Funding for projects in the Tampa Bay area to advance electronic medical records, cancer research and brain injury are included in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2008.

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa) said in a release that the initiatives would improve basic health care for the underserved, veterans and working people in the Bay area.

Included in the bill is $3.5 million for University of South Florida's College of Public Health. The funding would expand electronic medical records, which Castor said have shown improve primary care.

The bill also includes $10 million for the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute. Florida is second only to California in the prevalence of cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, with the incidence highest among underserved populations, including low-income families, the elderly, African Americans and Hispanics, all prevalent in Castor's district, the release said.

Castor also successfully directed that a new Traumatic Brain Injury Research and Treatment initiative for the most critically wounded soldiers be created through a partnership between USF colleges of medicine, nursing and public health, and the James A. Haley VA Hospital.

The national Defense Authorization Act passed the U.S. House by a vote of 397-27. The bill also contains provisions to raise troop pay and increase benefits for the families of fallen service members.

President Bush has threatened to veto this legislation and has signaled his opposition to these provisions in a recent Statement of Administration Policy, according to a release from democratic leaders, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.