WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Kay Granger (TX-12), the Chairwoman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, released the following statement after the House’s passage of the final bipartisan agreement reached on H.R. 6157, which includes funding for the Department of Defense.”

“After many years of neglecting our national security, our troop readiness, and the critical maintenance of our defense infrastructure, my legislation builds on the significant progress we started last year,” Granger said. “I worked in lockstep with Secretary Mattis to ensure this bill provides the critical-funding needed to implement the new National Defense Strategy, and to continue rebuilding our armed forces.  It is our most basic responsibility to ensure our troops are ready to defend our nation, and that they have the very best training and the most effective weapons available.”

“It is critical that the Department of Defense has predictable and timely funding so that Mattis and our military leadership can plan with accurate funding levels.  For the first time in nine years, we have done just that.”

Finally, this is a bill for Fort Worth. It has been the honor of my life to represent JRB/NAS Fort Worth, the service members, our veterans community, and the thousands of constituents who skillfully build the very equipment that this nation counts on to keep us safe, including the most innovative in the world such as the F-35 and V-22.

The minibus passed by the House today provides significant investment in equipment, including:

• $9.3B for 93 F-35 aircraft
• $1.1B for 13 V-22 aircraft
• $1.7B for 18 C-130J aircraft, including 8 for the National Guard, like the 130s flown at JRB NAS Fort Worth
• $24.2B for 13 Navy ships, including: $4.3B for 2 Virginia-class submarines and $1.6B for 3 Littoral Combat Ships
• $1.2B for 58 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters

For more information, see the Appropriations Committee one-pager.