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ask.heather@mail.house.gov

In Washington DC
442 Cannon House
Office Building
Washington, DC
20515
202-225-6316 Phone
202-225-4975 Fax
In Albuquerque
20 First Plaza NW
Suite 603
Albuquerque, NM
87102
505-346-6781 Phone
505-346-6723 Fax

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Congresswoman Heather Wilson, First Congressional District of New Mexico


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Domenici & Wilson Pledge to Improve Directed Energy Work March 17, 2000
 
Lawmakers Encouraged by Support for Consolidating Defense Program


WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Pete Domenici and Congresswoman Heather Wilson today pledged to step up their efforts to improve the nation’s directed energy weapons programs by pushing for a more centralized program that could be based at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.

Wilson and Domenici today conducted a comprehensive discussion with top military brass, industry leaders, national laboratories officials and local representatives on the idea of consolidating and expanding directed energy weapons research and testing.

The two New Mexico lawmakers came away from a planning roundtable, sponsored by the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS), encouraged by support expressed by the nation’s leaders in the directed energy arena for improving management and investment in directed energy and technology research. They believe the meeting will help galvanize support for making Kirtland the focal point for such national security work.

“Directed energy technologies are the next revolutionary step in developing weapons to defend America. There is a growing awareness that Congress must rededicate itself to this work, a point made very clear in our meeting today,” Domenici said. “I believe what will be good for the country could, in turn, be very beneficial to Kirtland, White Sands Missile Range and New Mexico. We want Albuquerque to become the center of these activities, which would benefit existing Air Force and Army activities in New Mexico, along with local industry and academia. Now we must come together to ascertain what needs to be done to bring this work to Kirtland.”

“Albuquerque is, for the most part, already the epicenter of directed energy technology,” Wilson said. “It makes sense to consolidate the national effort in a location with a solid foundation in the basic technologies for these complex defense systems. I’m committed to working with the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and other stakeholders to make this a reality.”

Domenici and Wilson have committed to working this year toward consolidating all Defense Department Directed Energy Weapons technology research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E;) programs to form a National Directed Energy Center and a Directed Energy Technology Alliance headquartered at Kirtland. The lawmakers will attempt to secure congressional approval of the plan through the FY2001 Defense Authorization Act.

Earlier this month, Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre endorsed the idea of consolidating the directed energy program at a central site. He indicated that the Defense Department is currently working on a report addressing the consolidation of all directed energy programs.

As part of the FY 2001 budget, Domenici and Wilson are seeking $100 million in Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E; funding and $50 million from Department of Energy “Other Defense Activities” to be designated for directed energy programs.

The lawmakers contend that Kirtland is an ideal site for the consolidation effort because Albuquerque already represents a national center for directed energy research and development. The Directed Energy Directorate of Air Force Research Laboratories is located at Kirtland AFB. In addition, the Special Programs Office for the Air Force’s Airborne Laser program is headquartered at Kirtland, and last year the Air Force decided to move Space-Based Laser program oversight to the base. Many of the basic technologies for these sophisticated defense systems were first developed by the Air Force Laboratories at Kirtland.

In addition, several of Albuquerque’s most successful and fastest-growing private industries service the laser weapons programs of the Air Force and Army. The High Energy Laser Test Facility at White Sands Missile Range is the only national test site for evaluation and testing of these systems.

Consolidation of these programs at Kirtland means that the decisions regarding hundreds of millions of dollars every year for defense laser programs will be made in Albuquerque. With increased focus on the programs and attaining deployable systems, the money devoted to laser technologies and weapons will undoubtedly increase.

The Air Force`s Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland would have more funding available for their research and be able to utilize the knowledge base of the other services, the DOE laboratories, academia and industry. All of these systems would at some point most likely be tested at the High Energy Laser Test Facility at White Sands.

Defense-wide focus on these technologies, increased funding and more weapons programs will also help to rebuild the industrial base required to support future weapons systems. Albuquerque is home to several small businesses that are part of this industrial base.
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