Politics & Government

Sikorsky Awarded Billions in Defense Spending

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro voted for the bill but said it's time for the troops to leave Afghanistan.

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-3) voted last week in support of the $649 billion defense appropriations bill, bringing billions of dollars in projects to Sikorsky Aircraft and ensuring that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue.

The bill passed the House of Representatives 336-87 and DeLauro said it’s time for the troops to come back home.

“President Obama has made it clear that while he supports reducing the number of troops there over time, I do not believe that he has gone far enough. It is time to end this war, the longest in American history, and time to bring our brave men and women home,” she said in a statement.

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During the drafting of the legislation, California congresswoman Barbara Lee proposed an amendment that would end the military operations in Afghanistan, and DeLauro said she would have voted in favor of this amendment had she not being chairing a committee meeting on the debt ceiling at the time. The amendment failed 97-322.

In the statement, DeLauro said the money appropriated for Connecticut “boosts job creation and economic growth in our state.”

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“I voted for this bill today not as an endorsement of all the funding and policy decisions included in the bill, but to support our brave men and women in uniform," she said in a statement. "This bill will ensure that our troops get the funding and support they need and deserve, as well as ensure their families are taken care of.”

Sikorsky Aircraft

Description Cost of project 71 Army Black Hawk Helicopters $1.3 billion 18 Navy Black Hawk Helicopters $401 million 24 Navy Black Hawk Helicopters (different model) $780 million Training, Development of Heavy Lift Helipcopter $624 million

Pratt and Whitney, Middletown

Description of Project Cost of Project 19 Air Force F-35 Fighters $3.3 billion 7 Navy F-35 Fighters $1.4 billion 6 Marine F-35 Fighters $1.1 billion 1 C-17 $225 million


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