WASHINGTON, D.C. (South Dakota Searchlight) – U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, said a stopgap spending bill to reopen the federal government includes $21.9 million worth of funding he requested for projects in South Dakota.

The spending bill incorporates the full-year appropriations bills for the Agriculture Department, the Legislative Branch, military construction projects and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

Rounds said those bills include seven of his congressionally directed spending requests, also known as earmarks. Four of those are for construction projects at Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City to accommodate the future addition of B-21 bomber planes, which are under development:

$4.8 million for planning and design for a Weapons Generation Facility Dormitory.

$3.5 million for planning and design of a Communications Center.

$4 million for 11 new munitions storage structures.

$5.4 million for two other munitions storage structures.

Rounds’ other earmarks are:

$1.7 million for an aircraft maintenance hangar at Joe Foss Field in Sioux Falls.

$2 million for South Dakota State University’s Cottonwood Field Station renovation and expansion in western South Dakota.

$500,000 for SDSU’s Transient Animal Research Support Facility.

The spending bill passed the Senate on Monday night, with yes votes from Rounds and Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota. The House is expected to clear the legislation for President Donald Trump’s signature later this week, which would end the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.

Rounds issued a statement saying “it’s now time to move forward and continue working on our regular order appropriations process, but we can’t ignore the devastating effect that six weeks of a government shutdown has had on our nation.” He said thousands of federal workers have gone without pay, millions of families have had the federal benefits they use to feed their children put at risk and the nation’s air travel system has been thrown into chaos.

“It’s my hope that these families who have suffered real damaging effects can move forward with their lives,” Rounds said. “We must work hard in the Senate to prevent a shutdown like this from happening again.”