The U.S. House has passed a defense funding appropriations bill that would provide more than $33.4 million for a new combat engineer training facility at Camp Grafton, N.D., near Devils Lake.
Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., said the project entails building a 182,000-square-foot facility to house and train combat engineers, soldiers from across the U.S. for the National Guard and Army Reserve.
The funding currently is included in the conference report of the joint 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bills that passed the House 269 to 142 Tuesday night. The bill now awaits action by the Senate.
The House bill holds more than $72 million for military-related projects in North Dakota, some of which involve the Grand Forks Air Force Base and UND.
"This bill will provide critical funding to North Dakota's military bases and will promote the top-flight education programs at our state's colleges and universities," Pomeroy said.
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If it becomes law, the bill would supply:
-- $13 million for upgrades and to renovate the Grand Forks Air Force Base control tower, one of the busiest in the Air Force because of its close proximity to the Grand Forks International Airport and UND flight training program.
-- $1.28 million to convert a hangar at the Grand Forks air base to accommodate unmanned aerial vehicles, the base's new mission expected to start in 2009.
-- $1.27 million to construct a new forensic laboratory at UND that would be used to conduct post-mortem examinations to help solve crimes and identify unknown health problems and public health hazards.
The facility would help reduce the workload on the State Medical Examiner's Office in Bismarck and provide a educational opportunities for students at UND's School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
-- $640,000 for Turtle Mountain Community College in Belcourt, N.D., to develop and implement a Career and Technical Education Program to provide vocational and technical training to tribal residents of the Turtle Mountain Reservation and to help boost the economy.
