Chinook expenditures approved by House and Senate
U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-5 of Swarthmore, pointed out some appropriations in the budget that would have direct impact here in Delco, including approval of the Chinook Block II and support for Cheyney University.
Regarding the Ridleybuilt Chinook, Scanlon said, “The funding has passed both the House and the Senate. It’s waiting for the president’s signature.”
Earlier this year, Army Under Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy announced a decision to delay upgrades to the Chinook that would improve its range and lift ability in favor of technological modernization in areas like air defense and electronic warfare.
The CH-47F Chinook has been the workhouse of the military dating back to the Korean War. While it has undergone multiple upgrades over the decades, it became heavier and bulkier as more armor was added. The Block II upgrades are meant to address these issues with advanced rotor blades, redesigned fuel tanks, a sturdier fuselage and an improved drivetrain.
Upgrades to the fleet of 542 Chinooks would provide more than 2,000 additional lift-pounds of transport and allow the Chinook to stay in service for decades.
On the House floor earlier this year, Scanlon had said the Chinook program supports more than 20,000 jobs and more than 200 suppliers in 28 states. She had also sent letters out to the House Armed Services and Defense Appropriations committees in support of the project. She said delaying the Block II production by five years would result in production being reduced by 67 percent, causing the loss of more than 1,000 skilled jobs while driving costs up $3.2 billion.
The congresswoman also noted that the budget includes $500,000 to support Cheyney University.
Last month, the Thornbury university - the oldest historically black college in the United States - had been granted accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
This comes after the Middle States Accreditation Commission had placed the university on probation in 2015.
Cheyney had seen years of declining enrollment with its low at 620 undergraduate students and curtailed programs while struggling with major financial issues since at least
2009.
In August, the university announced it had submitted a report to the commission that showed it had raised $4 million through various partnerships to balance the budget for the first time in nearly a decade and would end the year with a
$2 million surplus. After formerly having an open enrollment, Cheyney University now limits its enrollment to 50 percent with the average high school GPA of 3.0.