Issues
|
Appropriations Requests for 2010 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill Asian Criminal Enterprise Initiative - Funds to continue implementation of the Asian Criminal Enterprise Initiative for the City of Westminster. The Initiative focuses on identifying, investigating and dismantling criminal enterprises, having both national and international implications. National and international implications are evident in human trafficking, prostitution, drugs, weapons violations, gambling, fraud, counterfeiting, legal and illegal networks for money laundering, piracy, extortion and kidnapping. Even terrorism has been linked within this community. Amount requested: $290,200. Defense Appropriations bill California State University Strategic Language Initiative - Global crises have highlighted the critical need for strategic and diplomatic expertise in major world languages, as well as less spoken languages of global "hot spots." As the 9/11 Commission report stated, our intelligence community lacks sufficient translators proficient in Arabic and other key languages, which has resulted in a significant backlog of untranslated intercepts. In addition, the U.S. Departments of Defense and State called for a collaborative federal and academic effort to fill critical national foreign language shortfalls. The large heritage language communities in metropolitan areas like southern California represent a largely untapped resource for helping to meet these national security needs. Amount requested: $2,775,000. Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) Research - This continues a California State University Fullerton research project, which serves as a resource to the Department of Defense to study obesity. For soldiers over age 21, a staggering 58.4 percent are overweight, which impacts the overall health and readiness of our armed forces. PWS is the best characterized and most frequent known genetic cause of obesity, and the cause of the obesity is the same for all PWS individuals. This uniformity makes it an invaluable model to study and fully understand obesity in general. Amount requested: $2.5 million. Military Personnel Law Center - Funding would be used for Chapman University located in Orange, California. Chapman's Military Personnel Law Center would provide legal assistance to military families, combat wounded troops and veterans in civil disputes. California is home to 200,000 military families, yet no pro bono organization exists within California that is tailored to meet there needs. This center would fill that role. Amount requested: $500,000. Upper Newport Bay Ecosystem Restoration Project - Funding for Orange County would be used to continue the restoration of the Upper Newport Bay, one of the last remaining coastal wetlands in Southern California. This project was authorized by Congress in the Water Resources Development Act of 2000. However, Congress has not fulfilled its obligation to fund it. Amount requested: $13,098,000 to finish the project. Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill Vietnam Language and Culture Initiative. With the normalization of relations between the U.S. and Vietnam and the globalization of business activities, international trade and professional opportunities between the two countries are rapidly expanding. Yet even as this happens, the pool of bilingual and bicultural Vietnamese Americans ready to take advantage of the growing professional and entrepreneurial opportunities is shrinking. Cal State University, Fullerton is building upon existing intermediate level language courses to develop a full Bachelor’s Degree program, a Minor, and an International Business Sequence in Vietnamese Language and Culture designed to prepare students and others to take advantage of the rapidly growing business and professional opportunities. Graduates of the program would also be prepared to begin advanced training for international relations and diplomacy. Amount requested: $700,000. Center of the Advancement of Teaching and Learning in Mathematics and Science. One of the core drivers of innovation in the U.S. is its strength in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Yet, in an increasingly interconnected world, the U.S. has not been keeping pace with its economic competitors. Shifts in the international talent pool and in America’s role in global research and development are threatening U.S. ascendance in science and technology and, by extension, its ability to innovate. Since the 1960s, there has been a steady drop in math and science majors. This is occurring at a time when the number of jobs requiring math and science skills continues to grow. It is clear that new and improved ways of teaching and learning are needed to generate more mathematicians and scientists. The proposed center for Cal State University, Fullerton addresses this problem. Amount requested: $950,000. Orange County Youth Internet Safety Education Project - The Orange County Department of Education is seeking to implement an Internet safety program for all of Orange County. In fact, federal law requires all schools receiving E-Rate funding to implement Internet safety programs, but no funding has been provided to achieve this requirement. Amount requested: $698,929. Transportation-HUD Appropriations bill Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC) - ARTIC in the City of Anaheim will be the premier regional multimodal transportation hub in Orange County. It will move 45 million national and international travelers through the county. It will provide seamless access between all area rail transit, including the proposed California High Speed Rail alignment, the Anaheim to Ontario International Airport segment of the California-Nevada Interstate super speed rail project, intercity rail, and the Metrolink commuter rail. The project currently benefits from significant local commitment. This federal funding will be used for a preliminary engineering and environmental study of the project. Amount requested: $9 million. |
