Murray Secures Defense Wins for Washington State in Annual Spending Bill

Press Release

Late yesterday, a bipartisan, bicameral group of Appropriations Committee leaders released an omnibus Appropriations bill which includes several significant wins for Washington state secured by U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), including funding to build new fleets of the KC-46A tanker P-8A Poseidon, improve facilities at Joint Base Lewis McChord for the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, and build new facilities at Naval Station Whidbey Island, the future home of the new P-8A fleet.

As a leading advocate in the Senate for military victims of sexual assault, Senator Murray also secured funding to ensure that every victim of sexual assault, regardless of branch of service, will have a specially trained military lawyer to represent them. Legislation authored by Senator Murray and passed in the annual defense bill created the requirement for these programs in each military service branch.

Murray, also a former Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and the daughter of a World War II veteran, also secured $149.1 million in new funding for a VA Mental Health Clinic and Research facility in Seattle.

"Ensuring that military installations across Washington state have the resources they need to stay strong and up-to-date is critical to our national defense and our state's economy," Senator Murray said. "I fought hard to include funding for Joint Base Lewis McChord, Naval Station Whidbey, and Fairchild Air Force Base, and this bill allows us to continue building on our state's proud military tradition.

"I was also proud to fight for funding to establish Special Victims Counsels for each branch of the military. This funding gets to the heart of effectively addressing the tragic epidemic of sexual assault in our military. This is a great step forward, but there is more work to do and I will continue fighting on behalf of our nation's heroes of the past, present, and future.

"As the daughter of a World War II veteran who relied heavily on VA support, funding for VA hospitals and research facilities is an extremely personal issue for me, and I'm thrilled that we were able to secure funding to complete a new VA Mental Health Clinic and Research facility for Seattle. This facility will give veterans' easier access to quality care and research new treatments to care for the next generation of veterans."

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