WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies – today released the following statement regarding the addition of National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) funding priorities in the FY2018 omnibus package:

“I am pleased the FY2018 omnibus bill supports the future operations and success of NBAF. As the Department of Homeland Security works toward the completion of constructing NBAF in 2020, critical funding included in this bill will make certain that DHS maintains its investments in agro-defense research and works in close coordination with the Department of Agriculture as the potential transfer of the facility begins in FY2019. Congress has appropriated funds that ensure both federal agencies continue to value NBAF as a national asset and that the facility can continue down the path toward becoming a world-class, state-of-the-art facility.”

The FY2018 omnibus package:

• Directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to retain responsibility for the construction of NBAF;
• Fully funds NBAF operations in accordance with DHS’s life cycle cost estimate;
• Provides additional funding for NBAF in the execution of the Management, Operations, and Research Support contract;
• Includes an additional $126 million for the Science and Technology Directorate Research and Development Program and an additional $76 million in S&T Operations and Support.

 Text of the FY2018 omnibus can be found here, and NBAF language can be found on pages 76 and 78.

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