Panel Approves $10.5 Billion Spending Bill to Fund
Military Construction, Housing, and Remediation Projects

- Military Construction Conference Committee report includes funding for Base Cleanup Acceleration Initiative and Army and Air Force Transformation Initiatives -
October 9, 2002

Washington, DC - A Senate-House Conference Committee today released a report appropriating $10.5 billion to fund construction, housing, and remediation projects at U.S. military bases, announced Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction.

"This is a balanced, bipartisan bill intended to meet some of the most pressing infrastructure requirements of our military forces," Senator Feinstein said. "I am delighted that we have been able to reach a conference agreement that will allow Congress to send this bill to the President before we adjourn. Given the state of affairs in the world, it is imperative that Congress and the President act swiftly on the Defense and Military Construction Bills so that America's military forces will be assured of having the resources they need. This has been a difficult appropriations cycle, and the fact that we have a conference agreement before us is testament to the hard work, determination, and cooperation of all of the conferees."

The package contains:

• $5.56 billion for military construction projects for Active and Reserve Units;
• $4.21 billion of Family Housing Projects; and
• $561 million for Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) projects.

In addition, the conference report includes three new military construction initiatives:

• The Army Interim Brigade Combat Teams. The bill provides $25 million for construction related to Stryker Brigades, which are essential to the Army's effort to become a lighter, more mobile, more effective fighting force.



• The Air Force Transformation Initiative. The bill provides $25 million for projects associated with the Air Mobility Modernization Program, which encompasses the acquisition and upgrading of C-17s, C-5s, and C-130s.



• The BRAC Environmental Cleanup Acceleration Initiative. The bill provides $20 million above the fiscal year 2003 budget request to accelerate the cleanup of dangerous contaminants at military bases that have been closed or realigned as part of the base closer process.
  

"Until the environmental cleanup process is completed, these closed bases are the equivalent of giant white elephants," Senator Feinstein said. "The Services no longer need them, but the communities cannot complete the conversion of them to productive use. In some cases, the lengthy cleanup process presents a problem far worse than just an economic drain on the Services and the communities - in some cases, the contaminants polluting the soil of closed military bases present a serious hazard to human health and the environment."

"The fact is we have a responsibility to the American people to clean up the buried ordnance and hazardous wastes that contaminate many of our closed or realigned military installations. And I believe that we have a responsibility to act expeditiously. Simple common sense indicates that the military should finish the cleanup from the first four rounds of BRAC before diverting scarce resources and creating additional cleanup costs in another round of base closures."

"Until the environmental cleanup process is completed, these closed bases are the equivalent of giant white elephants," Senator Feinstein said. "The Services no longer need them, but the communities cannot complete the conversion of them to productive use. The lengthy cleanup process presents a problem far worse than just an economic drain on the Services and the communities and in some cases, the contaminants polluting the soil of closed military bases present a serious hazard to human health and the environment."

"The fact is we have a responsibility to the American people to clean up the buried ordnance and hazardous wastes that contaminate many of our closed or realigned military installations. And I believe that we have a responsibility to act expeditiously. Simple common sense indicates that the military should finish the cleanup from the first four rounds of BRAC before diverting scarce resources and creating additional cleanup costs in another round of base closures."

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