[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 155 (Saturday, September 27, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2040-E2041]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          EARMARK DECLARATION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 25, 2008

  Mr. HALL of Texas. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican 
Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following 
information for publication in the Congressional Record regarding 
earmarks I received as part of, H.R. 2638--The Consolidated Security, 
Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009.
  A. Rivet Joint ISR Networth Integration (0305207F 192 MANNED 
RECONNAISSANCE SYSTEMS.) The entity to receive funding for this project 
is L-3 Integrated Systems, located at 10001 Jack Finney Blvd., 
Greenville, TX 75402. The funding would be used to provide networking 
upgrades that will enable it to fully collaborate with a variety of 
Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) nodes so that more 
effective projections of threat environments can be made.
  B. PrePreg Thickness Variability Reduction Program (0603680F 29 
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM.) The entity to receive funding for 
this project is Cytec Engineered Materials, located at 4300 Jackson 
Street, Greenville, TX 78402. The funding would be used to reduce the 
variability of prepreg thickness to +/-1 percent, which is a 
substantial improvement over even foreign prepreg capabilities. 
Reducing variation significantly complements and enhances the 
advancements expected to be made in the areas of tooling and 
manufacturing. These achievements are crucial for Cytec's military and 
commercial partners.
  C. Stryker Common Active Protection System (APS) Radar (0603653A 62 
ADVANCED TANK ARMAMENT SYSTEMS (ATAS).) The entity to receive funding 
for this project is Raytheon Network Centric Systems, located at 2501 
West University, McKinney, TX 75070. APS is an externally mounted 
vehicle protection system that identifies, discriminates and intercepts 
RPGs, mortars, antitank guided missiles and artillery projectiles after 
they are launched toward a combat vehicle. The system consists of the 
Multi-Function Radio Frequency (MFRF) radar, launchers, fire control 
processors and countermeasures.
  Please see attached for financial plan of each project. Neither I nor 
my spouse has any financial interest in these projects.


                              Finance Plan

  Requesting Member: Rep. Ralph M. Hall.
  Bill Number: H.R. 2638.
  Account: Air Force, RDT&E, Line 192, PE 0305207F, Manned 
Reconnaissance Systems.
  Project Name: Rivet Joint ISR Network Integration.
  Legal Name of Requesting Entity: L-3 Communications Integrated 
Systems.
  Address of Requesting Entity: 10001 Jack Finney Boulevard, 
Greenville, TX 75403.
  Anticipated sources of funding for the duration of the project: 
Additional funding would be provided by the Air Force to procure this 
capability after successful demonstration of the developmental 
prototype, in their future years budget requests.
  Percent and source of required matching funds: N/A, this program is 
providing a good or service to the Department of Defense.
  Justification for use of federal taxpayer dollars: The RIVET JOINT 
will provide networking upgrades that will enable it to fully 
collaborate with a variety of Intelligence Surveillance and 
Reconnaissance (ISR) nodes so that more effective projections of threat 
environments can ba made. Detailed analysis of RIVET JOINT operations 
shows that full integration of networked capabilities will result in a 
25 percent improvement in critical Threat Analysis Measures of 
Effectiveness for priority dual-use commercial communication threat 
environments. The specific threats that will be addressed by this 
system upgrade are the highest priority threats to ongoing military 
operations.
  Detailed finance plan: $750,000 is for Non-Recurring Engineering 
Design and Development; $750,000 is for Manufacture Design and 
Production of Networked Speech, Geo-Location, and Reach-back Processing 
and Data

[[Page E2041]]

Base Access Applications; and $500,000 is for Labor, Materials, and 
System Installation and Integration on one Rivet Joint aircraft.


                  RECIPIENT REQUEST CERTIFICATION FORM

  None of the funding requested will be used for a new building, 
program, or project that has been named for a sitting Member of 
Congress. If the building, program, or project is already named after a 
sitting Member of Congress, please state when that naming occurred.
  None of the funding requested will be used to secure funds for other 
entities unless the use of funding is consistent with the specified 
purpose of the earmark.
  For requests where the receiving entity is not a unit of federal, 
state or local government, or where the entity receiving the funding 
will not be providing support to a Federal, state, or local government, 
or will not be providing research, the requesting entity is to provide 
matching funds including in-kind contributions of 5 percent or more 
above statutory requirement.
  Attachment of detailed finance plan must include: anticipated sources 
of the funding for the duration of the project; percent and source of 
required matching fund; and justification for use of federal taxpayer 
dollars.
  Name of person certifying: Steven C. Speak.
  Title of person certifying: President.
  Project name: Prepreg Thickness Variability Reduction Program.
  Legal name of entity making request: Cytec Engineered Materials.
  Address: 4300 Jackson Street, Greenville, TX 78420.


      RECIPIENT REQUEST CERTIFICATION FORM--Detailed Finance Plan

  Project Name: Prepreg Thickness Variability Reduction Program.
  Requested by Congressman Ralph Hall (TX-4).
  Total Requested funding FY09: $1.6 million.
  Justification of the use of Federal funds: This program will reduce 
the variability of Carbon fiber prepreg, the raw material that provides 
the basis for strong durable, light-weight composite aircraft 
structures. It is predominantly used by the Air Force, Navy, Marine 
Corps and the airline industry to fabricate aircraft structures such as 
wing skins. A major impediment to assembling composite aircraft 
structural components is the dimensional mismatch of composite parts 
which may produce rough edges, overlays, or gaps between parts. Much of 
this mismatch is due to variations that occur in component 
manufacturing. Funding has been applied to efforts to reduce variation 
in component manufacturing by the Air Force and the prime contractors. 
Unfortunately, funds have not been directed towards efforts to reduce 
variation by refining the raw material--carbon fiber prepreg. Lower 
prepreg variation will avoid the purchase of costly precision machining 
equipment by program partners, estimated at $80 million, to mitigate 
surface and component part deviations. Federal funding is justified in 
this effort to reducing the variability of prepreg to help the Joint 
Strike Fighter program and others meet the goal of reducing the overall 
variability of composite parts. This is vital to reduce the weight of 
aircraft, as well as to promote optimal stealth capabilities.


      Detailed Budget for Variation Reduction Development Program

  Materials:
  Resin and prepreg production, production trials, feedstock 
variations, customer shop trials, and packaging supplies: $100K.
  Deliverables:
  (1) Develop and demonstrate the necessary equipment and processes for 
production.
  (2) Document aerospace production control documents (PCD) for JSF 
Program technical approval and signature.
  Labor:
  Scientist, technicians, mechanics, testing personnel, and production 
operators: $160K.
  Deliverables:
  (1) Direct the work to be done, optimize process, execute plan scale 
up work.
  (2) Ensure best practice sharing of manufacturing engineering 
development.
  Testing:
  Fiber testing, production of composites, and testing of the composite 
coupons: $1130K.
  Deliverables:
  (1) Generate meaningful composite material data, demonstrating 
alignment to heritage mechanical test data bases.
  (2) Review data and correlate to end-use application.
  Contract Administration: $30K.
  Overhead and Contract Management: $100K.
  Contingency/Miscellaneous Travel, part-time resources, contingent raw 
material needs: $80K.
  Total Budget: $1600K.


          Stryker Common Active Protection System (APS) Radar

  Bill Number and Account: H.R. 2638, RDT&E, Army, Line 62.
  Name and Address of Recipient: Raytheon Company, 2501 West University 
Drive, McKinney, TX, 75070.
  Program Description/Use of FY09 Funding: Active Protection System 
(APS) is an externally mounted vehicle protection system that 
identifies, discriminates and intercepts rocket propelled grenades 
(RPGs), mortars, antitank guided missiles and artillery projectiles 
after they are launched toward a combat vehicle. The system consists of 
the Multi-Function Radio Frequency (MFRF) radar, launchers, fire 
control processors and countermeasures. In March, 2006, the Army 
competitively awarded a contract with two options for APS. Option A for 
the Short Range Countermeasure is in development and will integrate RPG 
protection into current combat vehicles, beginning with Stryker. Option 
B will address the longer range threats and is a sub-system to the Hit 
Avoidance Suite for the Future Combat Systems (FCS) fleet of Manned 
Ground Vehicles (MGV). In 2007, the Army accelerated the requirement 
for Stryker by designating it a critical component of Spin Out 2, the 
second increment of FCS technologies to be fielded to the Current Force 
in the 2010-2012 timeframe. Due to budget constraints, the FY09 
President's budget request does not contain funding to support APS 
integration onto Stryker.
  The additional FY09 funding of $1.6M will allow ruggedization of the 
Environmental Control Unit (ECU) for tactical application (e.g., 
submergence) on Stryker, as well as software and hardware development 
for system command and control, including the man-machine interface.
  Anticipated Sources of Funding: APS development is funded under the 
FCS MGV budget line, but there is no dedicated funding to support APS 
development for Stryker in FY08 or FY09. The Army originally requested 
funding in FY08 for Stryker APS but has since reallocated the funding 
to support power management and the other upgrades Stryker needs to 
accommodate FCS Spin Outs. Additional funding is anticipated through 
future years' budgets, but details of the 10-15 POM are unknown at this 
time.
  Matching Funds: N/A.
  Justification for Use of Taxpayer Dollars: This project aims to 
accelerate delivery of a validated military need intended to enhance 
protection of Army soldiers and vehicles. As a priority military 
initiative, this program will be funded through Federal expenditures.

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