For Immediate Release

June 14, 2001

$24 MILLION APPROVED IN SUPPLEMENTAL BILL
FOR EARTHQUAKE REPAIRS AT WASH. BASES

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Appropriations Committee today approved the expenditure of $24 million to repair damages at military bases in Washington State stemming from the Feb. 28th earthquake in the Pacific Northwest, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks said.

            The funds were included in a supplemental appropriations bill approved today by the House panel to accommodate unanticipated federal expenditures in the Defense Department and at other federal agencies in the current fiscal year said Rep. Dicks, who serves as a senior member of the Appropriations Committee.

            “While FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Administration] funding was available for repairs of damages to other public and private structures in Washington, each of our bases would have been required to pay for repairs out of existing base budgets,” Rep. Dicks stated.  “This funding will allow for structural repairs to be made quickly without affecting readiness,” he said.

            The money will be allocated to Washington State military facilities based upon the following requests submitted to Rep. Dicks:

            The Committee also approved funds that can be used by Washington State military bases to reduce electric power costs.  The panel approved a total of $45 million for reduction of electricity demand in California and the western United States.  “All of our bases have been hit hard by unanticipated spikes in electric power bills due to the west coast energy crisis,” Rep. Dicks said.   The committee’s action will help mitigate future cost escalation by allowing particularly the large installations to implement energy-saving technologies and other strategies to cut annual power bills.

         The supplemental spending bill also addressed a major shortfall in health care funding at military treatment facilities such as Madigan Army Medical Center and the Bremerton Naval Hospital, according to Rep. Dicks.   The committee added $200 million to the bill to reinforce the military direct care system that has been affected by the crisis in the Defense Department’s TRICARE system, he said. 

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