WASHINGTON, DC – A federal spending bill set for a Congressional vote Friday includes important support for our troops and the nation’s defense, Congresswoman Kay Granger said Wednesday. The bill includes major support for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the keystone to air superiority for the United States and its allies.
The Fiscal Year 2016 omnibus Appropriations bill allocates $514.1 billion for national defense, as well as $58.6 billion to continue funding of operations against terrorists around the world. It increases defense spending by $23 billion over Fiscal Year 2015. As the vice chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, Granger was a lead supporter of the increase in defense spending.
“One of the top priorities of my time in Congress has been to ensure we provide support for our troops as they defend our nation around the world,” Granger said. “We are facing a terrible new enemy in the Middle East, and we must ensure our defenders have the resources to defeat ISIS at its roots.”
Granger praised the bill’s inclusion of funding for 68 new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, which are manufactured at the Lockheed-Martin Corp. plant in Fort Worth.
“This is the top fighter in the world, which is why I have fought so hard to get as many as possible in the hands of our Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force pilots, as well as our allies around the world,” Granger said. “The Fort Worth workers who manufacture the F-35 with such excellence can be proud of their contribution to our national security.”
The project is estimated to provide 129,000 jobs statewide in Texas.
A summary breakdown of defense spending in the Fiscal Year 2016 omnibus bill is available at https://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfiles/12.15.15_fy_2016_omnibus_-_defense_-_summary.pdf
###