Honolulu Reporter

(Washington, DC) – Congressman Ed Case’s (HI-01) U.S. House Committee on Appropriations today approved the first of twelve bills that will collectively fund the federal government for FY 2024 (commencing October 1, 2023).

The FY 2024 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations bill proposes to fund construction and maintenance of our defense facilities throughout the country and world, our national cemeteries and battle monuments, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and various small agencies and programs supporting our nation's some 19 million veterans and their families. The discretionary funding level is $170.4 billion, an increase of almost $20 billion over the FY 2023 enacted level.

“This is for me a mixed result,” said Case. “The measure funds many critical national, Indo-Pacific and Hawai‘i priorities for our military infrastructure and veterans which I support. But I regrettably had to vote against it overall because it proposes $1.5 billion in cuts to critical military construction projects, shortchanges dedicated funding for PFAS cleanup, eliminates climate and military base resiliency efforts, rejects important VA infrastructure funding, and rejects diversity advancement initiatives.”

The bill includes a number of priorities critical to veterans in Hawai‘i, such as improving Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) veterans’ access to mental health care and increasing outreach to AANHPI veterans. It also provides $138.1 billion for veterans’ medical care, including $5.5 billion for the Cost of War Toxic Exposure Fund, which provides funding for the landmark 2022 Honoring our PACT Act.

The Committee’s proposal also includes significant investments to improve our nation’s security in the Indo-Pacific. It provides $1.3 billion to continue construction of anew dry dock to replace a World War II era dry dock that will become obsolete once the Navy’s Los Angeles-class submarines are no longer in service. It also invests $131 million specifically for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command projects through the broader Indo-Pacific.

Through his assignment on the Committee, Case secured $5.4 million to improve the air traffic control tower at Wheeler Army Airfield as a Member-designated Community Project Funding (CPF) that specifically focus on local needs in Hawai‘i. The existing control tower no longer meets the current operational and safety requirements for airfield operations.

The value of this project extends beyond the critical operations of Wheeler Army Airfield to the local community and the Island of O‘ahu. Not only does the air traffic control tower support multiple types of rotary and fixed wing aircraft across the various military services, but it also monitors and supports surrounding commercial and recreational airspace operations to ensure smooth transitions in and around the airspace associated with the installation.

The House’s CPF rules require that each project must have demonstrated community support, must be fully disclosed by the requesting Member, and is subject to audit by the independent Government Accountability Office. Case’s disclosures are here: https://case.house.gov/services/funding-disclosures.htm. 

Military Construction

The bill provides $17.5 billion for Department of Defense (DoD) military construction and family housing, nearly $1 billion above the FY 2024 budget request.

The bill provides an additional $50 million for the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP), a $21 billion multi-year effort to upgrade the Navy’s four public shipyards.

This includes over $1.3 billion to construction a new dry dock at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Hawaii’s largest industrial employer with some 6,000 local employees.

“Keeping SIOP on track and fully funded is one of my top priorities on my Appropriations Committee,” said Case

Specific military construction programs and provisions requested and secured by Case include:

·        $1.4 billion for infrastructure related to the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and $131 million specifically for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command projects.

·        $548 million for the Energy Resiliency and Conservation Investment Program.

·        $73.1 million for Air National Guard and $73 million for Army National Guard unspecified minor military construction.

·        $1.9 billion for defense-wide military construction and family housing.

·        $50 million in planning and design funds for SIOP project, in addition to the $1.3 billion set aside for Pearl Harbor’s dry dock project.

·        Directing the DoD to address underfunded and dilapidated Army infrastructure on O‘ahu via the Hawai‘i Infrastructure Readiness Initiative. 

·        Directing the Government Accountability Office to conduct an audit and submit recommendations to improve the management and oversight of SIOP.

·        Directing the Navy to assess how to best utilize SIOP to prepare public shipyards for conflict.

·        Directing the Navy to develop a plan to address the infrastructure backlog on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

·        Requesting the results of the Defense Health Agency’s Hawai‘i Market Facilities Master Plan.

·        Directing the DoD to assess military construction and associated infrastructure needs to maximize the effectiveness of an enhanced posture in and alliance with the Philippines.

Veterans-Related Programs

The bill provides $152.5 billion for veterans-related programs, $16.5 billion above the FY 2024 budget request. It specifically includes $138.1 billion for veterans’ medical care, matching the FY 2024 budget request.

“With some 112,000 veterans in Hawai‘i and their families making up one of the largest percentages of any state in our nation including in such key areas like women and minority veterans, I focused especially on the often unique challenges of delivering full veterans’ health and other benefits in a diverse island state,” said Case.

The bill specifically includes $1.3 billion to meet the need for specific care for women veterans and support the Office of Women’s Health, including its childcare initiative. These funds will allow the VA to continue hiring women primary care providers and to increase the number of peer support specialists for women veterans. These efforts have become even more critical as the number of female veterans using VA health care services has increased.

Case’s committee included $5.5 billion for the Cost of War Toxic Exposure Fund, which provides funding to implement the Honoring our PACT Act. The PACT Act, which Case supported and helped enact into law, expands health care and benefits for more than five million servicemembers who were exposed to dangerous burn pit fumes, Agent Orange and other toxins during their service.

Other specific veterans-related programs and provisions requested and secured by Case include:

·        $287 million for the Board of Veterans Appeals, which is $2 million above the prior FY and requires quarterly reporting on all pending appeals.

·        $2.7 million for the Native American Veteran Housing Loan Program, which is $1.3 million above the FY 2023 enacted level.

·        $60 million for the VA Grants for the Construction of Veterans Cemeteries.

·        $715 million for opioid treatment and prevention efforts, which is $27 million above the FY 2023 enacted level.

·        $5.2 billion for Telehealth and Connected Care. This will continue expansion of telehealth services and includes additional mental health, primary care and rehabilitation services. 

·        $3.1 billion for Veterans’ Homelessness Program Resources for our nation’s veterans, an increase of $241 million above the FY 2023 enacted level. This funding will enhance homeless veterans service providers ability to provide high demand care such as health services, substance use disorder programs, compensated work therapy and other supportive services.

·        $110 million for the Veterans Justice Outreach and Legal Services for Veterans Programs.

·        $338 million for Rural Health Initiatives, which is equal to the President’s budget request. This will improve access and quality of care for the more than 3 million enrolled veterans residing in highly rural areas.

·        Directing the VA to build upon and establish new community partnerships with counseling and wellness providers and marriage and family therapy for veterans and their families.

·        Continuing rigorous reporting requirements to track each regional VA office’s performance on claims processing and appeals backlogs. 

·        Encouraging the VA to include veteran benefit usage into its annual suicide prevention report to enable a better understanding of the correlation between benefit use and suicide and allow for more effective programs to assist veterans.

·        Directing the VA to provide a report describing an outreach plan to extend the time limit for accepting initial and revised applications for a sufficient period to ensure all eligible, living WWII Filipino Veterans can apply for and receive the benefits they are entitled to receive.

·        Noting the success of the tiny home village model by multiple veterans service organizations and encourages VA to support this work and facilitate the creation of additional villages of tiny homes within VA’s existing Grants Per Diem program.

·        Requesting a report on a plan to improve access of AANHPI veterans to mental health care and increase outreach to AANHPI veterans who have a lower use of VA and non-VA mental health services.

·        Directing the Office of Rural Health to increase efforts to improve transportation mobility for veterans and to allocate funding to enhance rural access and transportation services and to ensure the new beneficiary travel system is user-friendly and that staff are trained to provide assistance.

·        Urging the VA to implement mandatory lethal means safety trainings for all VA employees who regularly interact with veterans to be prepared to have a conversation that could save a veteran’s life.

The bill now moves onto the full House of Representatives for consideration.

Attachments:

·         a video of Case speaking against an amendment which would in part reduce funding for the Pearl Harbor dry dock project is here.

·        a detailed report explaining the military construction and veterans funding bill is available here.

·        picture of the air traffic control tower at Wheeler Army Airfield. Courtesy U.S. Army Garrison Hawai‘i

Original source can be found here.