Washington, D.C.--U.S. Sixth District Congressman Frank Lucas celebrated another win for Vance Air Force Base in Enid last night with the passage of H.R. 4059, the "Military Construction Appropriations Act of 1999." Vance is allotted $6.1 million in this appropriations bill that passed the House overwhelmingly with a vote of 396-10.

The Air Force Base's Bradley Fitness and Sports Center will receive $4.4 million for much needed expansion. Another $1.7 million is dedicated to the construction of a fire training facility on the base.

"Vance will be increasing its student pilot personnel due to its excellence in pilot training and the overall downsizing of the military, and the current physical fitness facility is overcrowded and will not be able to accommodate the upcoming influx of personnel," Lucas said. "At present, the training center is not adequate to even support existing force needs, with decreases in training efficiency and safety being the result.

"And speaking of safety, the need for fully trained military forces in fire prevention and safety in their dealings with military equipment and weaponry is unquestionable," Lucas continued. "This fire training facility will fulfill that mission."

Lucas worked with the House National Security Subcommittee on Military Installations and Facilities and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction beginning in February of this year to secure the $4.4 million for the expansion of the base physical fitness center. That request was granted and then supplemented by the $1.7 million for the base fire training facility.

"Vance Air Force Base is a well-respected base here on Capitol Hill as well as in Oklahoma," Lucas said. "The continued federal funding of new projects there is evidence of that fact."