[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21912]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          EARMARK DECLARATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GINNY BROWN-WAITE

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 24, 2008

  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the Republican 
Leadership standards on earmarks, I am submitting the following 
information regarding member requests I received as part of H.R. 2638, 
the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing 
Appropriations Act of 2009:
  I requested 3 projects in H.R. 2638. They include:
  $800,000 for the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis--Battlefield 
Exercise and Combat Related Spinal Cord Injury Research located at 1095 
NW 14th Terrace, Miami, FL 33136. This request, in the RDTE,A account, 
will fund continuing spinal cord injury (SCI) research at the Miami 
Project to Cure Paralysis, a Center of Excellence at the University of 
Miami School of Medicine. Research is directed at improving 
neuroprotection and pharmacological treatments for combat-sustained 
spinal cord injuries to reduce secondary damages.
  $1,200,000 for St. Leo University's Continuing Education Distance 
Learning located at 33701 State Road 52, P.O. Box 6665, St. Leo, FL 
33574. This request, in the OM,N account, will be used for long 
distance learning programs that are utilized by members of our Armed 
Forces. At this time, the university's main campus and 21 teaching 
locations (15 military locations) can accommodate the VTT broadcast and 
delivery of academic courses. Four new centers located at military 
sites are scheduled for VTT system installation in 2008, and 
discussions are underway to add VTT at 4 military teaching locations in 
2009. VTT system installation also is scheduled for the university's 
civilian teaching location at the Atlanta Police Training Academy, 
where law enforcement and military personnel study criminal justice and 
homeland security.
  $5,200,000 for VLOC, Inc., located at 7826 Photonics Dr., New Port 
Richey, FL 34655. This request, in the DPA account, will be used for 
the domestic production of transparent polycrystalline laser gain 
materials.
  The Department of Defense is calling for the development of tactical 
lasers that generate 100+ kilowatts of output power in an all-solid-
state design with field-testing starting within the next 12 months. To 
generate this level of operational power, new and unique laser 
materials must be produced commercially and domestically. Under 
previous forward-leaning research funded by the AFRL, U.S. industry was 
able to research and test innovative growth technologies, 
infrastructure improvements, and advanced materials analysis of these 
new ceramic laser gain materials. Unfortunately, at the start of these 
testing efforts, there were no parallel commercial polycrystalline-
based efforts domestically that would address U.S. defense-critical 
needs. A domestic supplier now exists and it is imperative that 
domestically produced materials be tested and qualified to maintain the 
military proprietary status of these highly sensitive military 100+ 
kilowatt-class lasers. By leveraging this previous R&D funding, it is 
expected that full domestic production with volumes to meet all of the 
current DoD needs can be achieved.

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