By Jim Myers
Tulsa World
Section: A13
05/02/2008

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Thursday that a major defense bill would authorize $90 million to build armed forces reserve centers in Broken Arrow and Muskogee.

Approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee, the measure also includes $2 million for the University of Tulsa's Institute for Information Security.

Inhofe, R-Okla., said he hopes that the actual dollars for the two reserve centers -- $67 million for the Broken Arrow facility and $23 million for the one planned in Muskogee -- will be included in a spending bill later this year.

Centers in Enid, McAlester, Norman, western Oklahoma City and Fort Sill already have been funded.

Funding for the Institute for Information Security at TU is designed to build upon previous work by the Center for Information Security and capitalize on TU's expertise to pursue new solutions to combat cyberterrorism and secure critical defense assets.

Inhofe identified a number of Oklahoma projects in the bill that total more than $350 million.That includes $1 million for bomb-line modernization at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, $500,000 for explosives deactivation research at Oklahoma State University, and millions more for work at the state's major military facilities.

"This bill is a victory for Oklahoma, and I am pleased to see our troops and their families benefit from the hard work they do in defense of our nation," Inhofe said.

A veteran member of the Senate committee, Inhofe said he added sev eral amendments: to establish a Traumatic Extremity Injury and Amputee Center of Excellence, to require the Pentagon to provide a report on nutritional care for wounded troops, and to establish a paternity leave policy for new fathers.

"These efforts represent real-world solutions for our veterans, troops and their families," he said.

Inhofe said the bill would provide a 3.9 percent across-the-board pay raise for service members.