved yesterday in the  House of Representatives by a vote of 403-17 with LaTourette’s support.

 The $417 billion spending bill for Fiscal Year 2005 includes funds for the Pentagon, a 3.5 percent pay increase for the military, new weapons systems and $25 billion for the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 LaTourette said he is pleased that the bill also includes $6 million for three important initiatives from STERIS, an industry leader in biological and chemical decontamination technologies.

 “STERIS has proven invaluable in decontamination technology, particularly in the aftermath of 9-11 and the Anthrax and Ricin scares in Washington,” LaTourette said.  “They are doing cutting-edge research and development to make our troops and their equipment safer, and the work they do for the Pentagon will ultimately be used in broader applications to keep all of us safer.”

 LaTourette said the Mentor-based company will receive:

• $3 million for a Defense-wide project called “Bio-Chem Vaporous Hydrogen Peroxide Decontamination of Military Aircraft and Equipment.”   The funds will allow STERIS to continue a program to validate a Vaporous Hydrogen Peroxide decontamination system to counter the effects of both biological and chemical warfare agents.  LaTourette said the system will allow the military to decontaminate military aircraft and other equipment in the field. 

• $2 million for a Defense-wide project on “Adaptation Gaseous and Liquid Technology Decontamination.”   LaTourette said human decontamination remains the single most deficient aspect of mass casualty situations, and there is an urgent need to find capabilities to safely, effectively, and quickly decontaminate human casualties.  This funding will allow STERIS to continue testing, evaluating and validating its contamination technology, and its work will have applications for defense, homeland security and commercial purposes.

• $1 million for a Defense-wide project on “Rapid Response Deployable Vaporous Hydrogen Peroxide Bio-Chem.”  LaTourette said this funding will let STERIS continue adapting its Vaporous Hydrogen Peroxide decontamination system, which is currently being evaluated for use on aircraft and other large assets, into portable systems.  Portable use of this decontamination technology has broad homeland security and commercial applications as well.

 LaTourette said the bill also includes $6 million for RMI Titanium Co., which is based in Niles and employs many from Ashtabula County.  LaTourette said RMI’s funds will be used to  research and develop new manufacturing methods to lower the cost of U.S.-manufactured strategic metals used to make armament (weaponry).

 “RMI intends to partner with other Ohio companies to identify components and systems that work best for reducing the weight of weapons, including the use of lighter metals, such as titanium,” LaTourette said.  “The funds will also allow RMI to design plans for economically fabricating, joining and machining elements such as titanium alloys for military applications.”

 LaTourette said the defense funding he secured in the House bill is in the Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDTE) portion of the bill.  LaTourette said Congressman Jerry Lewis, Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, wrote to him earlier this month to notify him that these projects were in the bill, and thank him for his “advocacy” of these important projects and his “efforts and dedication to national defense.”