Heinrich Approves Additional Funding For Construction Project At WSMR
This effort is made possible by Senator Heinrich’s new role as Chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee overseeing military construction
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies, approved a request from the Department of Defense to reprogram $13 million in additional funding to replace an outdated testing and evaluation facility at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). Overall, the project will bring a construction project valued at over $50 million to southern New Mexico.
In 2018, Senator Heinrich, secured the original authorization of funding for the WSMR project in the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. Senator Heinrich denounced the Trump administration’s plans to divert the funding in 2019 to pay for the ill-advised border wall, and has since pressed military officials to see that the project moves forward.
“The Information Systems Facility project at White Sands Missile Range is the first major military construction project in direct support of testing and evaluation at White Sands in nearly 20 years,” said Heinrich. “In my new role as chairman, I have the responsibility to review and approve reprogramming requests. It was an honor to use that responsibility to ensure this much-needed facility can replace an outdated complex built in 1962. It will directly allow White Sands to better use their current information technology by consolidating existing systems into a single state of the art, purpose-built facility.”
Consolidating information systems at WSMR will significantly improve their ability to develop and test next generation weapon systems like directed energy and hypersonics, while also providing the infrastructure necessary for future modernization and expansion.
In his new capacity as chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees military construction projects, Senator Heinrich will support additional funding for projects in New Mexico, while providing oversight of U.S. military installations across the country and around the globe.
