For Immediate Release

October 10, 2002

FINAL VERSION OF DEFENSE BILL FUNDS AIRCRAFT, SUBMARINE PROGRAMS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House of Representatives today approved a compromise version of the defense appropriations bill, boosting funding for several Boeing aircraft programs and including language that will expedite the lease of Boeing 767 tankers by the Air Force, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks said Thursday.

            Rep. Dicks is a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in the House, and he served on the House-Senate conference panel that produced the final version of the $355.4 billion defense spending bill approved today

            The bill also includes specific language that clarifies the government's ability to lease Boeing 767s that will be converted into aerial refueling tankers for use by the by the Air Force.  Last year's defense bill gave the Pentagon the authority to lease 100 Boeing 767s to use as tankers.  The plan has been hindered somewhat by government bookkeeping regulations, and the actual lease agreement has yet to be signed, Rep. Dicks stated.  The language adopted today "should help us to finalize this process and to start the orders for the planes as quickly as possible," he said.

            In a related move, the bill provides a total of $338 million for the purchase of a Boeing 767-400ER aircraft and for engineering and development work next year to convert the plane – and up to 50 more in future years – into a new reconnaissance platform called the “Multi-sensor Command and Control [MC2A]” aircraft.   This provision had been approved by the House earlier this year but purchase of the aircraft was opposed by the Senate.  During conference committee sessions, Rep. Dicks was successful in urging Senate members to agree to the House position.

            The congressman noted that the move represents another step forward in the effort to utilize the large 767 as a “common wide-body” airframe that will replace a variety of older 707 aircraft now in use for specific military missions.  In addition to the needed replacement of the existing aircraft, the Pentagon will realize savings from sharply-reduced maintenance costs, greater fuel economy and common training and operations using the 767s, Rep. Dicks said. 

            The bill also contains the addition of $202 million to refuel and overhaul the U.S.S. Bremerton.  The work will be accomplished at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, but it will result in the shift of overhaul work on two other Pacific Fleet submarines to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Rep. Dicks said. Important also to the shipyard is the $907.8 million contained in the bill in continued funding for conversion of the four retiring Trident submarines to SSGN configurations.  Conversion work on two of the Tridents will be done at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton starting next year. 

            Several other Boeing programs are funded in the bill approved today, Rep. Dicks said, including:

• A major boost in funding for acquisition of new C-17 cargo aircraft.  The conference panel agreed to add another $586 million to speed the purchase of the new airlifters, which are critically needed for rapid deployment of U.S. military equipment.  The Pentagon will spend $3.3 billion in this fiscal year purchasing 15 more C-17s.
• $5.25 billion for continued R&D and for purchase of 23 of the F-22 next generation fighter aircraft, built jointly by Boeing and Lockheed;
• $3.2 billion for 46 F/A-18 fighter aircraft;
• $598 million Boeing’s Airborne Laser program, an amount that includes the purchase of a Boeing 747 aircraft.
• $63 million for the purchase of one Boeing 737 to be used by the Navy for a designated C-40 transport aircraft.
• $812 million for development of the Army’s Future Combat System.  Boeing was selected earlier this year as the lead systems integrator for the Future Combat System, a new program that is identifying the promising systems and technologies for achieving the Army's vision of fielding an "objective force" beginning this decade.
  

            Rep. Dicks also added funding during subcommittee consideration of the bill to accelerate a new medical use of ultrasound to stop bleeding in battlefield conditions.  The technology, called “Remote Acoustic Hemostasis” is being pioneered by the Applied Physics Lab (APL) at the University of Washington, working with the Army Medical Command.  It uses high intensity focused ultrasound waves to cauterize bleeding.   The conference panel approved a total of $7 million for the continued  development of a portable system that could be used in the field to stop bleeding, one of the largest causes of death on the battlefield.

            The defense bill also includes funding for specific programs at Washington State military bases and industrial sites, including:

• $38.8 million for the production of 44 Mk54 torpedoes at Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Keyport, in addition to $4.7 million in continued funding for the National UUV Test & Evaluation Center at Keyport.
• $788 million for procurement of the Army’s Stryker Interim Armored Vehicle, in addition to another $60 million for the two Stryker Brigade Combat Teams at Fort Lewis.

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