WASHINGTON – Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), Chair Emeritus of the House Appropriations Committee, released the following statement following the passage of three Appropriations funding bills for fiscal year 2025.
“These Appropriations bills provide critical funding for America’s war fighters and create and support jobs in the North Texas defense industry,” said Representative Kay Granger. “The bills also provide crucial protections for our important ally Israel and funding increases for technologies and personnel to better protect our Southern border, all while cutting wasteful spending.
“The essential role our local defense industry plays in maintaining our country’s military strength and preparedness is essential to keeping America safe from our adversaries. I am proud to advocate on their behalf and ensure they have the resources they need to provide a strong national defense.
“I encourage the U.S. Senate to swiftly pass these bills and send them to the President to become law.”
PROVISIONS GRANGER SECURED IN THE BILL:
Creating & Supporting Jobs in North Texas Defense Industry
- Funds 76 new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters built and assembled by Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth.
- Supports over 22 suppliers that represent 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.
- Funds the continued development, modernization, and engine enhancement of the F-35 aircraft.
- $1.25 billion for design, prototyping, and risk reduction for the Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft, being built by Bell/Textron.
- Supports over 5,000 jobs locally in North Texas.
- Provides five additional V-22s for the Navy and Marine Corps, supporting an extensive Bell Textron presence in the Fort Worth area.
- In the metroplex, there are 15 suppliers and vendors who support the production, engineering, and manufacturing of the V-22.
- Funds $105M for modernization efforts for the V-22’s nacelle and cockpit equipment.
- Strengthens Defense-wide research and learning programs.
- Establishes a workforce development training hub run by Texas A&M in Fort Worth to address the high-demand skills identified by the Department of Defense (DoD) and industry partners.
- Further expands the alliance of Hispanic Serving Institutions throughout Texas to address national security problems, ensuring enduring technological advantage, now and in the future.
Supporting our ally and partner, Israel
- Provides $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing to enable Israel to finance procurement of United States defense articles and services.
- Prohibits DoD funding from being used to withhold, halt, reverse, or cancel the delivery of defense articles of defense services from the United States to Israel.
- Funds Israel’s Cooperative Missile Defense Programs
- Fortifies the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow missile defense systems by providing $500 million.
- Prohibits funding the corrupt and fraudulent United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) to ensure UN accountability and to prevent future complicity in supporting terrorism.
Securing the Southern Border
- Provides funding for border wall construction, border security technology, and Border Patrol agents.
- $600 million for construction of the southern border wall.
- $300 million for border security technology.
- Sustained funding for 22,000 Border Patrol agents.
- Provides funding for custody operations of an average daily Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainee population of over 50,000 and removal operations for deportable illegal immigrants.