releases: http://www.kaine.senate.gov/press-releases/video-kaines-military-housing-reforms-pass-congress
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| http://www.kaine.senate.gov/press-releases/video-kaines-military-housing-reforms-pass-congress | Video: Kaine’s Military Housing Reforms Pass Congress | 2019-12-17 | 2019 | 2019-12 | Democrat | House | VA | Tim Kaine | K000384 | www.kaine.senate.gov | legacy | December 17, 2019 Video: Kaine's Military Housing Reforms Pass Congress Legislation will now go to the President for signature You can watch video of Kaine talking about the legislationhere WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), released the following statement after Congress passed the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes Kaine's provisions to improve military housing and many of his other priorities for Virginia, including paid family leave for federal employees and support for shipbuilding. The bill now heads to the President's desk for his signature. Every year, I'm proud of the bipartisan work that goes into delivering a national defense bill that helps support our servicemembers and protect ourcountry. Thisyear,one of my top prioritieswasaddressingthe dangerous conditionsthatI saw firsthand in military housing across Virginia, including mold issues and safety concerns. I'm thankful that my colleagues supported my provisions totackle this issue.These reforms will go a long way towards fixing the problem, and we need to stay on this to ensure safer housing for our troops and their families,said Kaine. The final legislation includes two Kaine amendments to address dangerousconditions in military family housing. The first amendment would require DOD to establish a move-out checklist so that both the tenant and military housing office verify that outstanding maintenance needs are fixed and that the tenant is leaving the home in good condition. This would address concernsKaine has heardfrommilitary families who moved into homes with unsatisfactory maintenance conditions and others who were charged unjustifiable maintenance fees that were difficult to dispute because they had already moved out of the home. This provision would help prevent housing companies from charging former tenantsfees or failing to repair outstanding maintenance items. It would also help ensure that tenants meet their obligations of leaving the home in an acceptable condition for the next tenant. Kaine's second military housing amendment will require the Secretary of Defense to work with local law enforcement to ensure military police can patrol locations where privatized military housing is not located on a military installation. During Kaine's visit to Naval Station Norfolk, where military housing is often located outside the base's gate, Kaine heard confusion about who had law enforcement responsibility in those neighborhoods base police or Norfolk police.Thisprovisionwould address residents' concerns that neither local law enforcementnor military police were respondingto security incidents at off-base military housing because neither believed they had jurisdiction. Kaine has been a leader in supporting military families with safe housing,includingbyurging Armed Services Committee leaders to protect military families in the defense billand introducing abill with Senator Warner to protect military families living in private housing.Kainetoured privatized military housingnear Naval StationNorfolk andvisitedFort Belvoirto hear from military families about their experiences with militaryhousing. He shared what he learned with military leadersand members of the Armed Services Committee to underscore the severity of the housingproblems. The following list includes additional programs and provisions Kainesupported that were included in the final bill: Supports Shipbuilding and Repair:Provides over $13 billion for Virginia shipbuilding priorities, including carrier refueling and overhaul, new carrier construction, Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarines. Authorizes nearly $11billionfor ship repair. Paid Family Leave for Federal Employees:Provides 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all federal civilian employees. Authorizes Military Construction (MILCON):Authorizes over $540 million for 15 critical military construction projects throughout the Commonwealth,includingatFt. Belvoir, the Pentagon, Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Dam Neck, Quantico, Yorktown, and Richmond. Blocks President from Withdrawing Troops from NATO:Expands upon a Kaine amendment to prevent the President from withdrawing from NATO for one year. Kaine introducedlegislationearlier this year to explicitly prohibit any President from withdrawing from NATO withoutcongressional approval. The legislationpassedtheForeign Relations Committee last week. Provides Financial Relief To Civilian Federal Employees:IncludeslegislationKaine introduced with Senators Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) to provide financial relief to certain civilian federal employees whomove for work. TheRelocation Expense Parity Actwould close a loophole that prevents certain federal workers from having additional taxes on their moving expenses fully reimbursed. Cleans Up Dioxin at Bien Hoa Air Base:Includes a Kaine amendment to provide funding for USAID to clean up dioxin a byproduct of Agent Orange at Bien Hoa Air Base near Ho Chi Minh City, which was one of the largest U.S. military basesduring the Vietnam war. In April, Kaine participated in the formal inauguration of the second U.S.-fundeddioxinremediation project atBienHoa, which will remediate land contaminated during the war bydioxin.The clean-up is being accomplished with help from innovative Virginia companies. Addresses Recurring Areas of Instability:Includes aKaineproposal which finally allows DOD to better transition to stability operations following conflict.A key lesson learned from the Iraq War was thatthe U.S.military was not equipped to conduct post-conflict stability operations which contributed to a resurgence of violence.Agencies like the Department of State and U.S. Administration for International Development (USAID) are equipped to handle stability operations in post-conflict zones, but lack the resources and security to access the areas where assistance is needed.Kaine's provision will finally authorize DOD to properly support State and USAID in their efforts to access hard to reach areas in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan,Yemen, Libya, and Somalia in order toprovide lasting stability. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |