EASTERN WASHINGTON: Murray Announces $3 Million in Job-Creating Defense Contracts for Eastern Washington in the FY08 Defense Appropriations Bill

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) today announced that she has included $50 million in federal defense work for Washington state companies in the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Appropriations bill.  Murray, who serves on the Senate Defense Appropriations Sub-Committee, helped pass the bill out of the full Senate Appropriations Committee today.  The bill will next move to the Senate floor. 

"This funding will allow Washington state companies to provide our men and women in the military with the best equipment available," Murray stated.  "We need to do everything we can to help bring our soldiers home safely, and investing in these technologies is a critical step forward.  Washington state companies are at the forefront of research and development and they will continue to provide our military with the state of the art equipment they need."

Projects Funded in Eastern Washington

High-Pressure/Microwave MRE Processing

Avure Technologies, Kent and WSU, Pullman

$2 million

The Army and a consortium of industry and academic researchers are developing new food preservation technologies to improve the quality and variety of combat food rations.  High-pressure processing (HPP) improves the freshness, shelf life, and taste of food to deployed forces worldwide.  This technology can also be used to provide high-quality, non-refrigerated food for disaster relief and other emergencies.  These funds will help the consortium move this program from the design stage to the demonstration and manufacturing phase.  

High Energy Matter Space Propulsion Initiative  

WSU, Pullman

$1 million

The High Energy Matter Space Propulsion Initiative will continue basic and applied research in space propulsion systems.  This research program studies the process of harnessing the power created by positron energy conversion.  Positrons would be the fuel of choice for space propulsion in extremely remote locations where transporting the weight of other fuels is impractical and solar energy is unavailable.  Researchers from Washington State University’s Center for Materials Research will explore this revolutionary idea for space propulsion in conjunction with the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command.