Maui, Kaua'i get most defense dollars
By Bruce Dunford
Associated Press
Kaua'i and Maui again are Hawai'i's big winners in this year's record $355.4 billion defense bill approved yesterday in the U.S. Senate by a 95-3 margin.
• $80 million for continued military cleanup of Kaho'olawe. • $30 million for the Pearl Harbor shipyard • $3 million for corrosion research at UH • $76.8 million for Kaua'i's Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands • $73 million to the Office of Naval Research's Kaua'i programs • $35 million for the Maui Space Surveillance System • $15 million for the Pan Stars program • $10 million to Theater Undersea Warfare • $34.5 million to Tripler Army Medical Center
Of the $537.5 million in military spending in Hawai'i, nearly $310 million goes to projects in the counties of Kaua'i and Maui, including $80 million to continue the cleanup of the former military target island of Kaho'olawe, according to U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawai'i.
Hawai'i gets $537 million:
"The defense of our nation is too important to be a matter of partisan politics," said Inouye, a chief author of the measure.
When Congress returns from its August recess, senators will try writing a compromise bill with the House, which approved a similar package in late June.
"I want to point out that while the bill provides the highest level of defense spending in history, the total recommended is still $11.4 billion below the president's request," Inouye said.
Left out was a $10 billion war fund President Bush would control.
Inouye said the $537 million to Hawai'i includes more than $30 million for the Navy's Pearl Harbor shipyard and $3 million for corrosion research at the University of Hawai'i.
The bill has $76.8 million for Kaua'i's Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, including $25 million for "theater missile defense upgrades" and $20 million for support operations.
There is also $73 million for the Office of Naval Research's Kaua'i programs, including $35 million for "tactical control network applications integration" and $15 million each for an "ultra high frequency electronically scanned antenna" and the modular command center.
Maui programs get $88 million, including $35 million for the Maui Space Surveillance System and $7 million for Project Albert, a Marine Corps program "to integrate new modeling techniques, analytical tools, multidisciplinary teams and the scientific method to explore combat-related questions" using the Maui supercomputer.
Another $15 million goes to the Pan Stars program and $10 million to Theater Undersea Warfare.
On O'ahu, Tripler Army Medical Center gets $34.5 million, including $22 million for the federal healthcare network.
