Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has announced that the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs 2008 spending bill provides $984.2 million for projects at Maryland’s military facilities, including $719.7 million in Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) projects.
The spending bill includes $164 million for Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County. The breakdown includes $152 million in BRAC funding for a Defense Information Services Agency building; $7.9 million for a new power, space and cooling utilities building at NSA; $4 million for an exterior stair tower at the NSA Operations Building to address building safety codes; $94,000 in BRAC funding for a clearance adjudication facility.
The bill also includes $87.5 billion for critical Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) programs, a significant $4 billion more than President George W. Bush requested and the largest increase for veterans’ health care in the 77 years of the department’s existence. In the next step of the appropriations process, the bill will go to the Senate floor for a vote, which has not yet been scheduled.
The legislation, which passed the full Senate Appropriations Committee, contains provisions for military installations nationwide, with federal funding totaling $21.55 billion to support new construction costs.
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