[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 8] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 10932-10933] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]EARMARK DECLARATION ______ HON. RODNEY ALEXANDER of louisiana in the house of representatives Wednesday, May 21, 2008 Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam Speaker, I submit the following: Requesting Member: Congressman Rodney Alexander. Bill Number: H.R. 5658. Provision: Title I APA line 020. Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Army National Guard Readiness Center. Address of Requesting Entity: 111 S. George Mason Drive, Arlington, VA, 22204. Description of Request: The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter is an essential capability of the National Guard. It provides units in every state with a multi-mission aircraft for search and rescue, utility lift, disaster relief and medical evacuation. The Army National Guard (ARNG) is authorized 782 Black Hawk aircraft, but is short of this authorization by almost 100 aircraft. This shortage requires ARNG units to loan or transfer Black Hawks in support deployments, training or state missions, resulting in a higher usage rate of available airframes. Additionally, more than 500 of the 782 National Guard aircraft are older UH-60A models, with an average age of approximately 25 years. The Army is procuring over 1200 UH-60M Black Hawks for utility, special operations and MEDEVAC missions to replace the aging UH-60A from operational units by 2016. The Army acquired 33 UH-60M Black Hawks by the end of FY07, and from FY09 to FY13, the Army plans to procure an additional 300 UH-60M Black Hawks (70 of those aircraft are programmed for ARNG units). However, without an accelerated procurement of the UH-60M, the Army National Guard will be operating more than 400 UH-60A helicopters beyond 2020. The ARNG and the Active Army developed a program to support the continued modernization of the ARNG Black Hawk fleet. Unfortunately, this program is not fully funded. The ARNG plan is to accelerate the fielding of UH-60M Black Hawks by 10 aircraft per year. Although the Active Army has programmed UH-60A recapitalization for the ARNG with Operations and Maintenance (O&M) funds, which includes an airframe life extension, fleet-wide product improvements and the replacement of components, the UH-60A to L upgrade is not funded. The UH-60L Black Hawk is more economical to operate and has 1000 lbs of additional lift than the UH-60A. The desired rate of UH-60 A to L upgrades is 38 per year. Funding the UH-60A to L upgrade will significantly improve the Black Hawk [[Page 10933]] fleet, and assure that ARNG units are ready, deployable, and available to protect our national interests both abroad and at home. This ARNG aviation initiative has been identified by the Chief of the National Guard Bureau (CNGB) as FY09 ``Essential 10-Top 25'' unfunded priorities. Requesting Member: Congressman Rodney Alexander. Bill Number: H.R. 5658. Provision: Title II, RDA 0602720A line 22. Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Mezzo Technologies. Address of Requesting Entity: 716 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70806. Description of Request: This is an Environmental Quality Technology initiative in the Pollution Prevention category that will address the Army's Unfunded need for additional CBRN soldier protection. The program will develop and test critical components for an Integrated ECS/CARS. Current chemical, biological, radiation, and nuclear (CBRN) air filtration systems rely on carbon filters to remove harmful agents from air being used to ventilate armored military vehicles. The program will provide the following benefits to the military: increased CBRN soldier protection; reduced operation and support costs over traditional filtration systems; reduced logistical burden associated with replacement of filters; and reduced dependence on global warming refrigerants. Requesting Member: Congressman Rodney Alexander. Bill Number: H.R. 5658. Provision: Title II, RDA 0602787A line 26. Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana. Address of Requesting Entity: 1505 Kings Highway, Shreveport, LA 71103. Description of Request: The Biomedical Research Foundation in collaboration with Embera Neuro Therapeutics, Inc. are seeking federal assistance to develop a collaborative research plan with the Department of Defense to test the effectiveness of EMB 001 for treatment of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related neuropsychiatric disorders. EMB 001 is a novel treatment for drug addictions as it is the only emerging drug that reduces the cravings of the addict for the drug; thus, works to cure the addiction through decreased need. It does this by diminishing the effects of the environmental cues that trigger the cravings for the drug in the brain that cause drug use or relapse to drug use. While most other medicines designed to treat drug and alcohol addictions typically only target the limbic system of the brain, Embera's approach targets the prefrontal cortex, which is a higher cognitive center than the limbic system. Embera's lead therapeutic patent-pending drug, EMB 001, developed by Dr. Goeders, is a novel composition of two off-patent, FDA-approved drugs with a long history of use and an established safety profile. Dr. Goeders, currently serves as the Head of Pharmacology and Director, Stress and the Neurobiology of Drug and Alcohol Dependence Training Program at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. Requesting Member: Congressman Rodney Alexander. Bill Number: H.R. 5658. Provision: Title II, RDAF 0301555F line 4. Legal Name of Requesting Entity: Air Force Cyberspace Command Louisiana Tech University. Address of Requesting Entity: P.O. Box 10348, Ruston, LA 71272. Description of Request: ``UNCLASSIFIED DESCRIPTION'' Remote Suspect Identification (RSI) is a novel technology that uses mathematical models for identity verification over electronic networks. Aspects of this work have been commercialized in the private sector. Building upon recent collaborative successes with Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana, the Air Force has expressed strong interest in further development of the algorithms and associated software for military applications. This project will enhance the Air Force's capability to capitalize upon innovations from Louisiana Tech University's Cyber Research Laboratory, where ongoing research is helping to support the goals of the Air Force's Cyberspace Command (AFCYBER) at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, LA. This important Air Force initiative, driven by research at Louisiana Tech, has already benefited from valuable research expertise from the Air Force Research Laboratory's Information Directorate (Rome, NY), Sandia National Laboratories, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory. Requesting Member: Congressman Rodney Alexander. Bill Number: H.R. 5658. Provision: Title III, OMDW ba04-0100d line 260. Legal Name of Requesting Entity: National World War II Museum. Address of Requesting Entity: 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130. Description of Request: This request would provide a one-time permanent $50 million authorization, subject to appropriations, for the National WW II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. On June 6, 2000, the National D-Day Museum opened in New Orleans. On December 7, 2001, the Pacific Wing of the Museum opened. The National D-Day Museum was officially designated by the U.S. Congress as ``America's National World War II Museum'' in the final Fiscal Year 2004 Defense Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 108-87, Section 8134). A key reason for this national designation is clearly spelled out in the second Congressional finding of Section 8134 that ``The National World War II Museum is the only museum in the United States that exists for the exclusive purpose of interpreting the American experience during the World War II years (1939-1945) on both the battlefront and the homefront and, in doing so, covers all of the branches of the Armed Forces and the Merchant Marine.'' Approximately $33 million in state funds and another $40 million in private funds already available and pledged in matching state/local/ private funding for other Pavilions of the WWII Museum. It is planned that a total of $240 million in non-Federal support will match any future Federal appropriations. The State of Louisiana, which has already appropriated $33 million towards the Federal $50m authorization request, has also pledged to match dollar for dollar up to the total amount of the Federal Authorization, (the entire Federal million Authorization) if it is approved by Congress. ____________________