McDermott Earmarks Important Federal
Funds for the Seattle Area
For Immediate Release - Febuary 24, 2003

Washington, DC - U.S. Representative Jim McDermott(D-WA) today released a list of projects for which he helped secure funding in the omnibus appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2003. The massive spending bill passed the House on February 13, and passed the Senate the following day. President Bush signed it on February 20.

McDermott worked hard to find funding for a number of projects of importance to Washington's 7th District. Congressman McDermott, a doctor, helped secure funding for several health-facility projects in the Seattle area. The Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center will receive $800,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including $500,000 for implementation of the Children's Health Access Regional Telemedicine Network. The University of Washington School of Medicine is set to receive $500,000 for its Demonstration Assistance in Rural Training (DART) program expanding health care to rural areas, and $3.5 million for expansion of the Life Sciences Building. The Puget Sound Blood Center, desperately in need of facility modernization funds, will be granted $400,000 for expansion and renovation.

Several law enforcement earmarks are also headed for the Seattle area. Working with his colleagues in the Washington State congressional delegation, McDermott helped direct $3 million to the Washington State Methamphetamines Program to aid in controlling the state's methamphetamine problem. Mr. McDermott also acquired $250,000 for the King County Sheriff's Office for Crime Identification Technology. This money will go in part to expanding DNA testing and maintaining an electronic database. Additionally, the City of Seattle should receive $750,000 under the Community Oriented Policing Services program for equipping Seattle Police Department cars with digital video surveillance cameras.

Many important environmental projects also will receive federal funds. Along with several other members of the Washington State congressional delegation, McDermott helped direct $700,000 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers budget to habitat restoration in the Puget Sound Nearshore area. Other habitat restoration throughout King County for the Puget Sound and Adjacent Waters Restoration Initiative and the Duwamish/Green River Ecosystem Restoration Program will be funded through two additional $500,000 appropriations from the Army Corps budget. The bill also includes $4 million for land acquisition under the I-90 Corridor/Plum Creek and Cascade Conservation Partnership.

McDermott and several other Members of Congress from the Northwest obtained $130 million in Fiscal Year 2003 funding for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, $28 million of which will go directly to Washington State. McDermott also secured funding for two important Army Corps General Investigations. The first, a $100,000 appropriation, will assess the condition of the Elliot Bay seawall. The second investigation will analyze habitat restoration needs in the Lake Washington Watershed and Ship Canal, and will be funded through a $450,000 appropriation.

McDermott found funding from the Federal Transit Administration for three transportation projects in the 7th District. The King Street station will receive $250,000 for rehabilitation as a multi-modal transportation center for trains, buses, light rail, and monorail. Aurora Avenue will be revamped for improved speed and safety as a Bus Rapid Transit corridor through a $1.5 million appropriation. Additionally, the City of Burien will receive $2 million for the conversion of a park and ride to be developed into a transit center.

McDermott's work also secured a $450,000 Economic Development Initiative to develop the YWCA Opportunity Place for low-income housing to combat chronic homelessness in the Seattle area. In addition, teaming up with the Washington State congressional delegation, McDermott helped to secure $500,000 for the Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction for implementation of a student database to track and monitor students' academic records.

Among the other highlights for the Seattle area in the omnibus appropriations bill are $30 million for Sounder Commuter Rail, $4 million for Sound Transit Regional Hubs, $750,000 for two-way transit operations on I-90, $225,000 for the Griffin Home for youth in Renton, $3 million for the Pacific Crest Trail stretching from California to Washington, $325,000 to the Mockingbird Society of Seattle to help maintain and stabilize children in the state foster care system, $100,000 to the Washington Health Foundation of Seattle for rural health outreach, $387,000 to the Seattle Art Museum for a brownfields cleanup, $7.5 million to the Army Corps for operation and maintenance of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, $999,000 for operation and maintenance of Puget Sound and its tributaries, $640,000 for operation and maintenance of Seattle Harbor, and, lastly, $600,000 to the University of Washington and Washington State University for Extension Forestry.