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U.S.
Senator Ken Salazar
Member: Agriculture, Energy, Veterans' Affairs, Ethics and Aging Committees
2300 15th
Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO
80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C.
20510
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Sen. Salazar to Vote for Secure Borders, Improved Homeland Security
and Our Men and Women in Uniform
Congress Accepts Sen. Salazar Amendments
On Law Enforcement Communications, Inspection of Imported Ag Products
WASHINGTON,
D.C. – United States Senator Ken Salazar will vote today for two bills
which will help secure the borders, improve homeland security and support
our men and women in uniform. Both bills include a number of provisions
authored and supported by Senator Salazar, including one focused on
improving the communications capabilities of first responders.
“Homeland security is just
political rhetoric without the provisions in these two bills,” said
Senator Salazar. “I am proud to support these bills and the amendments
and funds for Colorado they contain. Our first responders do not have
the communications tools they need to respond to large-scale catastrophes;
our inspection procedures of agricultural products entering our country
are inadequate. The amendments I authored in the DHS bill address both
these needs.”
Of the DHS amendments authored
by Senator Salazar, one addresses the communications capabilities of
emergency first responders by requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security
to report to Congress on the steps necessary to achieve effective emergency
communication at all levels of government. Salazar’s second amendment
requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to report to Congress on
measures being taken to improve the inspection of agricultural products
entering the United States. A recent report from the non-partisan General
Accountability Office called into question the effectiveness of DHS’
inspection of passengers and cargo.
The DOD spending bill contains
more than $200 million in projects for Colorado, including $216 million
to be shared between Pueblo Chemical Depot and a similar depot in Kentucky
for clean-up of those facilities. A full list of Colorado projects that
Senator Salazar worked on are listed below.
The bills, the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act for FY2007 and the Department
of Defense Appropriations Act for FY2007 will go to the President for
his expected signature.
The FY 2007 Defense Appropriations
Bill (H.R. 5631), includes the following provisions requested by and
fought for by Senator Salazar:
- $216 million
for the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA) program.
The money will be utilitized for Research, Development, Testing and
Evaluation of the ACWA program and will be shared between the Pueblo
Chemical Depot and Bluegrass, Kentucky sites.
- $3.9 million
for NORAD and STRATCOM for the development of the Single
Integrated Space Picture.
- $1.1 million for the
Air Force’s Advanced Power Technology Office (APTO) for the research
and development of high-performance, low-cost modular energy systems
for hybrid and electric vehicles.
- $1.65 million
for the development of a Respiratory Biodefense Initiative
at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver,
CO.
- $1.4 million
for Schriever Air Force Base to replace their ground space
electronic security system.
- $800 thousand
for the United States Air Force Academy to rehabilitate and
upgrade its aging static aircraft displays across the campus.
- $4 million nationally
for the Civil Air Patrol, which had been hurt by proposed
cuts to its overall budget.
- $6 million for
the Minuteman III Propulsion Replacement Program, to be carried
out by Northrop-Grumman. This replaces the aging propellant in Minuteman
III rocket motors in order to keep the current fleet operational.
Wyoming’s F.E. Warren Air Force Base has some of these missiles.
- $2 million for
the development of copper, lightweight induction motors for the military
to be carried out by Vforge in Lakewood, CO. Copper
rotors result in more efficient motors, meaning they can be smaller
and lighter than traditional motors.
- $1.1 million
for the Deployable Structures Experiment, to be carried out
by Microsat in Littleton, CO. The experiment seeks
to reduce the design time, cost, and size of satellites in order to
allow tactical satellite launches for battlespace management.
- $1.4 million
for Special Operations Command to develop an air-dropped
sensor needed for clandestine missions. This is to be carried out
by ADA Technologies in Littleton, CO.
- $1 million for
the Medical Image Database Holographic Archiving Library System (MIDHALS),
which seeks to store, distribute, and retrieve medical documents for
the administration of timely medical care for soldiers. Companies
to receive funding for this program include Sun Microsystems in Louisville,
CO and InPhase Technologies in Longmont, CO.
- $2 million for
Combat Support Hospital tents, to be produced by Alaska Structures
in Delta, CO, which provide state-of-the-art field
medical hospitals.
- $1.1 million
for Polyimide Macro-electromechanical Systems (PMEMS), to
be carried out by Ball Aerospace in Boulder and Jefferson
Counties, which seeks to save the government money by dramatically
reducing the cost of phased arrays for multiple applications and frequency
bands. The phased array systems are estimated to save the Navy $88
million dollars for every ship they are used on.
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