FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 16, 2004

Schumer Clinton: Key Senate Panel Approves $7.6 Million For Fort Hamilton

Funding part of Department of Defense Military Construction Appropriations approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee

Washington, DC – Senators Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton announced today that a Senate panel had given preliminary approval for $7.6 million for the military police station at the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn. The funding will be used for the construction of a new headquarters for the Provost Marshal and Military Police.

The news came as the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2005 Department of Defense Military Construction bill yesterday afternoon. With the bill’s passage by the Senate Appropriations Committee, the bill will now be sent to the Senate floor. The bill must then go into conference with the House version before being approved by Congress.

“Throughout history, from when the English seized its land to take New Amsterdam from the Dutch, to the Battle of Long Island in the to the Revolutionary War, to the Civil War, to today, Fort Hamilton has always been a shield that protects New York City,” Senator Schumer said. “Now we are the target of attacks again, and this new Military Police station at Fort Hamilton is a badly needed addition to the post’s long history defending the City.”

“Fort Hamilton is critical to our national defense. There is no other federal installation left in New York City that is as available and as strategically located as Fort Hamilton,” Senator Clinton said. “This funding is a true vote of confidence in Fort Hamilton and a demonstration of just how important it is to New York City in the post 9-11 world,” Senator Clinton said.

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