{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://case.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2303", "U.S. House Passes Annual Defense Bill Authorizing $1.7 Billion In Construction Projects For Hawai\u2018i", "2023-12-14", "2023", "2023-12", "Democrat", "House", "HI", "Ed Case", "C001055", "case.house.gov", "case", "https://case.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27&Page=11", "scraper", "(Washington, DC) \u2013 Congressman Ed Case (HI-01) announced that the full U.S. House has approved the $886 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), including his priorities on strengthening America\u2019s national security interests in the Indo-Pacific, boosting Hawaii\u2019s economy and continuing to improve the relationship between the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the local community.\n\n\u201cThe 2024 NDAA authorizes another $1.7 billion in construction projects in Hawai\u2018i that will boost both our national defense preparedness and local economy,\u201d said Case, a member of the House Committee on Appropriations and of its Subcommittee on Defense.\n\n\u201cThe bill also advances Hawaii\u2019s critical role in our country\u2019s efforts to increase our presence throughout the Indo-Pacific. It further includes several provisions which I authored and advanced that require the DoD to strengthen communications and partnerships with, and support to, our local community at a critical juncture for our military-civilian relationship.\u201d\n\n\u00b7 Requiring the Secretary of Defense to (1) review federal programs and services available to individuals exposed to petroleum and submit a report on impacted individuals from the Red Hill fuel contamination and (2) assess the feasibility of an epidemiological study or studies to assess outcomes for individuals impacted by the Red Hill incident. These efforts will support ongoing work to establish a registry for those impacted by the fuel leak. This provision is based on legislation authored and introduced by Senator Brian Schatz and Congressman Case that was also cosponsored by Senators Mazie K. Hirono and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Congresswoman Jill Tokuda.\n\n\u00b7 Directing the military to issue a report on efforts to renew training land leases in the State of Hawai\u2018i. The bill includes a related provision sponsored by Congresswoman Jill Tokuda to create a senior official responsible for coordinating lease negotiations between the services and the State of Hawai\u2018i.\n\n\u00b7 Amending DoD\u2019s Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative (REPI) to ensure that services can coordinate more closely together on conservation projects which could affect multiple installations. In 2023 alone, REPI will provide $10 million of DoD funding for projects in Hawai\u2018i, which will be coupled with $18 million in partner contributions. REPI provides a strong opportunity for the military and local community to partner together to protect our land and ocean for future generations.\n\n\u00b7 Allowing additional federal agencies to join the Sentinel Landscape Program, which makes it easier for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to participate in effort to help private landowners to advance sustainable land management practices around Pacific Missile Range Facility.\n\n\u00b7 Directing the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs to brief Congress on plans to assess and develop further Civic Action Teams (CATs) in the Pacific Islands. The military currently has a highly effective and welcomed CAT stationed in Palau working on community projects, apprenticeship training, vehicle maintenance, medical support and construction. (Case is a Co-Chair of the Congressional Pacific Islands Caucus whose focus is on strengthening relationships with our Pacific \u2018ohana.)\n\n\u00b7 Modifying the Pilot Program to Develop Young Civilian Defense Leaders in the Indo-Pacific to also include civilians working for ministries with a security mission so that Pacific Island countries without militaries can participate.\n\nThe bill also includes several provisions to continue the military\u2019s investment in Hawai\u2018i:\n\n\u00b7 The bill would require each DoD installation that has an Indian Tribe, Native Hawaiian Organization or Tribal interests in the area surrounding the installation to have an indigenous person as liaison.\n\n\u00b7 The legislation establishes a special account to receive funding from the Australian government to support the AUKUS agreement under which the United States will assist Australia in building nuclear submarines. A senior Australian official has said Australian government plans to invest up to $3 billion into the U.S. shipyards, to include the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, as part of the AUKUS arrangement.\n\n\u00b7 The military is required to develop a comprehensive strategy for developing, acquiring and establishing an integrated air and missile defense systems for the Indo-Pacific. It specifically includes building the ability to identify and intercept missile threats to the Hawaiian Islands. To assist in oversight of these efforts, the bill requires the submission of an annual report to Congress outlining: (1) the activities conducted and progress made in developing and implementing the strategy over the previous year, (2) the planned activities for developing and implementing the strategy in the upcoming year, and (3) a description of likely risks and impediments to the successful implementation of the strategy.\n\n\u00b7 The bill authorizes the Navy to divest its electrical utility operations at Kalaeloa. Due to various legal restrictions, the Navy is not allowed to bring the electrical grid up to Navy standards because it does not serve any Navy facilities, thus hampering the further redevelopment of Kalaeloa for needed commercial and housing capacity.\n\n\u00b7 The military must conduct a housing requirement and market analysis for military installations in Hawai\u2018i and report on impacts to Hawaii\u2019s affordable housing supply and private rental market.\n\n\u00b7 The bill makes the Defense Community Infrastructure Pilot permanent. This program provides grants to support community infrastructure projects that benefit military installations and those who live near military bases. In 2022, Hawai\u2018i received $2.5 million through this program to work with the Department of Land and Natural Resources to construct a new firefighting and conservation warehouse to improve wildfire response and enable maintenance and repair of firefighting vehicles. The military wants to continue to use this program to help Hawai\u2018i in future years.\n\n\u00b7 The measure directs the Government Accountability Office to submit a report assessing the state of ongoing testing and remediation by the DoD of current or former military installations contaminated with perfluoroalkyl substances or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).\n\n\u00b7 DoD is authorized to transfer as much as $5 million to the Health and Human Services Department to assess the health implications of PFAS in drinking water.\n\nThe bill authorizes further or continued construction projects in Hawai\u2018i with a combined value of $1.7 billion. This includes two projects specifically requested and secured by Case \u2013 clearwell and booster pumps upgrades at Fort Shafter ($23 million) and commencement of the construction process for building at new air traffic control tower at Wheeler Army Airfield. Below is the full list of projects:\n\n\u00b7 Joint Base Pearl Harbor- Hickam, Dry Dock Replacement Project, $1.3 billion\n\n\u00b7 Marine Corps Base Hawai\u2018i, Water Reclamation Facility Compliance Upgrades, $135 million\n\n\u00b7 Joint Base Pearl Harbor- Hickam, Military Privatized Housing Investments, $75 million\n\n\u00b7 Joint Base Pearl Harbor- Hickam, Waterfront Production Facility Planning and Design Funds, $60 million\n\n\u00b7 Helemano Military Reservation, Wells and Storage Tanks, $33 million\n\n\u00b7 Schofield Barracks, Water Storage Tank, $21 million\n\n\u00b7 \u0100liamanu Military Reservation, Water Storage Tank, $20 million\n\n\u00b7 Fort Shafter, Clearwell and Booster Pumps, $23 million\n\n\u00b7 Schofield Barracks, Elevated Tank and Distribution Lines, $16 million\n\n\u00b7 Joint Base Pearl Harbor- Hickam, Waste Water Treatment Plant, $15 million\n\n\u00b7 Joint Base Pearl Harbor- Hickam, Primary Electrical Distribution Upgrades, $13 million\n\n\u00b7 Joint Base Pearl Harbor- Hickam, 500 KW PV Covered Parking Electric Vehicle Charging Station, $7.5 million\n\n\u00b7 Wheeler Army Airfield, Air Traffic Control Tower Planning and Design Funds, $5.4 million\n\nThe bill continues the DoD\u2019s reinvestment in the Indo-Pacific. For example, the bill includes provisions to:\n\n\u00b7 Authorize $14.7 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, aimed at countering China;\n\n\u00b7 Establish an Indo-Pacific Campaigning Initiative to deter military aggression by potential adversaries against the U.S. and allies in the region;\n\n\u00b7 Authorize $1.3 billion for campaigning activities in the Indo-Pacific, which is $508 million above the President\u2019s budget request;\n\n\u00b7 Create a plan for enhancing security cooperation with Japan;\n\n\u00b7 Establish a comprehensive training, advising and institutional capacity building program for the military forces of Taiwan, an effort the Hawai\u2018i National Guard has long supported;\n\n\u00b7 Create a Senate-confirmed Special Envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum, the central multilateral organization of the Pacific Islands;\n\n\u00b7 Authorize the DoD to sell up to three Virginia-class submarines to Australia in support of the AUKUS agreement; and\n\n\u00b7 Establishes an \"Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness Initiative\" with allies and partners of the United States in the Indo-Pacific, including Australia, Japan and India.\n\nOther key provisions include:\n\n\u00b7 A 5.2 percent pay raise for military personnel.\n\n\u00b7 An increase to the number of service members and military families who may qualify for the Basic Needs Allowance (BNA) by authorizing the Secretaries of the military departments to exclude the Basic Allowance for Housing from their gross household income in certain instances. The BNA helps military households better afford basic needs.\n\n\u00b7 Providing access to commissaries and morale, welfare and recreation programs for remarried Gold Star Spouses.\n\n\u00b7 Expanding access to family and medical leave for veterans working as federal employees by allowing them to take Family and Medical Leave Act Leave, including paid parental leave, sooner.\n\n\u00b7 A $300 million authorization for security assistance to help fortify Ukraine\u2019s military after nearly two years of fighting against the Russian invasion. That is separate from the tens of billions of dollars in aid requested by President Biden.\n\n*Text of the FY 2024 NDAA is here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://case.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2303"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5274989418685436, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}