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Senator Klobuchar Secures Funding for Minnesota National Guard Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Program

Klobuchar Fights to increase funding for Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Program to$4.4 million in FY08 Defense Appropriations Bill

September 12, 2007

Washington, D.C. – Today U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar announced that the Minnesota National Guard will receive $4.4 million dollars for their revolutionary reintegration program to assist soldiers through all phases of the deployment cycle.  Klobuchar and Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) fought to have the funding included as part of the FY08 Defense Appropriations Bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee today.  The bill also includes a total of $31.7 million in funding for defense projects in Minnesota.

“As a nation, we have an obligation to support those who serve and sacrifice for us,” said Klobuchar. “I believe America can do much better, especially for the men and women of the National Guard and Reserves. The sacrifices our troops have made, and the risks they have taken, were very clear to me when I visited Iraq this past spring. This funding is crucial to help honor their sacrifices and ensuring that our debt to them is repaid.”

The Minnesota National Guard’s Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Program received an additional $1.4 million above last years funding.  The increase in funding is needed to accommodate the 2,600 members of the Minnesota National Guard 1/34th BCT who just returned home from Iraq and are in the process of going through the reintegration program.

"We appreciate the leadership of Senator Klobuchar and the Minnesota delegation for securing 4.4 Million dollars for the "Beyond the Yellow Ribbon" reintegration program,” said Major General Larry W. Shellito, the Adjutant General of the Minnesota National Guard.   “This pioneering program has been instrumental is assisting our service members and their families as Guard and Reserve troops adjust back to civilian life after combat duty."

Recently, as part of her commitment to fully support Minnesota’s National Guard, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) secured $3.5 million for the construction of a Joint Forces Headquarters and Emergency Operations Center at Arden Hills Army Training Site. The funding was included in the Appropriations bill for Military Construction, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, which passed the Senate last week.

Today’s announcement of $4.4 million for the Minnesota National Guard’s Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Program will help provide informational events and activities to assist National Guard soldiers, families, and community members through all phases of the deployment cycle including pre and post deployment.  The resources provided include family and marriage counseling, financial planning and education, small business planning, community outreach, and healthcare and veterans benefits education. 

In addition to the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon funding, Klobuchar worked to find funding for several other Minnesota-based projects, totaling more than $31.7 million.  They included $3 million to the Minnesota National Guard for the Satellite Multi-Modal Collaborative Crisis & Training Network, which allows the Guard to maintain statewide communications during emergencies; $3 million awarded to the University of Minnesota to conduct Hypersonic Research to develop tools to design the next generation of hypersonic vehicles; and $2.3 million to SpeechGear, Inc. for Bi-Directional English-Iraqi Instant Language Translation Systems, allowing soldiers in combat areas to receive instant translation of foreign languages.

“Minnesotans continue to be at the forefront of technological innovation,” said Klobuchar.  “In addition to supporting their ground-breaking efforts, were supporting the creation of Minnesota jobs.”

The FY08 Defense Appropriations bill also includes funding to for pay raises and increased health care for American soldiers and more than $1 billion in equipment for the National Guard and Reserve. 

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