Hoyer Secured $5.2 Million in Federal Funds for Facility
SOUTHERN MARYLAND - Congressman Steny Hoyer today toured the Special Communications Requirements Facility at St. Inigoes. Congressman Hoyer secured $5.2 million in federal funding for this facility which supports the work St. Inigoes does providing mobile communications equipment to warfighters in all branches of the military.
"Coordinating a major emergency or disaster requires that many departments and agencies are working together to resolve an incident," said Congressman Hoyer. "For this coordination to be effective, all of the parties involved must be able to communicate so they can discuss how and where to send resources and provide direction to those in the field.
"This facility will provide our first responders and our military with the superior communications equipment they must have in the event of an emergency. The vans we are observing today have all of the sophisticated communications equipment such as video teleconferencing, email, wireless communication and secure phone lines that our law enforcement and military officials would need to be able to rely on in order to communicate with one another when other options may be compromised."
Congressman Hoyer secured $5.2 million in fiscal year 2002 to build the Special Communications Requirements Integration Facility, a 20,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility that will be the home to the development of self-sustaining mobile communications technology and equipment. Congressman Hoyer was able to observe vehicles that will serve as mobile communications backup centers and will be available to the U.S. Government as a means of communicating in the event of an emergency.
"This project illustrates the important and unique work being done at St. Inigoes that is redefining mobile communications technology and providing a critical service to federal agencies who face the challenges of interoperability. The work being done at this facility is critical to meeting the everyday needs of local, state and federal officials who must operate in urgent situations. The equipment being produced here will be used by the military on the ground, in the air and at sea, and by domestic protection agencies all over the United States. I am proud to work with them in providing the resources they need to produce advanced technology while on the move," concluded Hoyer.