Senator Submits Statement on Michigan-Related Provisions of Omnibus Funding Bill (USA)

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., has submitted the Senate floor statement on H.R. 2055, an omnibus spending bill for fiscal 2012.

In this statement, the Senator comments on two specific issues regarding the conference report to H.R. 2055, the omnibus spending measure.

“FRIB is critical to maintaining America’s worldwide preeminence in nuclear physics and a major component of Michigan’s economic future. MSU has solid and well-known expertise in the field of rare isotopes and nuclear physics. It has the largest nuclear physics faculty in the nation and a nuclear physics graduate program ranked number one in the country. Those were some of the reasons it was selected by the Department of Energy for design, construction, and operation of FRIB after an extensive competition over a multi-year period,” he said.

“I am disappointed that projects enabling Great Lakes harbor dredging continue to receive reduced funding. The conference report acknowledges that funding levels are inadequate to meet existing needs. I welcome the conferees’ decision to include an additional $173 million in funding for navigation projects nationwide, and I will work to ensure that the Great Lakes, which face a substantial backlog of dredging and other operations and maintenance needs, receive a share of this funding consistent with the high level of need,” Levin said.

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Dredging Today Staff, December 20, 2011; Image: usace