US House Passes Bill Giving More Than $1 Billion To Ft. Bliss
FT. BLISS, Texas – More than $1 billion could be heading to Ft. Bliss. The money would also provide service members with a 3.9% pay raise. Friday morning the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill with authorizes $531.4 billion to the Department of Defense. The House allocated $1.553 billion in funding for Fort Bliss.
The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committe already passes a similar bill. Next the whole senate must pass the bill, then thehouse and senate will work together to agree on one bill that will be sent to the president for final approval.
El Paso Congressman Silvestre Reyes, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, worked to secure funding for El Paso and Fort Bliss as the bill moved through the Committee.
“These funds are the latest installment in the multi-year plan to continue the unprecedented expansion and transformation of Fort Bliss ,” said Congressman Reyes. “This bill represents a major investment in Fort Bliss and the El Paso community, and also underscores the Department of Defense’s confidence in our ability to accommodate the influx new troops.”
The bill includes $12.5 million for the construction of a parking garage at William Beaumont Army Medical Center. The bill also funds construction projects to support the Army’s Grow the Force initiative and the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) and makes additional investments in military housing at Fort Bliss .
The legislation also provides nearly $3.4 billion in funding for Future Combat Systems, the U.S. Army’s principal modernization program, headquartered at Fort Bliss. The bill also extends the authority for the Defense Department to offer bonuses and incentive pay, and the bill prohibits fee increases in TRICARE and the TRICARE pharmacy program.
