Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (TX-26) secured $17,377,000 in appropriations funding for local projects in North Texas in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2005. The measure included spending levels for nine appropriations bills (Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-State, Energy and Water, Foreign Operations, Interior, Labor-Health and Human Services, Legislative Branch, Transportation-Treasury, and Veterans Affairs-Housing and Urban Development). The appropriations process is an annual activity wherein Members of Congress vote upon spending levels for 13 separate bills. Four of the thirteen bills were passed under separate votes. Once Congress approves a conference report (a bill where both House of Representatives and Senate versions of a bill are blended), the bill is then sent to the President for his signature. “The appropriations process is strenuous, but I am pleased to have doubled the amount of federal funding I could bring back to the people of the 26th District in 2005. As the only Texas Republican Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I am particularly honored to secure $1 million in much needed funds for widening I-35 East between FM 2181 and Lake Lewisville in Denton County and $4 million for a runway extension at Alliance Airport,” stated Congressman Michael Burgess. Below is a detailed listing of the funding allocations passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Transportation-Treasury $4 million Alliance Airport runway extension $1.75 million City of Fort Worth Peach Street Area Access Improvements $1 million Interstate 35 East Expansion Labor-HHS $250,000 University of North Texas (UNT) Regional Center for Advanced Scientific Computing and Modeling Program $250,000 Denton Independent School District (ISD) for English Language Instruction Energy and Water $2.834 million Grapevine Lake $3.832 million Lewisville Dam $1.061 million Lake Ray Roberts $950,000 Upper Trinity River Basin VA-HUD $250,000 UNT Texas Institute for Environmental Assessment and Management $200,000 Denton Downtown Redevelopment project for downtown square improvements Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education $300,000 UNT will receive funds for Laboratory Experience and Development of Early Researchers $250,000 UNT and Paul Quinn College will receive funds for a Science and Math (SAM) Teacher Academy [with Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30)] Veterans Affairs-Housing and Urban Development $250,000 Texas Institute for Environmental Assessment and Management at UNT for watershed research $200,000 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Economic Development Initiative (EDI) Program for infrastructure for downtown development (Denton, TX)