SENS. SPECTER, CASEY ANNOUNCE FINAL APPROVAL OF SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA HEALTH, EDUCATION AND LABOR PROJECTS - US Fed News Service, Including US State News

The office of Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., issued the following news release:

U.S. Senators Arlen Specter, Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Bob Casey, the Junior Senator of Pennsylvania, announced today the full Congress has approved funding for several southeastern Pennsylvania health care, education and labor projects. The projects are contained in the Fiscal Year 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Bill.

'I am pleased that Congress has approved this important funding for southeastern Pennsylvania,' Senator Specter said. 'Health and education are our nation's greatest capital assets, and these projects are vital to ensuring quality health care and education for the area's residents.'

'This money is great news for southeastern Pennsylvania and I am pleased that the President has signed this funding into law,' said Senator Casey. 'I will continue working with Senator Specter to ensure residents of the area have access to quality health care and education.'

The Bill must now be signed by the President of the United States before funding is final.

Southeastern Pennsylvania projects in the bill include:

*House Members that also supported a project are indicated in parentheses

$486,352 for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Southeastern Pennsylvania for recruitment, placement, and oversight of school-based mentoring with the goal of decreasing truancy rates, increasing the rates at which students graduate to the next grade, decreasing student disciplinary referrals, and decreasing students' involvement with the juvenile justice system. This project is to be carried out in collaboration with the Philadelphia Public Schools.

$324,235 for United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania for recruitment, placement, and oversight of school-based mentoring with the goal of decreasing truancy rates, increasing the rates at which students graduate to the next grade, decreasing student disciplinary referrals, and decreasing students' involvement with the juvenile justice system. This project is to be carried out in collaboration with the Philadelphia Public Schools.

$527,619 for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Consortium of Higher Education to support the SEPCHE Institute of Mathematics and Science, including a summer program for K-12 math/science teachers and development of instructional materials for dissemination to K-12 classrooms. (Pat Murphy, Allyson Schwartz, Jim Gerlach)

$162,117 for Albert Einstein Healthcare Network for college students health screening programs.

$162,117 for Temple University Health System to renovate the physical infrastructure of Temple University Hospital - Episcopal Campus.

$449,016 for Thomas Jefferson University Breast Cancer Center to develop a comprehensive breast cancer center, including construction and renovation associated with screening mammography and MRI equipment. (Bob Brady)

$162,117 for University of Pennsylvania to establish a National Center for Therapeutic Excellence to assist the FDA, through the development of new tools and methods, to lower the cost of drug discovery and the time to take a drug to market.

$120,851 for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for equipment that provides non-invasive, 4-dimensional imaging of the brain to detect developmental disorders, including Autism.

$120,851 for Fox Chase Cancer Center for equipment for the Biobank, a facility dedicated to the collection and distribution of human subject samples, along with supporting personal and family cancer history data.