| Bill Also Gives Raise to the Troops |
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November 12, 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C.
- Last week, local Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the
Armed Services Committee, voted to give our military a 3.5% pay raise
and upgrade military healthcare by $900 million as part of the
Department of Defense appropriations bill. Today, the President signed
the bill which also includes over $5.6 million in funding for several
businesses in the Capital region, including;
$2.4
million for the Functionally Integrated Reactive Surface Technologies
Program (FIRST) developed by Starfire Systems that will use the
prototype design of intelligent clothing to detect chemical and
biological attacks, monitor physical conditions and change the
permeability of clothing to optimize the safety of individual soldiers
and first responders.
$800,000 for a Remote Sighting
System by Legend Technologies to complete engineering design and
product miniaturization for use on various robotic platforms now being
fielded including the SWORDS and TRAP DOD programs.
$1.6
million for a US Navy Pandemic Influenza Vaccine Program at the Trudeau
Institute to develop a more effective influenza vaccine to protect our
military.
$800,000 for the Ubiquitous RFID Chem/Bio
Detection project at GE Global Research to create and deliver a "Street
Lab" which uses Raman Spectroscopy to detect biological and chemical
agents quickly and safely.
$4
million for the M777A1 Lightweight 155mm Howitzer whose gun barrels are
manufactured at Watervliet Arsenal. The M777A1 was a top priority
request from the National Guard and is the leading revenue stream for
the Watervliet Arsenal which employs 400 of Congresswoman Gillibrand's
constituents.
"The businesses in Upstate New York are
on the forefront of national security and I was pleased to be able to
vote for a bill that will not only create jobs but also provide
cutting-edge products to protect our fighting men and women," said
Congresswoman Gillibrand.
The Defense appropriations
bill also provides $980 million to purchase essential National Guard
and Reserve equipment to ensure they have the necessary equipment to
meet overseas deployment demands and to respond to natural disasters
here at home.
In addition, it provides $11.6 billion in
emergency funding for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles
and increases funding for body armor and other protective equipment.
MRAPs are needed to protect military personnel from improvised
explosive devises, the number one killer of U.S. troops in Iraq.
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