Johnson publishes Third District requests
Washington,
Apr 18 -
Today U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (3rd Dist.-Texas) publicized the priorities he’ll seek federal funding for in the money allocating process, known as appropriations. Johnson believes that any funding request, called an earmark, included in an appropriations bill should be made public and attributed to the Member of Congress who requested it. In the interest of transparency, Johnson is announcing his requests before Congress considers them.
Under the Appropriations Committee, there are 12 Appropriations Subcommittees tasked with assigning federal dollars to each of the 435 congressional districts for the 2009 spending bill. Seeking federal funding for a specific project does not guarantee that the item will receive any money from the federal government.
Johnson requested that the Appropriations Committee properly consider whether his projects merit federal funds. Each Member of Congress must decide individually to request money for his or her congressional district as well as the amount in funding.
Of the nine requests, seven are defense or national-security related to help strengthen all branches of the armed forces. Johnson attributes this to the dominant presence of the defense industry in North Texas; the Third Congressional District includes small, medium, and large defense-affiliated companies employing thousands of people who live and/ or work in the Third District. Johnson also believes that the strict regulations governing the sale of American defense-company merchandise and technology for national security reasons puts American defense companies at a unique disadvantage compared with foreign-owned companies.
Defense
· Wounded Warrior trauma care pilot program in Texas - $3.8 million;
· Army research, test, and development for the signal intelligence (SIGINT) capability for the Army’s “Warrior” UAV- $3.1 million;
· Secure Grids for Network Centric Operations at UT Dallas - $4.2 million;
· Development of networked wireless sensor technology for reconnaissance, surveillance, and tactical applications for border security housed at UTD - $4 million;
· Stryker Common APS Radar: APS is an externally mounted vehicle protection system that identifies and intercepts rocket propelled grenades, mortars, and the other projectiles after they are launched toward the vehicles - $4.5 million;
· Portable mobile oxygen and ventilation systems for Marine Corps - $4.2 million; and
· Expanded target tracking capability for the FireScout radar - $4.6 million.
Commerce, Justice, Science
· City of McKinney: a public safety radio system replacement from analog to digital. Because of the rapid growth of the City of McKinney, the existing public radio system has dead spots that could compromise the safety of officers and the public. - $300,000.
Labor, HHS, Education
· Funding for the National Virtual Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University - $4 million.
Johnson represents portions of Dallas and Collin Counties.
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