[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 19166]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     SUCCESSFUL NEW MEXICO PROGRAMS

  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss some successful 
Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security programs 
created in my home State of New Mexico.
  One project, the foreign language translator, is a hands-free, voice-
activated translator that allows troops to speak English phrases that 
are automatically broadcast in Arabic. The electronics for the 
translator are built by Crane Corporation of Albuquerque, NM and Laguna 
Industries assembles and tests the units in Cibola County, NM. I 
secured $1.4 million for this project in fiscal year 2005 Department of 
Defense funding, and its usefulness was highlighted in a June 19 Forbes 
article which quoted a Coast Guardsman as saying the device is the best 
interpreting tool available to date.
  Another project, the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis 
Center, or NISAC, is a joint Sandia/Los Alamos National Laboratories 
initiative that was created in 2000. NISAC studies critical 
infrastructure and models the effects of a potential terrorist attack 
on such infrastructure. This work has proven invaluable to our Nation. 
NISAC accurately predicted the effect of Hurricane Katrina on New 
Orleans and was cited by the White House as a positive part of the 
Federal Government's efforts in response to Hurricane Katrina. I have 
helped fund NISAC since its inception, including securing $7 million 
for a NISAC facility in fiscal year 2003 and providing $5 million more 
than the President requested for the program in fiscal year 2006.
  Lastly, the Expeditionary Unit Water Purification, or EUWP, Program 
is a desalination program developed by the Office of Naval Research and 
tested in Otero County, NM. I have secured more than $30 million for 
this project, and it has been money well spent. When the water supply 
at the Coast Guard's Loran Station at Port Clarence, AK was 
contaminated last summer, an EUWP unit was deployed to Alaska to create 
fresh water from brackish water for troops there. In the aftermath of 
Hurricane Katrina, two EUWP units were deployed to Mississippi to 
provide fresh water to both victims and rescue workers. Clearly, the 
program is accomplishing its mission.
  I am proud of these success stories and am glad to have helped three 
such successful programs secure the Federal funding they needed to do--
important tasks for our Nation.

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