WASHINGTON – Today the House passed H.R. 7617, which includes funding for the Department of Defense.
"As the senior Republican on the Appropriations Committee, I successfully fought for funding that is vital to our national security, the local defense industry, and the local economy. The metroplex is home to the very best manufacturing jobs and a very highly skilled work force. The work these men and women do 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.
"While Speaker Pelosi loaded the bills with partisan poison pills that prevented me from supporting them in their current form, the inclusion of these local priorities put them in an excellent position to be signed into law by the President."
Included in the defense portion of the bill are:
- 91 F-35 aircraft - 12 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 12 aircraft that Congresswoman Granger secured represent an additional $950 million in economic impact to the district, and extra firepower for the U.S. Air Force.
- 11 V-22 aircraft – 2 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 $170 million for two additional V-22s.
- $154 million for the development of the Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) - $20 million above the request
- Bell has been awarded follow-on contracts to help the Army build the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA).
- 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 an additional $20 million dollars to fully fund the future of Army Aviation.
- $513 million to fully fund the Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft
- Bell has been awarded follow-on contracts to help the Army build the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA).
- AVX Aircraft also performs specialized work on this program with bonding composites for the aircraft.
- These helicopters will replace the retired OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter, which was retired in 2014.
- In addition, this bill also prevents the decommissioning 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.