Federal spending bills include nearly $260M for Rome Lab, facility perimeter fence

ROME, N.Y. — A recently approved defense-spending bill includes more than $245 million for Rome Lab.

At the same time, a recently approved military-construction spending bill also provides more than $14 million for a perimeter fence at the Rome Lab facility.

Rome Lab is the locally known name for the Information Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory.

The more than $245 million component is part of the U.S. Senate’s fiscal year 2019 (FY19) defense-spending bill, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) said in a news release issued Wednesday.

The defense-spending bill is also “expected” to pass the U.S. House of Representatives “in the coming weeks,” the lawmakers said.

Schumer and Gillibrand explained that the FY19 funding level of $245.48 million is $32 million more than President Trump’s budget request for this year, and roughly $2 million more than the fiscal year 2018 total.

“Rome Lab is at the vanguard of the fight to counter hacking and other cyber threats in the United States, as well as an essential driver of the Central New York economy, and I am very pleased we secured this significant increase in federal funding to support its essential mission and the talented people that work there,” Schumer said in the news release. “Not only has Rome Lab delivered real results in developing and enhancing our nation’s cybersecurity infrastructure, but [it has] shown a commitment to employing local residents with good-paying jobs and partnering with local business to advance their work. I was proud of the role I played in securing this crucial funding, and will always fight to deliver Rome Lab with the resources they need to continue thriving.”

Perimeter fence

The perimeter-fence construction would comply with U.S. Department of Defense antiterrorism protection requirements, Schumer’s office said in an April 18 news release. The security fence around the perimeter of Rome Lab would be equipped with associated lighting, video surveillance, card controlled personnel entry-access gates, and visitor control entry point to mitigate threats from vehicle-born improvised devices.

Schumer said an adequate and secure location is required to “protect Rome-Lab personnel left vulnerable to potential terrorist-type activities, active shooters, and other criminal activity,” per the release.

About Rome Lab

One of Rome Lab’s primary focuses is gathering and processing cyber intelligence. Since 1997, it has been the U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) “Superlab” and is “considered the nation’s premier research organization” for command, control, communications, cyber and intelligence (C4I) technologies.

The lab focuses on developing information technology for air, space and ground systems, in addition to partnering with other federal agencies, universities, private industry, and other state and local governments.

Rome Lab is also a “source of growth” for the regional economy and a “major source” of employment, Schumer’s office said. The office cites the USAF’s 2017 economic impact analysis, Rome Lab employed over 1,200 workers with an annual payroll of $140 million and generated over $392 million in regional economic activity last year.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com