Johnson publishes Third District funding requests
Washington,
Apr 3, 2009 -
Today U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (3rd Dist.-Texas) publicized the priorities he’ll seek federal funding for in the money allocating process, known as appropriations. Johnson believes that any funding request, some times called an earmark, included in an appropriations bill should be made public and attributed to the Member of Congress who requested it.
In the interest of transparency and accountability, Johnson publishes his requests before Congress considers them. FY 2010 is the third consecutive year Johnson has disclosed on his website all appropriations projects requests. Johnson began these disclosures before the House of Representatives adopted additional disclosure requirements for projects in bills.
“Earmark spending must be done wisely, openly, fairly, and responsibly,” said Johnson. Johnson took issue with the FY 2008 bill that contained nearly 300 unexamined earmarks costing more than $800 million. The extra projects were added in, or “air dropped” at the last minute, in the middle of the night, immune of public debate or scrutiny until after the fact.
Under the Appropriations Committee, there are 12 Appropriations Subcommittees tasked with assigning federal dollars to each of the 435 congressional districts for the 2010 spending bill. Seeking federal funding for a specific project does not guarantee that the item will receive any money from the federal government.
Johnson requested that the Appropriations Committee properly and carefully consider whether his projects merit federal funds. Each Member of Congress must decide individually to request money for his or her congressional district as well as the amount in funding.
Of the eight requests totaling $9 million, six are defense or national-security related to help strengthen all branches of the armed forces. Johnson attributes this to the dominant presence of the defense industry in North Texas; the Third Congressional District includes small, medium, and large defense-affiliated companies employing thousands of people who live and/ or work in the Third District. Johnson also believes that the strict regulations governing the sale of American defense-company merchandise and technology for national security reasons puts American defense companies at a unique disadvantage compared with foreign-owned companies.
Defense
Bio-printing of new skin for battlefield burn repairs - $1 million. MicroFab Technologies Inc., located in Plano, is working to develop a portable bio-printer/ skin printing system to repair life threatening battlefield burn injuries with biologic skin. This will allow military medical personnel to promptly respond and manage burn injuries on site using a printable allograft, a graft using cells from a variety of individuals. (Microfab Technologies, Inc., 1104 Summit Ave. #110, Plano, Texas 75094)
Remote aiming and sighting optical retrofit (RASOR) - $1 million. Garland’s L-3 Electro-Optical Systems Division employs 336 people at the Garland facility and 202 at the Dallas site. Currently, it is not possible for a Marine to use Night Vision Devices (NVDs) and Thermal Weapon Sights (TWSs) at the same time. This causes a decrease in awareness and puts the Marine at greater risk. Through research, the industry has developed technology to fuse the two systems, enabling a Marine to see a night scene and thermal imagery, targeting lasers and targeting information all through the helmet-mounted NVD. The RASOR program is developing a kit to retrofit the existing NVD that will enable the user to receive the imagery and targeting data from the thermal weapon sight. (L-3, 3414 Herman Drive, Garland, Texas 75041)
MTI Scout radar - $1 million. Mustang Technology Group, of Allen, aims to improve the radar system for the Navy. The Navy lacks an all-weather airborne unmanned air vehicle (UAV) surveillance capability to detect and track high value targets that move, stop for a while, and then move again (Move Stop Move: MSM). Not having this capability allows terrorists that stop and plant mines and IEDs along the shoreline to evade surveillance. The MTI Scout radar hardware is designed to support MSM but requires additional work to develop, integrate, and test the MSM mode software. The light weight and low power of the MTI Scout radar make it ideal for many other airborne manned and unmanned surveillance platforms, like the Predator, Fire Scout, and MC-12W. (Mustang Technology, 400 W. Bethany Dr; Ste 110, Allen, Texas 75013)
Current Force Common Active Protection System (APS) Radar for the Army’s Combat Vehicle Improvement Programs - $2 million. Raytheon’s Active Protection System division employs approximately 35 people full time in McKinney. APS is an externally mounted vehicle protection system that identifies, discriminates and intercepts rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), mortars, antitank guided missiles and artillery projectiles after they are launched toward a combat vehicle. It provides 360 degree surveillance and protection against multiple simultaneous threats. This funding will allow insertion of reduced cost electronics and modifications to the radar for Stryker integration, as well as software and hardware development for system command and control, including the human-machine interface. (Raytheon, 2501 West University Drive, McKinney, TX 75071-2813)
E-6B Strategic Communications Upgrade (VLF-TX and HPTS) - $1 million. Richardson-based Rockwell-Collins is working to improve and upgrade a system used by the Navy. The Navy’s E-6B Mercury TACAMO (Take Charge And Move Out) is a manned airborne communications relay platform designed to provide a survivable, reliable, endurable airborne Command and Control Communications link between the President, Secretary of Defense and U.S. strategic and non-strategic forces. TACAMO’s primary purpose is the relay of messages via survivable Very Low Frequency transmissions (VLF-TX). All 16 aircraft are being upgraded to support this critical mission set. The existing E-6B VLF transmit terminal is becoming unsupportable. This equipment is essential in the performance of the VLF transmit function and failure to properly support this equipment would result in an inability to perform the TACAMO mission. New VLF-TX equipment must undergo lengthy certification processes and thus entails a lengthy development cycle. Additionally, this modification will result in a significant weight reduction in the aircraft. (Rockwell-Collins, 3200 East Renner Rd., Richardson, TX 75082)
Mobile Oxygen, Ventilation, and External Suction (MOVES) System for the Navy and Marine Corps – $1 million. SVTronics in Plano employs 120 people. The U.S. Marine Corps has been developing a lightweight, self-contained, Mobile, Oxygen, Ventilation, and External Suction (MOVES) system in support of the En Route Care System. The MOVES system uses ambient air to produce oxygen and then delivers the oxygen directly to the casualty. It has a ventilator that can ventilate a patient with up to 85% oxygen, and it also has suction capability. In addition, the MOVES system can monitor vital signs including blood pressure, heart rate, pulse oximetry, temperature, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, and ECG. All of these capabilities are integrated in a single system that can run its own power and easily connect to a patient litter for transport. MOVES reduces the cube and weight of the present En Route Care System by over 60%, and eliminates the hazards associated with pressurized oxygen cylinders in the field. (SVTronics, 3465 Technology Drive, Plano, Texas 75074)
Energy and water
Center for Energy Storage Research at University of Texas – Dallas - $1 million. The Center will develop next generation energy storage materials and systems by analyzing the role nanomaterial components can play in functional energy storage systems. The most common electrical energy storage systems at this time are batteries. This program will allow UTD to develop new materials and technologies that will compete with batteries in terms of energy density but will greatly surpass them in terms of energy power. These new materials will have long term reliability but are fabricated with environmentally friendly materials. The ability to efficiently store electrical energy is critical in seeing the use of renewable energy spreads to the individual home. Efficient local electrical storage is necessary to ensure that electrical energy generated locally won’t be wasted but stored for future use. (University of Texas – Dallas, 800 West Campbell Road, MP-15, Richardson, TX 75080-3021)
Labor, HHS, Education
Funding for the National Virtual Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University - $1 million. This money will go to update and digitize documents related to the Vietnam War. (Texas Tech University, The National Virtual Vietnam Archive, Special Collections Library, Rm. 108, Box 41041, Lubbock, Texas 79409-1041)
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