Congressman Salazar's Funding Priorities for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs

As a new member of the Appropriations Committee, I have new oversight responsibilities for the spending of federal dollars, as well as an increased role in the prioritization of federal spending.

For too long, the process of Congressional funding requests lacked transparency and accountability, leading some members of Congress to abuse it and the public trust. Since assuming the majority in 2007, Congressional Democrats have significantly reformed the process, including ensuring that every American can easily determine which member of Congress has submitted a requests.

Below you will find a list of my funding requests for the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill.

Expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site
Language request
City of Trinidad
409 Trinity St
Trinidad, CO 95570
Explanation: The purpose of this request is to prevent the United States Army from pursuing the expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.

Watkins, CO Parachute Facility
$3.569 million
Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
6848 S. Revere Parkway
Centennial, CO 80112
Construction of a 1350 sq. ft. Parachute Drying Tower, a 9,800 sq. ft. Parachute Rigging Facility, and 9,650 sq. yds. of Military Vehicle Parking at the Watkins Colorado Army National Guard Readiness Center associated with the 5/19th Special Forces Battalion of the Colorado Army National Guard.  Currently parachutes are dried by hanging them from the roof structure and the equipment parachutes are dried by laying them out in the military vehicle parking area which subjects them to damage by UV rays and environmental hazards (rocks, gravel, oil from parked vehicles).   Parachutes are improperly stored with other equipment and are currently shipped out of state for cleaning & processing.  These situations introduce an unacceptable level of risk and additional expense into this parachute operation.

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