111th Congress - 12/20/2008
Congress Approves Federal Spending Bill with Funds For Vital Inland Empire Law Enforcement, Health, Education, Roads and Water Projects
 

  WASHINGTON – The House voted 272-142 Wednesday to approve a $516 billion federal spending bill that includes funds secured by Congressman Jerry Lewis for San Bernardino and Riverside County projects, including forest fire prevention, hospital improvements and a regional law enforcement fingerprint program.

 The projects were approved by the House as part of an omnibus spending bill that funds nearly all of the federal government’s operations beyond defense. It was passed by the Senate Tuesday and will go into effect as soon as it is signed by President Bush. Lewis voted against the bill earlier in the week because it did not include funding for troops in Iraq , but agreed to support the Senate-passed version, which added $70 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 “I am relieved that this final bill meets Congress’ responsibility to support our American troops fighting for freedom in the world,” said Lewis, the senior Republican on the House Appropriations Committee. “I am disappointed that it took months to resolve this, which resulted in many other federal programs operating on limited funds in the meantime."

  “The Inland Empire projects included in this legislation are extremely worthwhile investments of federal funds, and I am grateful Congress has agreed to include them,” Lewis said. “Reducing the fire danger in our mountains, improving our roads to handle regional goods movement, continuing an innovative law enforcement program – all of these will provide not only a local benefit, but a national one as well.”

  The legislation approves a $1.5 million disaster mitigation grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency requested by Lewis to continue the very successful “fuels crew” program operated by the San Bernardino County Fire Department year-round to reduce the fire danger caused by brush and dead trees in the local mountains. The crew’s efforts were credited as helping make it easier to fight the recent fires in and near the San Bernardino National Forest.

 The bill includes $6 million requested by Lewis for area highway and transit projects, including $1.47 million to begin work on the Portrero Road interchange with Highway 60 in Beaumont . The new interchange, which is set to be completed in 2010, will provide safety improvements and improve commercial traffic in an area whose population has doubled in just the past seven years.

  Also included is $735,000 requested by Lewis to continue work on an interchange with Interstate 215 and University Parkway in north San Bernardino near California State University , San Bernardino . The Parkway, which is the main artery into the CSU campus, also serves a rapidly-developing commercial area on the west side of I-215.

 The bill included $1.47 million sought by Lewis for continued work on a grade separation for Ranchero Road at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad tracks in Hesperia. The project will provide a second east-west artery to reduce traffic on Main Street and ensure quick response times for emergency vehicles. An important transportation project in the Colorado River city of Needles received $2.25 million for repair and improvement of the Needles Highway , a heavily-used road linking Needles with the booming gambling town of Laughlin , Nevada.

 Lewis secured $1.88 million in Justice Department funding for continuation of thesuccessful Regional Fingerprint Program, a joint project of the San Bernardino and Riverside county sheriff’s departments, which provides mobile fingerprint, photo and DNA services. In its third year of funding, the system has already helped law enforcement catch several fugitives, including a man sought for nearly three years with $2.6 million of warrants out for his arrest on charges of child molestation. Other Justice Department projects secured by Lewis include:


* $470,000 for the City of Redlands for infrastructure and equipment for the East Valley Justice Communications and Video Monitoring Center.
* $282,000 for the City of San Bernardino Police Department to complete an upgrade of mobile data computers to ensure that police officers can stay in the field.
* $235,000 for the Riverside County Office of Education, in partnership with the non-profit organization Web Wise Kids to train teachers and implement the “Missing” program to help protect children from online predators.
* $188,000 to establish a KidsPeace Therapeutic Foster Care program in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.
 In his on-going effort to help San Bernardino Mountain communities protect against catastrophic wildfires, Lewis secured $984,000 through the Environmental Protection Agency to help Big Bear Lake replace its aging water pipes. Low water pressure puts the city in danger of being unable to effectively fight a large fire. In addition, the cost of forcing water through the pipes also requires major power consumption.

 Lewis was able to secure funding for a number of water supply and water quality projects in the area, including:


* $861,000 to help the Hi-Desert Water District and the Town of Yucca Valley convert to a sewage treatment system from the current septic systems, which are polluting the groundwater basin that serves the town and nearby federal lands.
* $710,000 from the Agriculture Department for the Mojave Water Agency to remove non-native plants such as salt-cedar, which is significantly reducing the water supply in the Mojave River basin.
* $600,000 to continue a feasibility study by the Army Corps of Engineers into the development of a series of streams connecting small surface storage lakes, marshes, and wetlands areas near downtown San Bernardino.
* $484,000 for the Lake Arrowhead Community Services District to develop an Integrated Water Reuse Plan.
* $295,000 to the Army Corps of Engineers for a continuing study of how to control erosion and reduce the impacts of flooding along Wilson and Oak Glen Creeks in Yucaipa.
* $246,000 to the Army Corps of Engineers to complete a feasibility study and environmental statement for the restoration of the Santa Ana River Tributaries and Big Bear Lake.
* $123,000 for the Mojave Water Agency to continue development of an Upper Mojave River Well Field.
* $590,000 for the Mission Springs Water District to begin Phase II of the effort to move the residents of Desert Hot Springs and the surrounding areas off septic tanks and into a regional wastewater treatment system.


 The spending bill approves a number of allocations requested by Lewis for area colleges and universities, including $2.44 million to continue space radiation research through use of the Proton Beam Accelerator at Loma Linda University Medical Center . The project, which has received $50 million secured by Lewis over the past eight years, provides the National Aeronautics and Space Administration the ability to test human and spacesuit reaction to radiation levels that are expected to occur in space. The medical center also received $1.97 million for a continuation of an Energy Department program to increase the energy level of the proton beam device and allow it to be used on larger tumors with more accuracy.

 The University of Redlands was allocated $470,000 requested by Lewis to continue development of a teacher technology-training program. The university, which produces 150 to 200 new teachers yearly, is a leading educator of schoolteachers among independent colleges and universities in California . Other educational, health care and community development projects included in the bill at Lewis’s request:

· $670,085 to St. Bernardine Medical Center in San Bernardino for construction of a Radiology Special Procedures Room for angiography and other vascular interventions.
· $478,492 toward construction of a community health center in Banning. The center will provide health services to a growing population of low-income, uninsured adults, families and seniors in the Banning/Beaumont region of Riverside County.
· $478,492 to expand a successful Batters Intervention Program operated by the WestCare Foundation in Needles, where it will serve a tri-state area.
· $478,492 to help St. Mary’s Medical Center in the Town of Apple Valley create an Electronic Intensive Care Unit (eICU) and connect with other remote hospitals in California to share intensive care doctors.
· $383,186 to Azusa Pacific University to launch a regional nursing program at the San Bernardino campus.
· $286,898 for the Alliance for Education Program – Project Lead the Way, sponsored by the San Bernardino County Schools to increase the number of students seeking careers in mathematics, science, technology and engineering.
· $238,754 for the San Bernardino City Unified School District English Learners Program, which will recruit 50 Teacher/Coaches who will provide training to teachers of EL at each school site, K-12.
· $238,754 for the San Bernardino County Museum to complete its creation of new exhibition space and upgrade the care of its collections.
· $95,305 to We CARE San Jacinto, a non-profit group providing after-school programs that target middle school and high school students who are at risk of gang involvement.
· $295,320 for planning for a northern-entrance visitor center for Joshua Tree National Park.
· $196,000 for development of a joint park and recreation facilities with Yucaipa and Crafton Hills College.
· $196,000 for planning and development of a civic and community youth center for Desert Hot Springs.
· $196,000 for development of a Yucca Valley South Side Community Center.
· $984,000 for a South Coast Air Quality Management District program to create a demonstration plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.