Chet Edwards For Congress

House bill brings $60M to Fort Hood

Special to the Daily Herald | Killeen Daily Herald | August 02, 2008

WASHINGTON – Before speeding for the exits Friday to begin a five-week recess, House lawmakers passed the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill, which includes more than $60 million for projects at Fort Hood.

The House passed the bill by a 409-4 vote. The $72.7 billion measure awards generous increases to veterans programs and military base construction projects.

Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, along with Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, secured $17.5 million for the construction of a chapel facility on Fort Hood.

"It was a pleasure to work with Mr. Edwards to secure funding for a chapel that will benefit our troops and their families. This facility will help meet religious needs of the nearly 50,000 soldiers stationed at Fort Hood while also providing counseling services, child care, and family support services for soldiers and their families," said Carter, a member of the Appropriations Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee.

The bill includes:

$32 million for the construction of vehicle maintenance facilities at Fort Hood. These funds will support the construction of unit maintenance and operations facilities for a clearance company and a military police unit. These facilities will help support the troop increase requested by the defense secretary as part of the "Grow the Force" initiative for the Army.

$10.8 million for a Joint Air Ground Center at Fort Hood. These funds will support construction of a Joint Air Ground Center to support the administrative, training, vehicle and equipment maintenance and storage requirements for the 3rd Air Support Operations Group and the 9th Air Support Operations Squadron at Fort Hood. The project will help cement the Air Force presence at Fort Hood.

The bill also calls for increasing spending on Veterans Affairs health programs by $3.1 billion over current levels, some 9 percent. A $1.8 billion increase for military base construction is 20 percent above current levels.

There's also a $2 billion increase in base closure accounts for items such as improving conditions at bases slated for troop increases and assisting states and localities in preparing closed bases for economic development projects and other uses.