Jen Kiggans Complained About The Conditions Of Military Housing But Voted To Cut Military Construction And Said She Missed Opportunities To Get Money To Fix Local Military Housing

Kiggans Complained About Military Barracks And Said She Wanted To Fix Housing Conditions

Kiggans Complained About Military Barracks Calling Them “Embarrassing” And A Problem For Recruitment And Retention Of Soldiers. “After evaluating, GAO made a list of 31 recommendations for the DOD. The agency says the recommendations will help the DOD, including the military departments, address the issues they claim to have found with the barracks. […] ‘DOD doesn't have reliable information about barracks conditions, or how these conditions affect troop morale. And while DOD spends billions of dollars annually on its facilities, it's unable to identify how much funding goes toward barracks,’ said GAO. Congresswoman Jen Kiggans, Virginia District 2, is on the U.S. Armed Services Committee and spoke at the hearing. Later, she told News 3,’It’s embarrassing. And we’re competing with the rest of society, right? It’s an all-volunteer force. I want young men and women to sign up to serve our great country and to join our great military, and you know, we have to think of what we’re offering them.’” [WTKR, 9/27/23]

Kiggans Wanted To See Real Change Within The Barracks And Fixing Housing Conditions. “According to the report, service members told the GAO that the poor barrack conditions affected their ‘quality of life and readiness.’ Kiggans wants to see real change. ‘It’s an issue we put a lot of band-aids on for many many years,’ she said. A lot of the issues are attributed to funding. The report describes one Navy base that requested funding 10 years in a row because there wasn’t enough bed space. That installation never received funding, forcing the command to put 500 service members on aircraft carriers or berthing barges. […] She hopes her position within the Armed Services Committee’s Recruitment, Retention and Quality of Life Task Force will allow her to get that necessary funding where the military needs it most, including fixing housing conditions.” [WAVY, 10/13/23]

Kiggans Voted To Cut Military Construction By $1.5 Billion, And Admitted She Missed Opportunities To Get Any Money To Fix Oceana’s Housing Issue In The Military Construction-VA Appropriations As She Tried To Understand Congress

Kiggans Voted For The Military Construction-VA Appropriations Bill Which Cut Military Construction By $1.5 Billion

Kiggans Voted For The Military Construction-VA Appropriations Bill. In July 2023, Kiggans voted for: “Passage of the bill that would provide $317.4 billion in mandatory and discretionary funding for the VA, including $121 billion for VA medical care programs, $166 billion for veteran disability compensation and other benefits, $151.4 billion for veteran pensions, $17.5 billion for military construction projects and $2 billion for military personnel housing. It would also provide $293 million for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Security Investment Program, intended to counter Russian and Chinese military activities. Among other provisions, it would prohibit the use of funds provided by the bill to close or realign Naval Station Guantanamo Bay and provide $189 million for Arlington National Cemetery, including funding for its southern expansion. The bill would allow the use of funding for the Veterans Affairs Department Medical Services to reimburse veterans and their spouses for assisted reproductive technology treatments or adoption expenses. It would also prohibit the use of the bill's funds to provide abortions, to implement a September 2022 VA rule that allows abortion counseling and establishes exceptions for the prohibition on abortions in the medical benefits package for veterans and civilian beneficiaries, to provide surgical procedures or hormone therapies for gender-affirming care, and to fly or display a flag over a VA facility or national cemetery that is not the U.S. flag, military-related or another government jurisdiction. As amended, the bill would prohibit the use of the bill's funds to interfere with a veteran's participation in a legal state medical cannabis program, to enforce COVID-19 mask mandates, and to implement the COVID-19 vaccination program for VA health care personnel.” The Bill was passed by a vote of 219-211. [H.R 4366, Vote #380, 7/26/23; CQ, 7/27/23]

• The Military Construction-VA Appropriations Bill Cut Military Construction By $1.5 Billion. “This bill, as amended: Worsens the quality of life for servicemembers and their families and hurts military readiness by cutting military construction by over $1.5 billion compared to the current level and does not include dedicated funding for PFAS remediation and cleanup or military installation climate change and resilience projects. […] The bill provides $17.5 billion for Military Construction, which is $1.5 billion below the 2023 level and $200 million below the level marked up in subcommittee.” [House Committee of Appropriations, Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro, Fact Sheet, accessed 11/7/23]
• Roll Call: “Democrats Marched In Lockstep Against The Bill, Saying It Was Chock-Full Of Extremist Policy Riders And Would Cut Military Housing Money.” “The House passed its first fiscal 2024 spending bill Thursday, funding veterans benefits and military construction projects, by a razor-thin margin along party lines that signaled a troubled road ahead for the appropriations process. The $317.4 billion Military Construction-VA bill, usually considered the least controversial of the 12 annual spending measures, passed on a 219-211 vote. Democrats marched in lockstep against the bill, saying it was chock-full of extremist policy riders and would cut military housing money needed by troops and their families.” [Roll Call, 7/27/23]

Kiggans Said She Was Trying To Understand The “Process Of Congress, How To Get Things Done” And Missed A Chance To Ensure There Was Funding To Fix Oceana Base

Fixes To The Oceana Base Were Left Out Of The Mil-Con VA Appropriations Bill. “The fixes she wants to see to Oceana would have had to have been in the military construction appropriations bill, but like many things, it was left out of the bill as a way to cut spending to appease the hard-line conservative members of the conference. ‘I was kicking and screaming and pretty much yelling at people like, ‘Is there anything we can do? Is there an amendment? Is there a floor amendment?’ I'm trying to understand the process of Congress, how to get things done, and we had missed that,’ Kiggans said. They don’t even have the money in the budget to demolish the buildings, she said, so they just sit there in an unlivable condition.” [Washington Examiner, 8/30/23]

Kiggans: “I'm Trying To Understand The Process Of Congress, How To Get Things Done, And We Had Missed That.” “‘I was kicking and screaming and pretty much yelling at people like, ‘Is there anything we can do? Is there an amendment? Is there a floor amendment?’ I'm trying to understand the process of Congress, how to get things done, and we had missed that,” Kiggans said. They don’t even have the money in the budget to demolish the buildings, she said, so they just sit there in an unlivable condition.” [Washington Examiner, 8/31/23]

Kiggans Requested $10,636,000 In Earmarks For Naval Air Station Oceana In The Military Construction-VA Appropriations, And Received $0 Of $10,636,000 In The Republican Lead Bill

Kiggans Requested $10,636,000 To Repair An HVAC System At Naval Air Station Oceana. “I am requesting funding for DEVGRU OPS B355 REPAIR HVAC (RM 14-1408) in fiscal year 2024. The entity to receive funding for this project is NAS Oceana, located at 1750 Tomcat Blvd, Building #230, Virginia Beach, VA, 23460. The funding would be used for provides for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), electrical, fire protection, and select interior/exterior repairs to Building 355 located at Naval Air Station Oceana, Dam Neck Annex (NASO DNA) in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The project is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds because This SOF facility supports mission essential operations that are utilized throughout the SPECWAR community. The faulty system (rated "Inadequate") adversely affects both the personnel operating within the facility as well as sensitive computer systems and equipment. The high heat and humidity create significant mission readiness issues. Inadequate temperature control will continue to have a negative effect on the quality of the workplace resulting in lower productivity for the over 150 personnel which inhabit the building. The equipment will continue to degrade while operating at well below design efficiencies. The possibility of total failure exists which could result in the loss of mission capability of this facility.” [Jen Kiggans, FY24 Community Project Funding Financial Disclosures, Request date: 3/31/23]

Kiggans Received $0 Of $10,636,000 In The Republican Lead Military Construction-VA Appropriations. According to House Appropriations, Kiggans did not receive any funding out of the $10,636,000 she requested for NAS Oceana in the Mil-Con VA. [House Appropriations Committee, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, And Related Agencies: Community Project Funding, accessed 11/7/23]