WASHINGTON – Today the House passed the final funding bills for Fiscal Year 2021, which includes funding for the Department of Defense.

"As the Republican Leader of the Appropriations Committee, I fought for and secured funding that is vital to our national security, the local defense industry, and the North Texas economy.  The metroplex has a long and proud history of being part of providing for our nation’s security.  We are the home to NAS JRB Fort Worth, countless defense contractors, and thousands of active duty service members and veterans.  We are known for having the very best manufacturing jobs and an extremely highly skilled work force.  The work these men and women perform every day is one of the reasons the United States has the best military in the world.  Just as I have done since my first day in Congress, I will continue to fight to protect every single one of those jobs, and to bring new jobs to North Texas,’ said Congresswoman Kay Granger (R-TX). "This bill includes many priorities that are essential to our national security and the metroplex."

Included in the defense portion of the bill are:

• 96 F-35 aircraft - +17 more than the request
• The F-35 is built and assembled in TX-12 and there are over 17 suppliers that represent 49,000 direct and indirect jobs.
• The program represents an annual economic impact of $9.4 billion.
• The additional 17 aircraft that Congresswoman Granger secured represents at least an additional $950 million in economic impact to the region, and extra firepower for the U.S. Air Force.

• 15 V-22 aircraft –6 more than the request
• In the metroplex, there are 15 suppliers and vendors who support the production, engineering, and manufacturing of the V-22.
• Locally, the V-22 program supports 350 direct and indirect jobs and represents $22 million in economic impact.
• Congresswoman Granger successfully fought to include an additional $546 million for 6 additional V-22s.
• $717.946 million for the Army’s Future Vertical Lift program, including $90.5 million above the request for the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA)

• Bell has been awarded follow-on contracts to help the Army build the FLRAA and the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA).
• Bell employs over 5,100 hardworking men and women in North Texas.
• AVX Aircraft, located in Fort Worth, will have the funding needed to continue their specialized work on bonding composites for the airframe.
• AVX Aircraft employs approximately 30 experienced, specialized rotorcraft engineers.

• Congresswoman Granger successfully fought to include the additional $90.5 million for FLRAA.

• In addition, this bill also prevents the decommissioning two of the first four Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) before the end of their useful life.  This includes prohibiting the decommissioning of LCS-3, the USS Fort Worth.
• The USS Fort Worth was commissioned in 2012.
• Congresswoman Granger successfully fought to include language to save the USS Fort Worth from early retirement by the Navy.