Press Release - Rep. Osborne Votes for Funds for U.S. Troops and Military Priorities

Rep. Osborne Votes for Funds for U.S. Troops and Military Priorities

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Representative Tom Osborne (NE-03) joined the House of Representatives in approving funds for U.S. troops, the War on Terror, and the needs of the Department of Defense. These funds were included in the conference report to H.R. 5631, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2007.

"While the brave men and women of the U.S. military are fighting to protect our country from terrorism, Congress must provide them with the tools that they need to continue that fight. I am pleased that the House has approved the funds that are necessary to maintain our nation's defense," stated Rep. Osborne.

H.R. 5631 supports our troops by providing a 2.2% military pay raise, effective January 1, 2007, and fully funding end strength levels requested for active duty and National Guard and Army Reserve personnel in the President's budget. The conference report also provides $557.0 million for the Army Reserve and Army National Guard military personnel and operation and maintenance accounts.

This legislation also shows Congress' continued commitment to providing necessary funds to combat the War on Terror by including:

* $70.0 billion in emergency funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan;
* $1.9 billion for testing and fielding new jammers to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs) employed in Iraq and Afghanistan;
* $17.1 billion for resetting the Army in order to fully equip deploying forces and providing new and refurbished equipment for returning units, with $2.94 billion of these funds being allocated for the Army Guard and Reserve, including $500 million to continue the effort initiated last year to outfit the Army National Guard with the equipment it needs for homeland defense and disaster response;
* $5.8 billion for resetting the Marine Corps in order to fully equip deploying forces and providing new and refurbished equipment for returning units.

Rep. Osborne added, "Congress has funded a project that has important ramifications not only for Nebraska but for all of our country's military personnel. Because of this funding, Nebraskans will be able to continue their critical work to protect our troops through vaccines."

At Rep. Osborne's request, H.R. 5631 provides $1.9 million for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and Becton Dickinson's plant in Columbus, Nebraska, to develop new formulations and minimally-invasive or needle-free technologies to enhance the performance of biodefense vaccines for future easy self-vaccination and rapid deployment in anticipation of a biological attack. The funding will allow the expanded clinical testing of the vaccine products and the continued development of technologies to produce powder biodefense vaccines.

http://www.house.gov/list/press/ne03_osborne/DefenseAppropsCR.html