WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Barbara A. Mikulski and Paul S. Sarbanes (both D-Md.) today announced the Senate version of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs 2007 spending bill includes $138 million for important projects at Maryland’s military bases, including $8.8 million for an Automotive Technology Evaluation Facility at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) in Harford County. The legislation, which has passed the full Senate Appropriations Committee, contains provisions providing military installations nationwide with federal funding totaling nearly $94 billion to support new construction costs.

“A stronger America begins at home. We need to do everything we can to support our troops – not just with words but with deeds. Every year, I fight to make sure our military has the tools they need to keep us safe,” said Senator Mikulski. “Now, more than ever, we need to take their needs to heart. I will keep fighting to make sure there is funding in the federal checkbook for our military bases.”

“We’ve worked hard to ensure that Maryland’s military installations continue to fare well in the annual appropriations process, both enhancing these state-of-the-art facilities and in making quality of life improvements at these bases,” said Senator Sarbanes. “These facilities are not only important to our overall national defense, but also our State’s economy, resulting in significant spillover opportunities in our hi-tech defense related sectors.”

The spending bill includes $8.8 million that was not included in President Bush’s budget for APG to build an Automotive Technology Evaluation Facility (ATEF). The ATEF will provide the Department of Defense (DOD) with the capability to support sustained high speed testing for both wheeled and tracked vehicles, as well as complement and enhance automotive test infrastructure already in place at the Aberdeen Test Center. Due to the continuing threat of rocket propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices, vehicle convoys in Iraq are operating at the maximum obtainable speeds in order to counter these threats. Sustained speeds exceeding 65 mph are now very common in the theater of operation. However, existing test courses were not designed to accommodate vehicles capable of reaching these speeds, much less sustain these speeds without braking or reversing direction. The ATEF will be a tri-oval, 4.5 mile engineered test track with paved and gravel road surfaces and stringent safety stand off and grading criteria to enable full range tracked and wheeled vehicle automotive testing. There are currently no test tracks in the DOD inventory or in the private sector with this full-spectrum capability.

In the next step of the legislative process, the bill will move to the Senate floor for a vote, which has not yet been scheduled. Following the Senate vote, the House and Senate will meet in Conference Committee to work out the differences between the two versions of the bill. The Conference report will then be voted on by both Houses of Congress. Once passed by the House and Senate, the Appropriations bill will go to the President for his signature.

Senator Mikulski is a member of the Appropriations Committee and the senior Democrat on the Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee. Senator Sarbanes is the senior Democrat on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.