Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Bud Cramer (Ala.-05) announced today that on Thursday the House approved funding for North Alabama, which he secured in the Fiscal Year 2008 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill.

Representative Cramer, a member of the Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee, announced that he secured $231,000 for the Hudson-Alpha Institute of Biotechnology.  This funding is in addition to the $750,000 Cramer secured for the Institute in FY 2006.

“We are a step closer to providing needed funding to help North Alabama become a leader in the field of biotechnology,” says Cramer.

In addition, Representative Cramer and Representative Robert Aderholt (Ala.-04) together secured $150,000 for the establishment of a Robotics Center at Calhoun Community College.  The planned Robotics Center will serve as a national and international model providing hands-on instruction on robotics for various sectors including healthcare to those used in automotive manufacturing.

Cramer said, “Robotics are becoming increasingly sophisticated and capable of performing actions that will help improve our everyday lives.  This is true in the fields of medicine, the automotive industry, and many other areas that North Alabama pursues in economic development.  This funding will help set up a program locally in North Alabama that will help us better understand how these robotics systems work and the steps needed to keep them running efficiently.”

The Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee was established this year.  Its FY 2008 bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.