MCKEON TO STEER DEFENSE BILL; COMMITTEE SLOT MAY HELP CEMENT B-2 FUNDING.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer U.S. Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon was appointed to the committee negotiating the final version of the 2000 Defense Authorization Act, giving a boost to efforts to secure additional B-2 bomber money and funding for new homes at Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. . The Valencia Republican will be part of the conference committee working to iron out differences between the House and Senate versions of the defense bill. McKeon was recommended for the committee by Rep. Floyd Spence Floyd Davidson Spence (April 9, 1928–August 16, 2001) was a Republican politician from South Carolina. Spence was born in Columbia, South Carolina in 1928, but spent most of his life in nearby Lexington County. , R-S R-S Reed-Solomon R-S Reset-Set R-S Relative Severity .C., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee The term Armed Services Committee could refer to:
``This is an important bill, especially since we are trying to rebuild the military after years of overdeployment and underfunding by the Clinton-Gore administration,'' McKeon said in a statement put out by his office. The House bill contains provisions sought by McKeon that include $187 million for additional B-2 work and $32.7 million to replace 188 aging homes at Edwards. The additional B-2 money will speed up by two years the Air Force timetable for improvements to the fleet of 21 bombers. The upgrades were included in the Air Force's long-range bomber plans for 2002, but B-2 supporters do not believe the plan moves quickly enough. The House bill recommends that $2 million of the B-2 funding be used for a conceptual study - including cost estimates - for the next-generation bomber, to be deployed by 2015. A report is to be submitted to Congress by Feb. 15. The House bill includes $32.7 million to replace aging homes occupied by military personnel and their families at Edwards. The president's budget request was for $8.8 million. Edwards is working on a multiyear program to replace housing built in the 1950s, now considered substandard substandard, adj below an acceptable level of performance. and cramped cramped adj. 1. Uncomfortably small or restricted: cramped living quarters. 2. Difficult to read, especially for being crowded into a small space: cramped handwriting. . The House bill also includes $5.5 million to construct bomber parking pads at Edwards. The project would construct three cement aircraft parking pads at Edwards' South Base, where flight testing for the B-1B, B-2 and B-52 programs has been consolidated. The president had not requested any funding for that project. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour AV and Conejo Editions only) U.S. Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon is negotiating the defense bill's final form |
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