thedrifter
01-28-09, 05:40 AM
Last modified Tuesday, January 27, 2009 7:39 PM PST
MILITARY: Stimulus bill would give military a boost
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
The military isn't being left out of the stimulus bill scheduled for a vote Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives; the economic recovery package calls for at least $10.5 billion in spending on housing, hospitals, energy programs and day-care centers.
Local Marines and sailors could get a new place to live and a new place to send their kids while on duty, as the bill provides $170 million for troop housing and $180 million for day-care facilities at Navy and Marine bases around the country.
Members of Congress representing North County and Southwest Riverside County said they intend to vote against the bill. They criticized the cost of the stimulus package and its focus on government programs.
A big chunk of the military stimulus money ---- $4.5 billion ---- is allocated for repair, modernization and energy-efficiency projects at existing U.S. military facilities, including $128.5 million for active-duty Marine Corps installations and $45 million for Marine Corps reserve facilities.
New military hospitals and outpatient surgery centers would get $3.75 billion for their design and construction.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is in line for $950 million for energy projects and one-time maintenance costs at its facilities.
Another $350 million is allocated for research and development of energy projects applicable to military bases, vehicles and other equipment.
The National Cemetery Administration would receive $50 million for monument and memorial repairs at its aging military graveyards around the country.
The new money for the Marine Corps would be in addition to more than $4.5 million in ongoing construction and infrastructure improvements at Camp Pendleton, Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, the Marine Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms and at the Marine base in Yuma, Ariz.
Money for those projects already has been allocated or is in the pipeline as part of regular Defense Department spending.
U.S. Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, and Duncan D. Hunter, R-El Cajon, each said they will vote "no."
U.S. Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, whose district includes portions of Southwest Riverside County, signaled her opposition after Republican lawmakers met with President Barack Obama on Tuesday to discuss the bill.
Bono Mack said the bill, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is unlikely to "help working families who are struggling to make ends meet." She called instead for large tax cuts and cutting government spending as the best solutions to the nation's fiscal woes.
"Returning billions of dollars to the men and women who earn and create wealth is what will truly stimulate our economy," she said in a statement issued by her office.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie
MILITARY: Stimulus bill would give military a boost
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
The military isn't being left out of the stimulus bill scheduled for a vote Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives; the economic recovery package calls for at least $10.5 billion in spending on housing, hospitals, energy programs and day-care centers.
Local Marines and sailors could get a new place to live and a new place to send their kids while on duty, as the bill provides $170 million for troop housing and $180 million for day-care facilities at Navy and Marine bases around the country.
Members of Congress representing North County and Southwest Riverside County said they intend to vote against the bill. They criticized the cost of the stimulus package and its focus on government programs.
A big chunk of the military stimulus money ---- $4.5 billion ---- is allocated for repair, modernization and energy-efficiency projects at existing U.S. military facilities, including $128.5 million for active-duty Marine Corps installations and $45 million for Marine Corps reserve facilities.
New military hospitals and outpatient surgery centers would get $3.75 billion for their design and construction.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is in line for $950 million for energy projects and one-time maintenance costs at its facilities.
Another $350 million is allocated for research and development of energy projects applicable to military bases, vehicles and other equipment.
The National Cemetery Administration would receive $50 million for monument and memorial repairs at its aging military graveyards around the country.
The new money for the Marine Corps would be in addition to more than $4.5 million in ongoing construction and infrastructure improvements at Camp Pendleton, Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, the Marine Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms and at the Marine base in Yuma, Ariz.
Money for those projects already has been allocated or is in the pipeline as part of regular Defense Department spending.
U.S. Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, and Duncan D. Hunter, R-El Cajon, each said they will vote "no."
U.S. Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, whose district includes portions of Southwest Riverside County, signaled her opposition after Republican lawmakers met with President Barack Obama on Tuesday to discuss the bill.
Bono Mack said the bill, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is unlikely to "help working families who are struggling to make ends meet." She called instead for large tax cuts and cutting government spending as the best solutions to the nation's fiscal woes.
"Returning billions of dollars to the men and women who earn and create wealth is what will truly stimulate our economy," she said in a statement issued by her office.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie