Press
Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - December
19, 2007
Contact: BRIAN PERRY: 601-932-4647
PICKERING:
$70 MILLION FOR THIRD CONGRESSIONAL
DISTRICT PROJECTS
$35 million
in funding for Mississippi State
University
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Congressman
Chip Pickering announces more than
$70 million for projects in Mississippi’s
Third Congressional District, $35
million of which goes to, or partners
with, Mississippi State University.
The House of Representatives passed
the omnibus bill (HR 2764) today,
encompassing 11 of the 12 annual
appropriation bills, and providing
$473.5 billion in discretionary
spending for fiscal year 2008. It
includes $70 billion for military
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan,
and $11 billion for a border fence,
emergency drought relief, and funding
for veterans. The Senate already
passed the measure and President
George W. Bush is expected to sign
it.
“We were able to secure
funding for critical agriculture,
energy, infrastructure, health
and research projects across the
state,” Pickering said. The
legislation contains more than
$300 million in funding for projects
in, or partnering with, Mississippi.
The 1.6% across-the-board budget
cut negotiated by House conservatives
and the White House to reduce spending
will affect some projects.
Pickering continued, “Mississippi
State University has proven itself
to be a research institution of
national scope, and these investments
into energy, technology, automotive,
economic development, and agricultural
research will pay dividends for
both our state and nation for many
decades to come. While I
represent MSU in Congress, Senator
Cochran deserves praise and recognition
for carving out the funding for
many of these projects, and I’ve
enjoyed working with him to enact
Mississippi State’s priorities,” Pickering
said.
Mississippi State
University Projects:
$10,824,000 – Sustainable
Energy Research Center*
$7,332,000 – MSU
Research Park**
$4,840,875 – Wood
Utilization Research (Consortium
with OR, NC, MN, ME, MI, ID,
TN, AK, WV)
$3,936,000 – Center
for Advanced Vehicular Studies
Center**
$1,390,200 – Poultry
Science Research Facility*
$1,390,200 – USAD-ARS
Center**
$980,000 – Virtual
Accident and Injury Reconstruction
Center**
$975,000 – Acquisition
of Equipment and Curriculum Development
at the Wise-Center Broadcast
Facility**
$893,700 – Biomass-based
Energy Research (With Oklahoma)**
$784,000 – John
C. Stennis Institute for Capacity
Development Initiative**
$390,000 – Integrated
Workforce Performance System*
$385,284 – Improving
Production Efficiency in Aquaculture*
$295,200 – Affordable,
Energy Efficient Self-Help Housing
for Mississippi**
$246,264 – E-Commerce
Research
$243,000 – Tissue
Engineering Research Center**
$195,000 – Training
and Development at the Distributed
Learning System**
$97,000 – Appalachian
Leadership Honor Program**
*Cochran/Pickering
Projects
**Cochran
Projects
Two of Pickering’s long-term
projects in Congress also received
funding in this legislation. The
measure includes $188 million in
funding for the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve, $24.6 million of which
is to acquire land at the new site. The
Energy Policy Act of 2005 included
the Pickering Strategic Petroleum
Reserve Amendment that directed
the Department of Energy to select
one or more new sites, and to commence
with the administrative and environmental
processes necessary to create additional
reserve facilities. This led to
the selection of the Richton, Mississippi
salt domes as a future SPR facility
location.
The measure also includes $868,875
for Pickering's National Veterinary
Medical Service Act signed into
law in 2003. The act encourages
veterinary assistance in underserved
areas to guard against foreign
and domestic disease outbreaks
or agro-terrorist threats by helping
graduates repay student loans for
their term of service.
Congressman
Chip Pickering represents
Mississippi’s Third Congressional
District and serves on the House
Energy and Commerce Committee. This
is his sixth term.
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