[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 156 (Sunday, September 28, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2122-E2123]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          EARMARK DECLARATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Saturday, September 27, 2008

  Mr. RADANOVICH. 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 Securities Disaster Assistance 
and Continuing Appropriations Act.

[[Page E2123]]

  Two earmarks were granted in the aforementioned bill, which I had 
previously requested from the fiscal year 2009 Defense Appropriations 
Subcommittee.
  H.R. 2638 contains an appropriation of $1.2 million for 105mm 
ammunition procurement from the Procurement of Ammunition Account for 
NI Industries, Inc. The 105mm ammunition utilizes the deep drawn steel 
cartridge case manufactured by NI Industries. NI Industries is the only 
supplier with the unique capability and expertise to manufacture large 
caliber deep drawn steel cartridges. Due to the Department of Defense's 
Base Realignment and Closure plans, cartridge case production at NI 
Industry's facility in Riverbank, CA will cease in early 2009 in 
support of the relocation of production to Rock Island Arsenal, IL. 
This request for funding to procure 10,000 cartridge cases is necessary 
for three specific reasons:
  No. 1. Future demand for the ammunition may be higher than originally 
planned due to recent performance by the Mobile Gun System which uses 
105mm ammunition.
  No. 2. The Army may be evaluating other types of ammunition to add to 
the current suite of 105mm ammunition, which will require additional 
cartridge cases.
  No. 3. The relocation of the cartridge case production facility is a 
major undertaking that is subject to uncertainty. Because NI Industries 
is the only known contractor with the process knowledge, technical 
expertise, and skilled manpower to produce the 105mm deep drawn large 
caliber steel cartridge cases, it is prudent to stockpile additional 
cartridge cases to mitigate potential ammunition shortages due to the 
unavailability of cases.
  Additionally, SmartSight, Remote Weapon Video Sight project received 
an earmark of $2 million from the Department of Defense's Army 
Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Account, in H.R. 2638.
  SmartSight is designed to provide vastly improved survivability and 
overwhelming lethality for dismounted troops in close combat 
situations, providing a means for aiming direct-fire weapons from cover 
and concealment using indirect-view display technology. This 
appropriation will acquire continued development and testing for 120 
initial configuration SmartSight systems. The systems will be offered 
for testing, combat effectiveness and interoperability with existing 
systems, by operational commands of U.S. Army Special Operations 
Command, U.S. Navy Special Operations Command, USMC systems Command 
and/or USMC War Fighting Lab, and possibly other commands.

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