{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hirono.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senate-passes-national-defense-authorization-act-containing-over-10-billion-in-hirono-led-provisions-to-strengthen-national-security", "Senate Passes National Defense Authorization Act Containing Over $10 Billion in Hirono-Led Provisions to Strengthen National Security", "2025-10-10", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "HI", "Mazie K. Hirono", "H001042", "www.hirono.senate.gov", "hirono", "https://www.hirono.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, voted to pass the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the U.S. Senate, securing several key provisions for Hawaii and the Indo-Pacific region. As Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, the Senator has made modernizing Department of Defense (DOD) infrastructure in Hawaii and across the country a top priority. The Senate-passed NDAA includes numerous provisions secured by Senator Hirono focused on infrastructure; delivering for communities in Hawaii; supporting servicemembers and their families; and prioritizing sustainability within the DOD. The bill will now be conferenced with the NDAA passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year.\n\n\u201cInvestments in DOD infrastructure, military readiness, and support for our servicemembers are all crucial to bolstering our national security,\u201d said Senator Hirono. \u201cThis year\u2019s NDAA makes those critical investments, including funding to facilitate the permanent closure of Red Hill, as well as over $1.1 billion to support infrastructure projects in Hawaii. My provisions also prioritize the wellbeing of our servicemembers by securing raises for servicemembers and civilian employees, protecting workers from job cuts, and helping to reunite veterans with their family members. I\u2019ll continue working to advance these key priorities, and strengthen our defenses in the Indo-Pacific, while holding this regime accountable for its decisions that may threaten our international partnerships or hinder our national security.\u201d\n\nThe FY 2026 NDAA includes several of Senator Hirono\u2019s key priorities that will:\n\nDeliver for Hawaii:\n\nContinues the Hawaii delegation\u2019s work to safely and expeditiously close the Red Hill Fuel Facility by adding $35 million to support additional environmental restoration and remediation efforts and $5 million to continue ongoing community engagement as the Navy works to close the facility permanently by 2028.\n\nProvides $141.6 million for the next increment of funding for the new water treatment plant at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.\n\nGrants the Military Service Secretaries with additional flexible authorities to support the renegotiation of the training land leases in Hawaii.\n\nAdds $13 million above the President\u2019s budget for the Pacific Intelligence and Innovation Initiative (P3I), which creates a local skilled workforce to meet DOD demand for intelligence, IT, and cyber professionals in Hawaii.\n\n$2 million increase for the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC), which mitigates the large program cuts from the President's Budget.\n\n$50 million for the High-Performance Computing Modernization program and for additional infrastructure capability to support increased AI demand.\n\n$9 million to continue funding the transfer of Navy facilities and non-Navy customers off outdated Navy-owned electrical grid infrastructure at Kalaeloa (Barber\u2019s Point).\n\nPrevents the Navy from retiring or decommissioning oceanographic research vessels, including the KILO MOANA, a 186-foot multi-purpose oceanographic research vessel owned by the Navy and operated by the University of Hawaii.\n\nRequires President Trump\u2019s \u201cGolden Dome\u201d Missile Defense System to include the Defense of Hawaii.\n\nRequires the Secretary of Defense to develop a report and brief the Armed Services Committees on the Department\u2019s plan to increase accessibility and affordability for small businesses seeking to comply with the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program.\n\nInvest in Critical Infrastructure:\n\nInvests over $1.1 billion for military construction projects in Hawaii:\n\n$492.7 million for the next increment of funding for the Dry Dock 3 replacement at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.\n\n$65.7 million for airfield pavement upgrades at Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, Kauai.\n\n$141.6 million for the next increment of funding for the water treatment plant at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.\n\n$83 million for DDG-1000 destroyer ship support infrastructure upgrades at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.\n\n$49.26 million for the entry gate at Marine Corps Base Hawaii\n\n$94.25 million for Electrical Distribution Modernization at Marine Corps Base Hawaii\n\n$37.35 million for the next increment of funding for the water reclamation facility compliance upgrade at Marine Corps Base Hawaii\n\n$147.55 million for 460 Air Force housing units at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam\n\n$5 million in planning and design funds for a new Air Force Operations Building at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.\n\n$2.1 million in planning and design funds for a new Wildland Fire Station at Schofield Barracks.\n\nRequires each of the Military Service Secretaries to develop and annually update a 20-Year Infrastructure Improvement Plan.\n\nDirects the DOD to implement the recommendations of the GAO\u2019s report on information sharing to improve oversight of military construction projects, including the documentation of after-action reviews and validation of lessons learned.\n\nExtends the admission of H-2B nonimmigrant visas to Guam and CNMI by two years to support military construction projects, a priority for Pearl Harbor Navy Shipyard.\n\nImproves the DOD\u2019s facility management of joint bases by reassessing requirements to maintain facilities in good working order, identify workforce gaps, and require a strategy to address any gaps and funding needs.\n\nRequires the incorporation of Digital Infrastructure and Platforms into the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP), which expands existing reporting requirements to consider and include digital infrastructure into SIOP to improve the efficiency and throughput of Navy shipyards.\n\nSupport People:\n\nAuthorizes funding to support a 3.8% pay raise for military servicemembers and DOD civilian employees.\n\nExempts the public shipyard workforce from reductions related to spending cuts, reprogramming of funds, or those personnel in a probationary status.\n\nAuthorizes $50 million for DOD assistance to educational agencies affected by the enrollment of military and DOD civilian dependents, $10 million for impact aid payments for children with disabilities, and $20 million for local educational agencies determined by the Secretary of Defense to have high concentrations of military children with severe disabilities. Modifies the 5-year military housing requirements and market analysis process to account for the impact of DOD civilians and contractors in the nearby community.\n\nImproves on Senator Hirono\u2019s work to support servicemembers who are the victims of medical malpractice by requiring DOD to create an independent, 5-person appeals board to review initial claim denials. This creates additional fairness and objectivity into the process to ensure servicemembers are compensated appropriately when they are the victims of medical malpractice.\n\nModifies the 5-year military housing requirements and market analysis process to account for the impact of DOD civilians and contractors in the nearby community.\n\nDirects a study on the impact of behavioral and mental health staffing shortfalls at military medical treatment facilities.\n\nImproves transparency and understanding of military compensation by requiring clear explanations on pay statements, creation of a regular military compensation pay table, and an education campaign for servicemembers and families on military compensation\n\nRequires DOD to provide members of the Armed Forces serving on Active Duty access to legal services provided by an attorney specializing in guardianship transfers in each state in which a military installation is located.\n\nAmends the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow for the expedited reunification of Filipino World War II veterans with their children. This would exempt the children of these veterans from existing immigrant visa numerical limitations to resolve the long-standing issue of family separation.\n\nUpdates the language in last year\u2019s renegotiated Compacts of Free Association (COFA) to require the Department of Veterans' Affairs to provide telehealth, mail pharmacy, and beneficiary travel to U.S. veterans residing in the Freely Associated States.\n\nStrengthen Our Ability to Protect the Indo-Pacific Region:\n\nAuthorizes the full budget request for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI) and requires a plan for more effectively budgeting for PDI in future years.\n\nRequires the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to Congress analyzing the critical digital infrastructure capabilities of Taiwan and how the commercial technology sector can most efficiently be leveraged to provide for and secure Taiwan\u2019s critical digital infrastructure, drawing upon lessons learned in the war in Ukraine. This provision will bolster deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.\n\nAuthorizes $68.5 million in minor military construction projects at the discretion of the Commander of INDOPACOM.\n\nProvides INDOPACOM and other combatant commands with authority to conduct critical experimentation, prototyping, and technology demonstrations. This will support the development and in-theatre testing of innovative technologies and capability solutions to address priorities from the combatant commands.\n\nModifies and simplifies the responsibilities of the Pentagon\u2019s Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) by focusing on identifying actionable gaps in force design, instead of validating complex requirements. This critical and much needed change will speed up DOD\u2019s acquisition process and deliver critical capabilities to our servicemembers.\n\nRedefines \u201cprogram executive officers\u201d as portfolio acquisition executives, which provides the DOD workforce with reformed authorities to improve the acquisition process.\n\nImproves \u201cbuying things as a service\u201d to be metered and billed based on actual usage, and has predetermined pricing based on fixed price units, saving money for the DOD and American taxpayers.\n\nExpands the commercial solutions openings solicitation procedure purposes to encourage more non-traditional companies and small businesses to bid for DOD programs.\n\nRequires DOD to keep the Missile Defense Agency\u2019s (MDA) Aegis Guam System, including radar, missile launcher, and ancillary equipment, in the Indo-Pacific Region.\n\nRequires the Navy to expedite the investigation, qualification, and integration of specific advanced technologies and processes into Navy surface ship maintenance to improve readiness, reduce costs, and address delays.\n\nContinues the requirement for semiannual briefings on the operational status of the amphibious warship fleet including a plan to meet the statutory mandate for the Navy to have at least 31 operational amphibious ships.\n\nDirects the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to conduct an analysis, define, and program the requirements in order to meet a 3.0 deployed Amphibious Readiness Group / Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) presence.\n\nRequires a report from the Air Force, which has been designated by DOD as the military service program lead for the Joint Fires Network (JFN), and an independent assessment on meeting the operational requirements of INDOPACOM when making acquisition and budgeting decisions in the execution of the JFN program of record.\n\nRequires the Department of the Navy to develop a report to streamline authorities to establish a Navy Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) to advance critical capabilities for the Navy.\n\nDirects an initiative to strengthen security cooperation across the respective defense industrial bases of U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.\n\nDirects DOD to establish a working group to enhance international coordination for advanced manufacturing techniques, technologies, and adoption.\n\nDirects the Department to establish a new advanced manufacturing guidance and technical manual that will allow DOD to adopt and integrate advanced manufacturing capabilities (i.e. 3D printing) for current and future platforms across the joint force.\n\nAdds space domain awareness and space operations to the list of authorized areas the Secretary of Defense can provide training and equipment to allies and partners in order to build their capacity\u2014these programs enhance a foreign country's ability to organize, manage, and sustain their own security forces to bolster deterrence.\n\nPrioritize Sustainability and the Environment:\n\nSecures an additional $20 million in funding for DOD\u2019s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program to avoid land use conflicts near military installations, address environmental restrictions that limit military activities, and increase military installation resilience.\n\nEncourages DOD to establish and resource additional staff to increase REPI capability and implementation.\n\nIncreases the cost cap to restore/replace a damaged or destroyed facility from $100 million to $150 million to assist reconstruction from extreme weather events.\n\nRequires the Army and Air Force, in consultation with the National Guard Bureau, to provide support for the training of appropriate National Guard personnel on wildfire prevention and response.\n\nRequires a GAO Report on assessing DOD Resilience to Extreme Weather and Natural Hazards and providing recommendations for DOD to improve the resilience of its facilities, operational readiness, and warfighting capabilities in predicted extreme weather conditions in the future.\n\nDirects the DOD to provide a briefing on best practices from existing recycling efforts of the Strategic Material Recovery and Reuse Program (SMRRP) to expand the scale to recycle, reuse, or recover additional materials like cobalt, lithium, and nickel.\n\nRequires DOD to consider the ability of batteries to operate and recharge at temperatures as low as -75\u00b0F as the DOD standardizes its battery procurement strategy.\n\nModifies and extends the sustainable building materials pilot program by four years and requires each military department to build at least two military construction projects with at least three of the materials identified by the GAO: low carbon cement, electric heat pumps, generator and battery storage, solar panels, reflective white roof, landscaped green roof, energy efficient wall/roof insulation, energy efficient windows/doors, water catch basins, water storage tanks, and geothermal loops.\n\nAmends the ability of operational energy program savings to be reinvested into operational energy programs on tighter timelines, rather than just before the end of the fiscal year.\n\nDirects the Navy to conduct an assessment and provide a briefing on locations where modular composite utility poles will improve grid resilience from extreme weather events.\n\nDirects DOD to complete a feasibility study on oil removal from sunken World War II tankers in Chuuk Lagoon and Palau to safeguard the environment.\n\nHold this Administration Accountable:\n\nRequires DOD to promptly notify and provide extensive details to Congress when the Department uses military aircraft to support Department of Homeland Security missions, including deportation operations.\n\nRequires the Commander of United States Northern Command to provide a report to Congress on the DOD\u2019s efforts at the southern border.\n\nProhibits the expenditure of funds to reduce the total number of servicemembers permanently stationed in or deployed to South Korea below the current 28,500.\n\nProhibits the reduction in U.S. military force posture in Europe or relinquishment of U.S. command of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe position until the Secretary of Defense provides more impact on U.S. and NATO interests to Congress.\n\nRequires the Secretary of Defense to brief Congress on the advisability, feasibility, and cost of using qualified DOD personnel in support of Customs and Border Protection (CBP).\n\nRequires the President to notify Congress at least five days prior to the removal of a Service Judge Advocate General (JAG), along with a substantive rationale for the removal.\n\nDirects the Secretary of Defense to provide a briefing on the status of DOD developing and maintaining a system to retain records of law of war violations.\n\nAffirms the value of independent legal advice of judge advocates.\n\nRequires the Director of Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) to put specified programs, including Golden Dome and the Joint Fires Network, on its oversight list to ensure timely, safe, and responsible delivery programs for our military while safeguarding taxpayer dollars.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "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://www.hirono.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senate-passes-national-defense-authorization-act-containing-over-10-billion-in-hirono-led-provisions-to-strengthen-national-security"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.1263441778719425, "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"}