McCarthy Announces China Lake Funding in Defense Appropriations Bill

Washington D.C. – Today, Congressman Kevin McCarthy is pleased to announce that President Bush signed this year’s Department of Defense funding bill into law.  The funding bill included $2.6 million that McCarthy requested for national security projects at Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division at China Lake:

$1.6 million for the Next Generation Electronic Warfare Simulator (NGEWS) to prepare and train for emerging electronic warfare threats by more efficiently testing the electronic warfare technology on the EA-18G.

$1 million for the Flow Path Analysis Tool (FPAT) to assist our Navy in constructing more efficient engine design by providing computer engineering tools for hypersonic weapon design.

“This bill recognizes China Lake as a key component of America’s security,” said McCarthy. “China Lake is providing vital resources to support our brave men and women in uniform who fight to defend our freedom.  China Lake’s importance in providing functions to enhance our national security must be taken into account by the Navy and Department of Defense as they finalize the BRAC business plan.”

Timeline of Events: On June 27, 2007, Congressman McCarthy was one of the few members of Congress who took the lead in posting all his district funding requests on his website in an effort to enhance fiscal accountability in Congress.  The funding requests on his website included funding for the above national security projects at Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division at China Lake. The House passed a Defense funding bill, which included funding for the above projects on August 5, 2007.  The Senate passed a similar bill on October 3, 2007.  However, there were differences between the two bills and both Congressional bodies met to work out differences. Last week, on November 8, 2007, a final agreement was passed by the House and Senate.  Today, the bill was signed into law by the President.