WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Kit Bond announced Thursday that the Stars and Stripes Museum and Library in Bloomfield is on a short list of Southeast Missouri projects to be included in federal funding for the next fiscal year. Bond announced he has secured the Senate Appropriations Committee's approval for $89 million in federal funding for a large number of high-priority Missouri projects and needs. Included in that funding is $250,000 for the Stoddard County museum. In addition, other Southeast Missouri projects on the list sponsored by Bond are $5 million for improvements to Highway 67, and $1,000,000 for the NASA Education Resource Center Outreach Project at Southeast Missouri State University. "This is an $89 million investment that will create good-paying jobs throughout Missouri," said Bond, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "My job in Washington is to get help for Missouri and this $89 million does exactly that."

According to Bond district office manager Tom Schulte, the funds for the local museum will be used to assist in the acquisition of microfilm for the complete collection of the military newspaper and to make that microfilm available for public access. In addition, Shulte reports the funding is slated to be used by the museum to purchase equipment to preserve the historic World War II photography of Phil Stern, a renowned photographer for the Darby Rangers in North Africa and for the Stars & Stripes newspaper. Bond is Missouri's senior senator and is now in his third term after having served the state previously during two terms as governor. He has used his Senate Appropriations Committee position over the years to direct hundreds of millions of dollars to high priority Missouri health, housing, education, science, environmental, law enforcement, public safety and transportation projects.

The money secured by Bond and approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee is contained in three of the 13 federal spending bills for the next fiscal year which begins October 1, 2003. The bills provide appropriations for the Veterans, Housing, Transportation, Commerce, State and Justice Departments. The legislation must still be approved by the full Senate and approved by the House of Representatives before becoming law with the President's signature.