Grassley: Department of Defense Spending Bill Passes Senate


- The United States Senate today passed the annual spending bill for defense related projects. Sen. Chuck Grassley said that a number of Iowa projects will benefit from the fiscal 2004 Defense Appropriations bill.

"It's important that we passed this bill. The Defense Appropriations bill will help Iowans who play such a crucial role in our national defense in many ways. They provide innovative ideas in new technologies that contribute to defending our homeland," Grassley said.

The Defense Appropriations bill now must be reconciled with the House bill before heading to the President for his signature. Earlier this year, Grassley sent letters to the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee requesting funding for these important Iowa projects.

Here is a list of the Iowa programs funded in the defense spending bill that passed the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee today.

  • Iowa State University, $3 million ? Assessing Aging Military Aircraft ? Research, led by Iowa State University, will help improve methods of evaluating aging aircraft systems, including the inspection of engine components. This research is critical for the U.S. Air Force and responsive to national security concerns.
  • University of Northern Iowa, $1 million ? Painting and Coating Pollution Prevention for Defense Facilities, Spray Technique Analysis and Research (STAR) training program ? The University of Northern Iowa, in conjunction with the Iowa Waste Reduction Center, has developed the Spray Technique Analysis and Research (STAR) training program. Continued operating funds will help ensure that coatings are applied in an effective and consistent manner for all defense facilities. Military painting and coating operations are performed at over 350 large military facilities worldwide. A wide variety of equipment, vehicles, aircraft and vessels and their components are painted at these facilities.
  • University of Northern Iowa, $1 million ? DoDEA Staff Development project for Middle Grades and Secondary Teachers of Mathematics and Computer Science ? This project helps serve the children of military service members and Department of Defense civilian employees throughout the world. Funding will help the continued growth in the performance of students in DoDEA programs as measured by nationally recognized assessment programs.
  • MVMNT Program for Simulation Based Operation, $4 million ? It's estimated that 40% of combatants may lose their operational effectiveness due to motion sickness or other behaviors associated with operating tactical automation in a moving vehicle. Virtual environments have been used successfully in aviation to alleviate the operational effectiveness conditions in the Air Force and Army aviation. The MVMNT program creates two virtual workspaces: 1) to help reduce the cost, risk, and time necessary to configure and deploy C4ISR systems, and 2) to help enhance efficient operation of multiple command and control system in deployed tactical platforms. Fakespace Systems (formerly Mechdyne) based in Marshalltown will compete for this project.
  • Undersea Warfare Applied Research and TERFENOL-D, $1.5 million ? High Powered Ultrasonics ? In the past, funding has focused on the core technology and enabled widespread insertion of TERFENOL-D based solutions into several different commercial and military markets. Funding for high powered ultrasonics focuses on specific applications of giant magnetostriction, or the use of high-powered ultrasonics to catalyze various chemical reactions.
  • Undersea Warfare Applied Research and TERFENOL-D, $4.5 million ? Magnetorestrictive Tranduction ? TERFENOL-D technology converts electrical energy to mechanical energy, and has unseful applications for our national defense. Etrema, Inc., based in Ames, will continue to research and apply its technology for defense related matters.
  • Rock Island Arsenal, $2 million ? Rock Island Arsenal AIT Initiative ? This funding will allow wireless coverage to be extended to the external areas of the factory, production, and distribution buildings. The Arsenal will use off-the-shelf commercial equipment and technologies to provide visibility, full accountability, and effective tracking of the items in the tool management and distribution operations. Intermec Technologies, a handheld computer company stationed in Cedar Rapids, will compete for this project.
  • Rock Island Arsenal, $2.45 million ? This funding will be used to complete repair of the government bridge that is being used more frequently because of repairs on the I-74 bridge. The government bridge was constructed in 1895 by Congress and since has been funded by the federal government and the Rock Island Railroad. Funding is needed for repairs and painting, which constitutes the final phase of the improvement program.
  • Rock Island Arsenal, $10 million ? ARMS Initiative ? This initiative was started by the Senate to support the use of ammunition plants for commercial ventures and thus reduce overhead and employ people. Several plants are now used by commercial companies and remain open at no cost to the government. The Iowa plant has benefitted from several of these projects and is currently working with the Army for ARMS funding for a commercially owned demil/waste treatment facility.
  • 132nd Fighter Wing, $20 million ? ANG F-16 Block 42 re-engine program ? The 132nd Fighter Wing in Des Moines, Iowa, along with wings from Oklahoma and Ohio, are involved in a program to re-engine their aircraft to correct an Operational Requirements Deficiency that was identified by the Air Force years ago. The PW-229 engine will provide the F-16 Block 42 aircraft with Block 40-equivalent thrust required to more effectively accomplish its mission. They will improve operational capability, including the ability to carry Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM). It also allows them the speed and maneuver to match new F-16s in active Air Expeditionary Force units.
  • Midwest Counterdrug Training Center in Johnston, Iowa, $3 million ? The school provides training opportunities for state and local law enforcement in a 15 State region. This ability is not only valuable to those receiving the training, but it also serves as a proven, demonstrated mechanism for providing education and training from the military to local law enforcement. News stories have discussed the need for this capacity in locations as diverse and dangerous as Bosnia and Afghanistan, where we have found the U.S. military the only organization capable of maintaining the peace.


    Additionally, given the established link between narcotics trafficking and international terrorism, the ability to provide law enforcement and other first responders educational opportunities to enhance their skills is even more important. Many of the techniques used to track and apprehend drug traffickers are also applicable to those needed for hunting terrorists. Funding for schools such as the Midwest Counterdrug Training Center insures that there is an established and effective framework under which this training can take place.
  • Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) upgrades to the KC-135 aircraft, $10 million ? New requirements mandated by agencies with airspace control authority in Europe and elsewhere, applicable to both civil and military aircraft, is to be implemented in phases starting in 1998 with completion in 2010. Aircraft equipped with the required systems will have the operational advantage of choosing the most efficient and economical routes of flight, as well as continued access to airspace that is now regularly used in DOD world-wide operations. The Air Force's GATM program will equip the fleet of 600 KC-135 air refueling tankers with the capability to comply with the mandated schedule. Rockwell Collins, based in Cedar Rapids, will be able to compete for this upgrade program.
  • Satellite Communications for Learning (SCOLA), McClelland, $2 million ? Funding will help support foreign language news and educational programming. SCOLA is an extensive source of world news, and an important resources used by soldiers to learn other cultures, languages, and ideologies.