Jun 01, 2007 — In mid-June, Senator Hillary Clinton touted a vote in the Armed Services Committee that would funnel almost $350 million to the base. A week before that, Fort Drum got $357 million for construction projects. Administrators say $1.2 billion flowed through the base last year. The money is following the troops, according to Carl McLaughlin, Executive Director of the Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization. A whole new brigade--6,500 soldiers--was reassigned to the base in 2004, triggering new offices and training sites, as well as services and housing for soldiers and families. In January 2005, a housing forum estimated the community needed over 2,000 more homes for soldiers and families. McLaughlin told Jonathan Brown between on and off-base construction, that gap is being closed.