'This Is Money... For Barracks Repairs': Mazie Hirono Slams Cost Of Military Border Deployments

6 months ago

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) asked military leadership about the cost of troop deployments to the Southern Border.

Transcript

00:00Senator Hirono. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know that Secretary Marks, I know you

00:08are fully aware of the importance of the training areas in Hawaii, particularly

00:12Pohakaloa and Dr. Waxman. You just noted how important that training area is to

00:20our military in the Indo-Pacific. So I would want both of you to commit to

00:26continuing the kind of good-faith negotiations that we are engaged in to

00:30ensure that especially Pohakaloa remains as a necessary training area for our

00:38troops in Hawaii. Senator, not only my commitment, but I had a call just last

00:43evening with my Hawaii coordination cell as we continue to move all of the issues

00:48forward. So, yes, ma'am. Yes, Senator, I echo his comments. We have a cell as well in

00:54Hawaii work these issues. As you know, we can't formally negotiate until the

00:59records of decision are published, which the Army is currently planning to do in

01:02August, but we absolutely will commit to engaging with the local Hawaiian

01:05population and local government and other local interest groups to make sure that

01:08they're all being heard. As we know, there are some challenges to these

01:10negotiations, not to mention that they the fact that one of the state agencies did

01:16not to okay the EIS. So the good thing is I believe that the governor is very

01:21interested in moving forward, working in good faith with all of you. So recent

01:29reporting revealed that a billion dollars, as I mentioned, the facility

01:33sustainment, restoration, and modernization funds will be moved from

01:37repairing and maintaining facilities. And as I noted, there are something like in

01:42the order of over 200 billion in deferred maintenance needs. So, you know, this is money

01:49that's supposed to go to for barracks and barracks repair, but instead they're being

01:56diverted to activities on the southwest border. Secretary Marks and Dr. Waxman, can

02:02you explain how you plan to ensure the soldiers are living in safe and adequate

02:07barracks in light of this decrease in funding to the tune of about one billion

02:13dollars and possibly more? And have you determined how this will impact the Army's

02:19maintenance backlog? So Senator, thank you for that. We, of course, all remain very

02:24committed to that and to the health and well-being of all of our service

02:29members. But what most of that money was originally things that had not fully

02:34executed, and we are restoring that into the 26. But I'll defer to Dr. Waxman in

02:39terms of the exact nature in which that was done. Yes, as Secretary Marks said, we

02:44did not pull any funding from any projects that were already being spent on. It

02:48was money that had not already been assigned. You are correct that we have a

02:51very bad backlog of maintenance that we have to fix. And so what we're trying to

02:55do is to try to buy that back as best as we can in FY26. The FY26 FSRM budget for

03:01the Army is going to be 25% higher than it was even in FY24. And so my

03:05instructions to the team has been to not forget any of these actions that we were

03:08going to do and to make sure that everything is getting funded that need

03:11to get funded. So the fact of the matter is that the DOD has decided that it is

03:17going to assist Homeland Security and various immigration enforcement programs.

03:23Now, this is being done without reimbursement and the DOD can ill afford for

03:29any of these monies that should go to things like barracks restoration and repair.

03:33can ill afford any of this kind of diversion. So we will be watching to see

03:39how you're going to make up the difference. And in fact, Dr. Waxman, over

03:44three weeks ago, this committee asked the Army for a comparison of what facility

03:51sustainment, restoration and modernization projects were planned for fiscal year 25

03:57compared to what has been executed to date. And we have not received this

04:02information. And when can we expect this information from you?

04:07Senator, that's a fair question. We have just really finalized all those numbers

04:11internally. We're getting ready to pull that together. And I make a commitment to

04:14you that we will get that to you as soon as we have it finalized and ready for release.

04:18Okay, we're going to hold you to that time timeline soon. Ms. Johnson-Turner, you noted

04:26that some 14 Navy barracks have been renovated. That's good news. I visited

04:32Arizona Hall, a Navy enlisted barracks at Joint Base Pearl Harbor. The facility is

04:38dated, lacks central air conditioning. In fact, I know that the Air Force doesn't even

04:42let is unaccompanied airmen in places that are not air conditioned. But yet the Navy has

04:51this facility that is not air conditioned. And that is not some kind of a luxury, because

04:57it's pretty tough to be in a place that's not air conditioned. So I found out that the restoration

05:04costs for this barrack, these barracks is $10 million. That seems eminently doable. So I'd like to know,

05:12from you, what is the plan? And when can I expect the renovation of Arizona Hall to begin?

05:18Senator Hirono, I appreciate the question. As noted, unaccompanied housing remains a priority

05:27for the Department of the Navy and appreciate your attention to and support for the Department

05:33of the Navy. Specific to Arizona Hall, we did have sailors that were moved out of that facility

05:39about a year ago, thanks to we are moving forward with a structural assessment, although the building

05:48is wholly vacant, which we expect to receive those results this this summer.

05:54So is there $10 million being requested to complete the renovation of Arizona Hall?

06:00Senator, I will have to get back to you on the specific amount. I think part of it was now that the facility is vacated,

06:07and there is no sailors or other service members residing, was to get the structural assessment

06:13and determine next steps.

06:14You may not have the specific amount, but can you tell me if this is happening in this budget?

06:20I will look forward to getting back to you, Senator, in short order.

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'This Is Money... For Barracks Repairs': Mazie Hirono Slams Cost Of Military Border Deployments

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