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WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has requested nearly $30 million of federal funds for special projects in Cochise County.
The money is part of more than $327 million she seeks, as an individual member of Congress or with others, for Congressional District 8, which the Democratic freshman congresswoman represents.
It should be noted that the lion’s share is one earmark for $187,200,000 for an unfunded Army requirement for Javelin missiles to be used in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is one of the Army’s highest priorities.
That means of the $327,271,100 amount listed on her new Web site, which was introduced Friday, $140,071,100 will go for projects in her district that includes parts of Tucson and South Tucson and Green Valley, Marana and Oro Valley, parts of Santa Cruz County and all of Cochise County.
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“The majority of these requests will not be approved due to a drastic reduction in funds, but I thought that they were important to bring to the attention to Congress because they assist our community in areas of public health, homeland security, economic development and technology innovation,” Giffords said.
And, she has already seen major cuts in some of her requests and that is only through the House Appropriations Committee process, meaning additional reductions or complete cancellation can occur as the requests wind their way through Congress.
Funds approved at the Appropriations Committee level still have to go through the full House and have the Senate approve a similar bill, and if not, have a conference committee work out the differences.
So far, none of the funds approved for the 12 Giffords’ sponsored Cochise County items, out of 42 total for the district, have made it beyond the Appropriations Committee and none have been fully funded.
Recently the congresswoman declined to release all the projects she supported, but on Friday, her spokesman, C.J. Karamargin, said the establishment of her new Web site providing the list to all the district’s constituents will make it easier for everyone to see what they entail.
Initially, she had said she would make them public as they were approved, but the new Web site is a better way to do things in a transparent manner, her spokesman said.
In five paragraphs before listing the projects and funds requested for them, Giffords wrote, “I went to Washington to change the way Congress does business.”
Noting she is one of the few members of Congress to fully disclose the list of funding requests for her district, the congresswoman said, “In the past years, the public did not know which federal projects had been championed by their U.S. representatives, because requests were made anonymously behind closed doors.”
When the new leadership of the Congress decided openness was critical, Giffords said she voted for transparency in the federal government.
“I was very selective in deciding which district projects or programs to support and closely evaluated each one based on whether or not it would effectively address the concerns and needs of Southern Arizona,” she said.
Within Cochise County, some of the projects include water issues, military requests, border protection, domestic violence and health concerns, according to the list published on Giffords’ Web site.
“Ultimately, these are your taxpayer dollars, and I believe that it is important for you to know what I requested and why,” the congresswoman stated.
Info box 1
Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ new Web site address is http://giffords.house.gov.
Info box 2
There are a number of projects in Cochise County supported by Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The amount of the county projects totals $28,921,100.
The projects include:
• Watershed Research Center with $750,000 requested to allow the U.S. Agricultural Research Service to participate in the Upper San Pedro Partnership. No funds yet approved.
• Sierra Vista/San Pedro Subwatershed Study with $200,000 requested to assist in the development of a water resources management plan that will balance water use by the city of Sierra Vista and Fort Huachuca against the needs of the San Pedro River. No funds yet approved.
• San Pedro Partnership Monitoring and Reporting with $750,000 requested to enable the U.S. Geological Survey to monitor the San Pedro River and the Sierra Vista Subwatershed. House Appropriations Committee approved $400,000.
• San Pedro River National Conservation Area Monitoring and Verification with $252,000 requested to provide the U.S. Bureau of Land Management resources for technical coordination and services and assistance in preparing their annual report to Congress. No funds yet approved.
• Upper San Pedro Partnership with $1 million requested for continuation of the monitoring of the San Pedro River and conditions of the regional aquifer of the Sierra Vista Subwatershed. No funds yet approved.
• Silver Fox and Manta Unmanned Aerial Systems with $5 million requested for an Army research project to be done in conjunction with Fort Huachuca to develop high-tech sensors of the pilotless aircraft. No funds yet approved.
• Chapel for Fort Huachuca with $5 million requested to have the structure built sooner than the currently proposed 2013 time frame. No funds yet approved.
• Douglas International Drainage Ditch Project with $12,364,100 requested to handle storm runoff and increase safety for Border Patrol agents. No funds yet approved.
• Catholic Community Services of Arizona for Renovation and Construction of Domestic Violence Shelters with $1 million requested for facilities in Sierra Vista and Douglas. No funds yet approved.
• Chiricahua Community Health Center to Renovate Douglas Medical Border Health Clinic with $325,000 requested to expand existing center by doubling patient capability and the Chiricahua Community Health Center Bisbee/Naco Chiricahua Community Center with $1.5 million requested to build a new facility. House Appropriations Committee approved a total of $400,000 for the two Chiricahua Community Health Center projects in Douglas and Bisbee/Naco.
• Feasibility Study for the Development and Construction of a New Hospital in the City of Douglas with $80,000 requested for a joint venture between the city of Douglas and the Southeastern Arizona Medical Center. No funds yet approved.
• Midwestern University/Sierra Vista Postgraduate Program for the Medically Underserved with $700,000 requested to help build a partnership to help indigent individuals. No funds yet approved.
Friday, the Appropriations Committee did approve additional funds for projects supported by Giffords, all outside Cochise County.
Of the $5 million requested for the Houghton Road Corridor Bridge Replacement in Tucson, $650,000 was approved; of the $10 million sought for Tucson Buses and Bus Maintenance Facility, $1 million was provided; to replace inoperable communications in Pima County at a cost of $2 million, the committee OK’d $400,000; for providing a Tucson Finger Imaging System Upgrade at a cost of $1.5 million, the Appropriations Committee gave $100,000; and for the Tucson Methamphetamine Education Program for which $750,000 was requested, the committee authorized $150,000.
Except for the Houghton Road bridge project, Democratic Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva also requested the committee’s support for the proposals.
KS wrote on Jul 14, 2007 10:06 AM: