The U.S. Senate voted 97-0 today to approve the $390.2 billion  FY2006 Defense Appropriations Bill, that includes more than $100 million for defense-related research and development in New Mexico.
Also part of the bill is a provision written by Sens. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., that prohibits the Pentagon from withdrawing any of its assets from Cannon Air Force Base near Clovis until the Secretary of Defense certifies to Congress that he has sought a new mission for the base.
The Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted in August to put Cannon on "enclave" status, giving the Secretary of Defense until 2009 to come up with a new mission for Cannon and if no new mission were found, the base would be closed.
But the BRAC Commission also approved the Pentagon's request to move all the F-16 fighters from Cannon to other bases.
"This provision will, by law, keep the F-16s at Cannon and trigger a process wherein the Pentagon must steadfastly search for a new use for the base," Domenici said in a statement.
"I am very glad the Senate is on record supporting this initiative and I have high hopes that it will end up in the bill that will be signed into law," said Bingaman in a joint statement with Domenici.
Domenici, a member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, will serve on the conference committee that will resolve differences between the Senate and House versions of the bill before it is sent on to the president.
 

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