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Klobuchar Secures Funds for Minnesota National Guard; Supports DOD Appropriations Bill to Increase Troop Pay and Benefits

Klobuchar secures $3.52 million dollars for the Minnesota National Guard Reintegration Program

November 8, 2007

Washington, D.C. – Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) today voted for passage of the Defense Appropriations Bill to provide better pay, training, and healthcare for military personnel.  Klobuchar also secured $3.52 million for the Minnesota National Guard Reintegration Program. The bill provides more than $459.3 billion in funding for United States military departments and increases funding for U.S. troops – including a 3.5 percent pay raise for all military personnel and $23.5 billion to increase health benefits and services.

“We are proud of the men and women who serve in our nation’s armed forces and risk their lives everyday,” said Klobuchar.  “We must make sure that we give our troops the resources they need both in the field and at home when they return.  I am proud to support the Minnesota National Guard and their successful ‘Beyond the Yellow Ribbon’ program.”

The $3.52 million Klobuchar secured for Minnesota’s pioneering “Beyond the Yellow Ribbon" reintegration program will be instrumental in assisting the country’s service members and their families as Guard and Reserve troops effectively adjust back to civilian life after combat duty.  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 $27 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; $2.4 million awarded to the University of Minnesota to conduct Hypersonic Research to develop tools to design the next generation of hypersonic vehicles; and $1.8 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.

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