Bishop pleased with passage of bill that includes $39 million for Fort Benning

Congressman Sanford D. Bishop Jr. said Thursday he is pleased with the passage by the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs of the first of 12 spending bills that the House will consider for FY2018 appropriations.

According to a press release, included in that bill is $28 million for a Fort Benning training support facility and $10.8 million for a Fort Benning air traffic support tower.

Bishop, who represents Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District, is a senior member of the committee.

“Today the appropriations committee came together in a bipartisan fashion to meet the needs of our service members, veterans and their families,” Bishop said in the release.

“The bill takes several steps to provide the Armed Forces with the facilities needed to support our service members and their families wherever they work, train and live. I am pleased that the bill provides a total of $202.9 million toward military construction in Georgia.”

A few of the other items in the bill concerning Georgia are $51 million for the Fort Gordon access control and instructional facilities, $17.7 million for the Fort Gordon Naval Operational Support Center, and $32 million for the Robins Air Force Base consolidated mission complex.

The bill includes $43.3 million in funding to repair damage to the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Ga.

As for veterans affairs, the bill includes $78.329 billion in discretionary funding, which is $3.9 billion above the 2017 level and $383.9 million below President Trump’s request.

This story was originally published June 15, 2017 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Bishop pleased with passage of bill that includes $39 million for Fort Benning."