[Senate Hearing 119-70]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 119-70
MILITARY CONSTRUCTION, VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND RELATED AGENCIES
APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2026
=======================================================================
HEARINGS
before a
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
on
H.R. 3944
MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR MILITARY CONSTRUCTION, THE DEPARTMENT OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND RELATED AGENCIES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING
SEPTEMBER 30, 2026, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
__________
Department of Defense
Department of Veterans Affairs
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: https://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
60-276 PDF WASHINGTON : 2026
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine, Chair
MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky PATTY MURRAY, Washington, Vice
LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska Chair
LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois
JERRY MORAN, Kansas JACK REED, Rhode Island
JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware
JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
BILL HAGERTY, Tennessee CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut
KATIE BOYD BRITT, Alabama CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland
MARKWAYNE MULLIN, Oklahoma MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND, New York
JON OSSOFF, Georgia
Elizabeth McDonnell, Staff Director
Evan Schatz, Minority Staff Director
------
Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related
Agencies
JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas, Chairman
MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky JON OSSOFF, Georigia, Ranking
LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska PATTY MURRAY, Washington, (ex
JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota officio)
SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine, (ex JACK REED, Rhode Island
officio) BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
BILL HAGERTY, Tennessee TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico
MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota GARY PETERS, Michigan
CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND, New York
Professional Staff
Patrick Magnuson
Jennifer Bastin
Michelle Dominguez (Minority)
Brad Allen (Minority)
Gabriella Armonda (Minority)
Administrative Support
Teddy Coes
C O N T E N T S
----------
hearings
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Page
Department of Defense:
Military Construction and Family Housing..................... 1
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Department of Veterans Affairs................................... 55
----------
back matter
List of Witnesses, Communications, and Prepared Statements....... 107
Subject Index:
Department of Defense: Military Construction and Family
Housing.................................................... 109
Department of Veterans Affairs............................... 110
MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND RELATED AGENCIES
APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2026
----------
TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2025
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met at 10:31 a.m. in Room SD-124, Dirksen
Senate Office Building, Hon. John Boozman (chairman) presiding.
Present: Senators Boozman, Murkowski, Hoeven, Hyde-Smith,
Ossoff, Baldwin, and Gillibrand.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Military Construction and Family Housing
STATEMENT OF HON. DALE MARKS, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF
DEFENSE FOR ENERGY, INSTALLATIONS, AND
ENVIRONMENT
opening statement of senator john boozman
Senator Boozman. Good morning. And the subcommittee will
come to order.
First, I would like to welcome Ranking Member Ossoff, and
congratulate him on the birth of his second daughter, Lila. I
have got three daughters, lots of drama at my house.
[Laughter.]
Senator Boozman. I look forward to working with you on the
subcommittee. And again, we just want to welcome you.
We meet today to discuss the President's fiscal year 2026
Budget Request for Military Construction and Family Housing for
the Department of Defense.
I would like to begin by recognizing today's panel. Today,
we will hear from representatives of the Military Services as
well as the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Joining us are: The Honorable Dale Marks, Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and
Environment; Lieutenant General David Wilson, Army Deputy Chief
of Staff, G-9; Vice Admiral Jeffrey Jablon, Deputy Chief of
Naval Operations for Installations and Logistics; Lieutenant
General Stephen [Sel-en-ka]--Sklenka--I am sorry--Deputy
Commandant for Installations and Logistics; Lieutenant General
Tom Miller, Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics,
Engineering, and Force Protection, who is approaching
retirement after 34 years of service. General, thank you so
much for your many years of service, and we certainly wish you
well in your retirement. I am sure we will be hearing more from
you someplace, but again, we do appreciate you very, very much.
Brigadier General Zachary Warakomski, Space Force Assistant
Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and
Nuclear.
This year's MILCON request is $18.9 billion, a figure we
only recently received due to significant delays in the
delivery of the budget to Congress. We, on the subcommittee,
look forward to receiving the justification books and related
exhibits, which still have not been delivered but are expected
later this month.
From the data currently available, we know this request is
an increase of $1.4 billion over the fiscal year 2025 enacted
levels. While I am encouraged to see another year of growth in
the MILCON request, I remain concerned that we are not
necessarily buying more, we are simply paying more.
Some of these budget numbers are staggering. Not that long
ago, hitting the $100 million mark on a single project was
significant. Now, it has become routine. Increments, once the
exception, are increasingly the norm, accounting for nearly $6
billion in this year's request. That is more than 40 projects
so costly they require incremental funding over multiple years.
That may seem normal now, but this was not always the case.
Multi-billion-dollar recapitalization efforts, combined with
the increasing complexity of facilities needed to support
today's weapon systems, are resulting in larger and more
complex projects. At the same time, inflation and other
economic pressures continue to escalate costs. This trajectory
is not sustainable, and future budget requests can't continue
absorbing these rising costs.
To that end, I am encouraged by the conversations taking
place within the Department that are examining the full range
of factors, policies, procedures, regulations, and laws that
affect MILCON and its associated costs. Some of these are
established by Congress, others stem from DOD policy, and some
may be self-imposed. As such, the effort required to drive
meaningful changes will vary, but I am hopeful these
discussions will lead to thoughtful analysis, honest dialogue,
and ultimately, real improvements in the efficiency of the
MILCON process.
Some of this will require close collaboration between
Congress and the Department, and I am committed to being a
partner in that effort. There will always be factors beyond
your control, which makes managing the areas you control all
the more critical.
The recent injunction reinstating Project Labor Agreement
requirements is a clear example of how external influences can
introduce uncertainty and added cost into the MILCON process,
costs that are especially difficult to anticipate given how
long the current planning, programming, and budgeting cycles
take. I hope one outcome of the ongoing review directed by the
Deputy Secretary of Defense is a faster time line from project
inception to final delivery.
As a critical Force enabler, MILCON supports everything
from infrastructure tied to new weapons platforms to quality-
of-life facilities like hospitals, schools, and housing. We owe
it to the service members and the taxpayer to deliver timely,
high-quality facilities, on schedule, and within budget, and I
hope that future budget requests reflect efficiencies that
lower the cost of individual projects.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today and
continuing the dialogue and work needed for a successful MILCON
program.
Before we turn to our witnesses, I would like to recognize
my colleague, Senator Ossoff, for his opening remarks.
statement of senator jon ossoff
Senator Ossoff. Good morning, and thank you very much,
Chairman Boozman. Thank you for your partnership. I look
forward to the important bipartisan work we will do together
leading this subcommittee. I also want to thank you for your
kind words celebrating Lila's arrival. And I am pleased to
report, Mr. Chairman, that baby and mother are both healthy. So
thank you for the well wishes.
To our witnesses, thank you for being here. Thank you for
your service to the Nation. I do want to note that, General
Sklenka, and General Warakomski, we have two Georgians on the
panel, from Marietta and Snellville. So we are proud of you and
your work, and it is great to be here at my first MILCON-VA
hearing as the subcommittee's ranking member to review the
fiscal year 2026 budget request for Military Construction and
Family Housing.
The Military Construction budget is essential to our
national security, to the capabilities and resilience of
military installations across the country and around the world,
and to the quality of life for service members and military
families.
Georgia, of course, is home to 13 defense installations
vital to our national security and home to some of the Nation's
most important missions and capabilities, including key Air
Force missions at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, and
Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta; the Maneuver Center of
Excellence at Fort Benning, outside of Columbus; Naval
Submarine Base Kings Bay, on Georgia's coast; Fort Stewart,
home of the 3rd ID; Fort Gordon, home of the Army Signal Corps
and the Cyber Center of Excellence, where they also host a
vital NSA facility; Hunter Army Airfield, which hosts elite
U.S. Army Ranger and aviation elements; the Marine Corps
Logistics Base in Albany; Combat Readiness Training Center in
Savannah; and more.
And through this subcommittee, I will continue my work
alongside Chairman Boozman, and members on both sides of the
aisle to ensure that installations in Georgia, across the
Continental United States, and around the world are resourced
to defend our Nation, and to deliver the safety, security,
health, and quality of life deserved by our service members and
their families.
For too long, Congress and the Department have under-
resourced facilities like child development centers, Department
of Defense schools, family housing, and barracks, plundering
the accounts that support military quality of life in order to
fund other priorities, and this persistent neglect of Military
quality of life does a disservice to those who serve, and to
their families, it is also a national security issue.
If service members can't live, eat, train, and work in
safe, healthy, world-class facilities, our readiness is
undermined, and so is morale. And the Department's failure to
provide military families, especially junior enlisted
personnel, with the health, safety, and quality of life they
deserve undermines recruiting and retention of talented young
people to defend the United States.
I am pleased that this year's Military Construction Budget
Request includes nearly $500 million for five important Georgia
projects in fiscal year 2026. These are projects I have
championed for years, from a new elementary school at Fort
Benning to the Trident facility at Kings Bay, and their
inclusion in this request demonstrates the critical
contributions of Georgia's installations, missions, and units
to America's national defense. I will continue working through
this subcommittee to see them through.
In total, this year's budget requests $18.9 billion for
MILCON, a $1.4 billion increase over the current year-long CR.
We know that MILCON has historically acted as a bill payer for
other efforts within the Department and that the services have
extensive unmet needs. As I noted earlier, deferred MILCON has
contributed to service members living in dilapidated barracks,
training in insufficient facilities, and working in deficient
spaces for their missions.
I want to note a few concerns. First of all, I note with
concern that the White House has decided to circumvent the
budget process and push $900 million of MILCON funding into the
partisan reconciliation measure. Let me be clear, MILCON in a
reconciliation bill is not MILCON Appropriations, it is a slush
fund. The nature of reconciliation is such that neither this
subcommittee nor the whole Senate will have control or
meaningful oversight of those funds.
And it is my belief that if Congress makes the mistake of
accommodating this request, to fund Military Construction via
reconciliation rather than through the appropriations process,
we bow to executive overreach, degrade our own constitutional
authority, and drastically diminish our ability to oversee the
use of these funds.
I am concerned that the administration intends to use those
funds, $900 million of Military Construction, through the
reconciliation process, not to upgrade defense facilities at
home and abroad, but instead to build a migrant detention
complex across Department of Defense facilities, nationwide,
and around the world, and in so doing, divert the Department's
mission from fighting and winning wars to domestic immigration
enforcement.
Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and guardians are
warfighters, not jailers of migrants. I look forward to
engaging with the administration, Mr. Marks, to get greater
clarity on the intended purposes of those $900 million, because
if the administration does intend to fund the construction of
migrant detention facilities at Military bases using Military
Construction funds, it should include those specific plans in
its budget request.
At minimum, the administration must provide this
subcommittee with a detailed accounting of how it intends to
use the $900 million requested for Military Construction in
reconciliation.
A few additional concerns I would like to note. First of
all, the use and invocation of emergency authorities to justify
reprogramming of Military Construction dollars, there is a
place for the use of emergency authorities to support
reprogramming. If it becomes a habit, it can circumvent the
appropriations process.
I will also note concern that there is a substantial
defunding of family housing accounts for the Army and the Navy,
including for programs that provide essential maintenance of
and oversight of privatized family housing. I think we all know
that privatized family housing at DOD installations is a mess.
I have spent years investigating it, heard testimony from folks
like Captain Samuel Cho in Georgia, who experienced firsthand
the effects on his daughter's health of mold and contamination
in privatized family housing at Fort Gordon.
His eight-year-old daughter, as he testified before the
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations here in the Senate,
developed a rash so severe that, as Captain Cho testified,
quote, ``Her skin became hardened and rough and reptilian in
nature, and when she would scratch it, it would bleed
profusely.''
This was the eight-year-old daughter of a U.S. Army
Captain, who, because of the poor condition of housing in this
Balfour Beatty Homes development at Fort Gordon, was bleeding
when she scratched her own skin. So I am concerned that the
reduction in funds for these family housing programs could
reduce our ability to hold those contractors to a high standard
and to look out for those personnel and their families.
I echo the Chairman in noting that we have yet to receive
the budget justifications required for us to do our jobs with
all the information that is necessary. We still do not have the
unfunded priorities lists that will allow members of Congress
to highlight projects critical to their home states that may
have been left out of the request.
Mr. Chairman, I am looking forward to working with you on
those issues and throughout this process.
I want to thank again, the witnesses here, for your service
to the Nation, and for being here to brief us and to answer
members' questions. I think this subcommittee is known for
rising above the fray and working in a constructive, civil, and
bipartisan manner. It is simply too important for us not to do
that.
And I thank you again, Mr. Chairman. And look forward to
the conversation. Thank you.
Senator Boozman. Very good. Assistant Secretary Marks, you
are recognized.
summary statement of hon. dale marks
Mr. Marks. Thank you. Chairman Boozman, Ranking Member
Ossoff, and distinguished Members of this Subcommittee, as the
newly confirmed, on day seven, Assistant Secretary of Defense
for Energy, Installations, and Environment, I appreciate the
opportunity to discuss the President's Proposed fiscal year
2026 Budget for the Department of Defense Energy,
Installations, and Environment portfolio.
The President and Secretary of Defense have laid out a
clear objective for the Department: Achieve peace through
strength. As the Secretary has said, the threats we face are
serious. Our investments to counter them must also be, and that
is what this budget does. I firmly believe that the strength
and lethality of our Military is built both on the weapon
systems that defend us and on the readiness of our service
members and their families to accomplish this mission.
And make no mistake, our installations are weapon systems,
just like our ships, tanks, and planes. We must ensure that
they are postured in terms of quality, condition, and laydown
to carry out the entire spectrum of Military operations.
But at the same time, we know that America is a target our
installations are under threat, not just from our adversaries,
but from aging infrastructure, extreme weather, and
increasingly complex operational demands. To address these
challenges, we are focusing on an installation resilience
approach that focuses squarely on military readiness and
operational capability.
This ensures our resources directly support what matters
most, maintaining ready forces and resilient installations that
can operate effectively under any conditions. In particular, we
are focusing on infrastructure modernization and energy
resilience, operational energy security, and investing in our
innovation and research programs.
At the same time, we recognize the resilience of our
installations is enhanced by partnering with our defense
communities, and we are making a concerted effort to work with
them on mutually beneficial initiatives that enhance
resilience, and prevent risks to national security.
We also recognize that our service members' readiness
starts at home. We want to ensure our warfighters are able to
deliver 100 percent of their effort to their missions without
having to worry about issues with their housing or the health
and safety of their family members back home.
The Department remains committed to ensuring that the DOD's
housing portfolio meets appropriate life, health, and safety
requirements and provides a positive living experience for
military personnel and their families. And we are continuing to
address risks to human health and the environment through our
environmental cleanup programs.
To accomplish these goals, the Department must ensure that
we make the most efficient use of our resources and manpower.
And as such, the Secretary of Defense has issued a clear
directive to focus on eliminating waste and duplication to
enable the Department to focus on its core mission of defending
the Nation.
EI&E is coordinating several efforts to review current
processes and regulations to create efficiencies, and reduce
costs, including a review of our MILCON and FSRM investment
portfolios, real property efficiencies, and review of our
implementation of environmental laws and regulations.
And finally, as part of this administration's efforts to
counter China's malign actions, we continue to work with key
stakeholders across DOD's use of lands and natural resources in
Hawaii through the Hawaii Coordination Cell.
Going forward, we have some big issues to tackle, such as
meeting Congress' directive to significantly increase our SRM
investments to at least 4 percent of plant replacement value.
And I look forward to working with the committee to address
these challenges head on, and fulfill our commitment to our
soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and guardians.
Thank you. And I look forward to your questions.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Dale Marks
introduction
Chairman Boozman, Ranking Member Ossoff, and distinguished members
of the subcommittee: Thank you for the opportunity to provide a program
update for the Department of Defense's (DoD) energy, installations, and
environment portfolio. As the newly confirmed Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Energy, Installations & Environment, I am grateful for this
opportunity to continue serving this Nation and its men and women in
uniform. I am committed to providing our Armed Forces with the
capabilities needed to defend and protect our Homeland and I look
forward to working with this Committee in the coming months to ensure
our installations are postured to support the President's and Secretary
of Defense's focus on ensuring the U.S. military remains the most
lethal and effective fighting force in the world.
overarching objectives
The President and Secretary of Defense have laid out a clear
objective for the Department: restore peace through strength by
reviving the warrior ethos and restoring trust in our military,
rebuilding our military by matching threats to capabilities, and
reestablishing deterrence by defending our homeland. To achieve these
objectives, we must ensure our power projection platforms are postured
to maximize our Service members' lethality and defend the homeland
while remaining secure against a wide range of threats. We must be
singularly focused on developing the readiness of our forces.
At the same time, we know that America is a target. Our adversaries
are targeting our critical defense, government, and economic
infrastructure, both inside and outside our fencelines. Every domain is
contested-air, land, sea, space, and cyber.
Our approach to installation resilience focuses squarely on
military readiness and operational capability. When we evaluate
infrastructure improvements or assess environmental impacts, we apply
one clear standard: how does this strengthen our warfighting
capability? This mission- focused strategy ensures our resources
directly support what matters most--maintaining ready forces and
resilient installations that can operate effectively under any
conditions. We will continue to assess weather-related impacts on our
operations, mitigate weather-related risks, conduct environmental
assessments as appropriate, and improve the resilience of our
installations, but always through the lens of enhancing military
effectiveness and operational resilience.
supporting lethality
Our installations are a critical force enabler, providing our
warfighters with a distinct advantage over our adversaries. They serve
as initial maneuver platforms from where the Department deploys troops
around the globe, and where it coordinates and controls various
mission-related functions for units once deployed. As such, we must
ensure that the supporting infrastructure is postured-in terms of
quality, condition, and laydown-to support the entire spectrum of
military operations.
The hard truth is that our installations are under threat, not just
from our adversaries, but from aging infrastructure, extreme weather,
and increasingly complex operational demands. In the past decade alone,
weather-related damages have cost the Department over $15 billion. Just
last year, Hurricane Helene shut down one of our major installations
for 11 days--no power, no water, no mission capability.
Our adversaries understand these vulnerabilities. They actively
seek to exploit our dependencies on energy and water infrastructure,
attempting to degrade our ability to deploy forces and undermine our
deterrent capabilities.
These disruptions directly impact service member health and safety,
training, testing, equipment reliability and performance, critical
infrastructure functionality and overall force readiness and lethality.
To address these challenges, the Department is focusing on three
interconnected priorities: energy resilience and infrastructure
modernization, operational energy security, and investing in our
innovation and research programs.
To enhance energy resilience and modernize energy infrastructure,
the Department is prioritizing investments in multiple and diverse
sources of energy for on-site generation, microgrids, energy storage,
energy efficiency upgrades, and the pursuit of innovative and resilient
technologies like small modular nuclear reactors. Continued investments
in energy efficiency through Energy Saving Performance Contracts
(ESPCs) and Utility Energy Services Contracts (UESCs) with DoD's
industry partners bolsters installation energy resilience by reducing
the installation energy demand and need for backup resources during
commercial grid disruptions.
One of the Department's most significant energy infrastructure
investment initiatives is the Energy Resilience and Conservation
Investment Program (ERCIP). Through ERCIP, we are deploying cutting-
edge technologies, including advanced energy storage systems, next-
generation geothermal and nuclear capabilities, and sophisticated
microgrid networks--all essential to maintaining the military's
operational readiness.
The Department must also improve its operational energy security.
In FY24 alone, the Department consumed 68 million barrels of fuel, with
a total cost of $10.7 billion and nearly half of that fuel coming from
foreign sources. The Department also invested over $3.7 billion in FY24
to enhance Operational Energy resilience, focusing on three critical
areas: modernizing our aircraft, fleets, and weapons systems for better
fuel efficiency, strengthening energy resilience at our forward
operating bases, and running sophisticated wargames to identify and fix
vulnerabilities in energy logistics and sustainment.
The Department is revolutionizing how we plan for energy needs in
combat. Our new Resilient Logistics Operations & Analytics Demonstrator
(RELOAD) project, developed in partnership with the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and other defense partners, is a data
analysis tool helping us understand exactly how energy constraints
could impact operations in contested environments. RELOAD will deliver
two products to DoD leadership: FY27 technology investment
recommendations that help mitigate operational risks in contested
environments and a transition decision for development of the
demonstrator prototype into an enterprise utility.
We are also transforming our acquisition process and equipment
requirements. Every new weapon system must now meet strict energy
efficiency standards, while U.S. Transportation Command has taken
charge as our single manager for worldwide fuel distribution. These are
not just administrative changes-reducing fuel consumption extends
operational reach, and every improvement in how we use and manage
operational energy translates directly to increased combat capability.
These efforts are underpinned by several critical innovation
programs which set the technical direction for the DoD by funding the
development and demonstration of mission-critical energy and
environment capabilities and helping them through the acquisition
process. These include the Strategic Environmental Research and
Development Program (SERDP) and the Environmental Security Technology
Certification Program (ESTCP), which function as the Department's
installation innovation programs that develop, demonstrate, and
validate technologies to enhance military readiness and strengthen
defense infrastructure. These programs address critical resilience
challenges, including energy security, water resource management,
extreme weather vulnerabilities, and environmental cleanup. SERDP and
ESTCP investments include cybersecure microgrids, decision support
tools, cost-effective remediation technologies, and alternatives that
reduce regulatory burdens of defense-critical chemicals. These
investments protect DoD's operational capabilities while reducing costs
across installations. Through collaboration with industry and academia,
SERDP and ESTCP ensure rapid transition of innovations from
laboratories to military installations to address both immediate
threats and long-term resilience needs for servicemembers and their
families.
On the operational energy front, the Operational Energy Capability
Improvement Fund and the Operational Energy Prototype Fund deliver
game-changing technologies focusing on Energy Dominance (through
advanced command and control), Energy and Power Projection (through
revolutionary endurance and propulsion systems) and Energy Surety
(through next-generation storage solutions). These programs have
delivered remarkable successes, including advances in nuclear fuel
technology, wireless power transmission, and unmanned aircraft
endurance.
Looking ahead, the Department is focusing on critical capabilities
like airborne energy delivery in contested environments, improved power
managements and enhancing energy storage.
As the Nation's largest energy consumer, the DoD plays a unique and
critical role in our Nation's energy landscape. While our military
operations depend heavily on energy infrastructure, much of that
infrastructure lies outside our fence lines. The most powerful military
in the world relies on civilian infrastructure to train our forces,
power our bases and project power globally.
With this vulnerability in mind, we are conducting comprehensive
assessments of our Nation's power and fuel infrastructure, focusing
particularly on coastal vulnerabilities, while simultaneously
evaluating strategic projects like the Alaska natural gas pipeline and
partnerships in artificial intelligence and data center development.
These initiatives not only align with the President's vision of
American energy dominance but ensure out military maintains the power
it needs to defend our Nation's interests at home and abroad.
supporting defense communities and promoting compatible development
The Department recognizes that the resilience of our installations
is enhanced by partnering with, not competing against, our defense
communities. Our defense communities are critical enablers that support
our defense installations and ensure our Service members have the
resources they need to carry out their missions. At the same time, they
face many of the same threats our installations face. We know our
adversaries are targeting supporting infrastructure like electrical
grids and water systems, and our communities are just as, if not more,
exposed to natural hazards than our installations. As such, we are
making a concerted effort to work with our defense communities on
mutually beneficial initiatives via direct support or planning while
also ensuring military operations, mission support, and warfighter
capabilities remain unimpeded and to prevent risk to national security
by incompatible development.
Key to these efforts is the Office of Local Defense Community
Cooperation (OLDCC). OLDCC provides technical and financial assistance
to States, counties, municipalities, regions, and other communities to
foster cooperation with military installations to enhance the military
mission; achieve facility and infrastructure savings and reduced
operating costs; address encroachment and compatible land use issues;
increase military, civilian, and industrial readiness; and support
military families. OLDCC works with defense communities to further the
Secretary's priorities, ensuring their efforts help to enhance the
readiness and lethality of military installations, ranges, and test
facilities.
To date, OLDCC has awarded 11 grants in FY25, to include:
--A grant to the University of Alaska Fairbanks to work with Eielson
Air Force Base, Fort Wainwright, the State of Alaska, and local
utility on permitting for a natural gas pipeline, respond to
other energy requirements, and address housing affordability
issues.
--A grant to County of McMullen, Texas to design a single access road
to the ROTHR-TX (Relocatable Over the Horizon Radar) location
and to obtain funding to carry out improvements. These efforts
will enhance the readiness of the McMullen Range, the only
United States-based radar system in USSOUTHCOM's surveillance
architecture, including enhancing detection and surveillance
capabilities along the southern border, and strengthen mission
readiness and lethality at Naval Air Station Kingsville.
--A grant to the City of Virginia Beach Department of Public
Utilities to plan and design.
--1.5 miles of a new 30-inch diameter water transmission main to
support potable water and water suppression needs at Naval Air
Station Oceana and Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort
Story, ensuring the installations' readiness and lethality.
--A grant to Belle Chasse Academy, Inc., a charter school in
Louisiana, to design, renovate, and expand current facilities.
This project provides expanded capacity for 30-year student use
and supports learning for the more than 650 military-connected
students (90% of the enrollment), military families and
warfighters, enhancing lethality and readiness by improving
recruitment and retention.
OLDCC recently posted a notice forecasting its upcoming competition
for the FY25 Defense Community Infrastructure Program and looks forward
to reviewing applications from interested defense communities.
In addition to directly supporting our defense communities, the
Department recognizes that the condition of the lands and waters on-
and off-installation affects our ability to conduct weapons system
testing, realistic live-fire training, and essential operations that
are vital to preparing a more lethal and resilient combat force.
Ensuring that the land and waters surrounding our installations are
compatible with military mission requirements is critical to ensuring
unencumbered warfighter access to lands and ranges that replicate the
operational environment in which they fight. The Readiness and
Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program provides this
assurance. REPI funds cost-sharing agreements between the Military
Services, other Federal agencies, State and local governments, and
private partners to avoid or remove land use conflicts near military
installations, minimize environmental restrictions that limit military
activities, and improve the resilience of military installations, while
addressing mission-essential considerations, including flight hazards,
wildland fire resilience, drought resilience, flooding, and water
quality and quantity.
DoD manages and maintains nearly 27 million acres of land, water,
and airspace across the United States and its territories that have the
principal purpose of supporting mission-related activities and
furthering the National defense strategy. Realistic environments are
essential to field testing new technologies and for the military to
train, which requires access to deserts, grasslands, rainforests,
tundra permafrost, coastlines, and other ecosystems. Training and
testing in varied ecosystems prepare our warfighters for any of the
challenges they may face while conducting global operations. These
lands also contain significant resources supporting our nation's
natural and cultural heritage, including resources important to
American Indian, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian Organizations, and
other Indigenous Peoples. DoD lands provide habitats for over 550 plant
and animal species that are federally protected under the Endangered
Species Act, contain over 130,000 recorded archaeological sites, and 41
National Historic Landmarks. Without sustained strategic investment and
management, DoD lands can be degraded or eliminated, resulting in a net
loss in the ability of these military installation lands and waters to
sustain a combat-ready and lethal military force. Through programs such
as REPI, the Military Aviation and Installation Assurance Siting
Clearinghouse, and DoD Legacy Resource Management Program, the
Department can stimulate mutually beneficial and cost- effective
partnerships between local communities, Federal and State agencies, and
non-governmental organizations to support DoD's ability to operate
seamlessly across domains and maintain its strong record as a steward
of our Nation's natural, cultural, and historical heritage.
improving efficiency
The Secretary of Defense has issued a clear directive to focus on
eliminating waste and duplication to enable the Department to focus on
its core mission of defending the Nation. In support of this directive,
EI&E is coordinating several efforts to review current processes and
regulations to create efficiencies and reduce costs.
milcon and fsrm review
Given the size and scope of the Department's infrastructure
footprint, the Military Construction (MILCON) and Facilities
Sustainment, Restoration & Modernization (FSRM) investment portfolios
represent a significant opportunity to maximize the effectiveness of
the taxpayer dollars while improving the readiness and lethality of our
warfighters.
Under current processes, a military construction or large-scale
FSRM project can take 5 years to be incorporated in a budget request to
Congress and once funded, can take potentially another 4 years to
obtain beneficial use. The Department must develop more timely and
flexible processes and organizational structures to enable more agile
delivery of infrastructure needs.
As such, the Deputy Secretary of Defense has directed a 60-day
review of the Department's MILCON and FSRM portfolios. My office is
coordinating with Military Departments and Office of General Counsel to
conduct this review and develop recommendations for proposed regulatory
or statutory changes, updates to DoD policy, and process improvements
that improve cost structure, efficiency of execution, and lifecycle
sustainment.
The Department appreciates the authorities Congress has provided in
recent National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs) to make our
processes more efficient, including increases to the unspecified minor
military construction (UMMC) threshold in the FY23 NDAA, the pilot
program permitting replacement of failing barracks in the FY24 NDAA,
and the increase in the threshold for acquisition of low cost interests
in land and a pilot program to optimize our footprint using UMMC in the
FY25 NDAA. We look forward to working with Congress at all levels to
further our common goal of making efficient and effective investments
in DoD infrastructure.
The Department also shares Congress' interest in ensuring that the
current DoD construction agent model maximizes efficiency, is
responsive to the needs of the Department, and minimizes redundancy and
unnecessary costs. Consistent with Section 2877 of the FY25 NDAA, my
office has entered into a contract with the RAND Corporation to review
the roles and responsibilities for executing construction projects. We
will work closely with the Military Departments to ensure the
Department collectively provides a timely objective report on this
critical issue.
real property efficiencies
As part of EO 14222, Implementing the President's ``Department of
Government Efficiency'' Cost Efficiency Initiative, and as required in
Section 2850 of the FY25 NDAA, the Department is working to reduce its
leased space inventory. The Secretary of Defense has directed us to
reduce our leased costs by 30 percent within the next 18 months. To
achieve this reduction, we have implemented regular building occupancy
reporting that enables us to identify existing spaces with capacity and
focus our personnel laydown within our installations. The reduction is
a critical step in enabling the Department to focus on its core mission
of defending the Nation by eliminating waste and duplication to
maximize the value of our real estate portfolio.
reviewing processes for complying with environmental regulations
Another area of opportunity to improve efficiency and improve our
delivery of capability to our warfighters is to eliminate delays within
the environmental permitting process. As part of its response to
Executive Order 14154, Unleashing American Energy, the Department is
working with other key stakeholders in the Administration to streamline
how DoD implements the National Environmental Policy Act. The
Department recognizes that we have an immense responsibility to the
natural resources entrusted to us and we are working to ensure we are
maximizing our readiness and resilience while also fulfilling our
environmental stewardship obligations.
quality of life
Our Service members' readiness starts at home. They should be able
focus on their missions without having to worry about issues with their
housing or about the health and safety of their family members back
home. The Department remains committed to ensuring that these issues
are addressed so that our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and
Guardians can bring 100% of themselves to their missions.
housing
Our Service members' housing is both a crucial quality of life
issue and a critical mission- enabling asset. They and their families
expect and deserve safe and secure places to live in return for the
sacrifices they make for our Nation. The Department remains committed
to ensuring that all Service member housing-whether it is government-
owned, government-controlled, or privatized-meets appropriate life,
health, and safety requirements and provides a positive living
experience for military personnel and their families.
Over the past year, the Department has made significant strides in
reforming its oversight of its Unaccompanied Housing (UH) portfolio and
implementing the FY24 NDAA requirements. The Department published UH
guidance on civilian oversight, issuances of waivers for privacy and
configuration standards, updated design standards, and standardized
requirements and procedures for maintenance work orders. The Department
also engaged quickly with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to
resolve open recommendations under their review of Military Barracks;
as of today, the GAO closed 8 of the 31 recommendations for the
Department and is considering the Department's requests to close 5
additional recommendations.
Resident feedback is a key indicator of the Department's progress
in providing safe and secure housing to all Service members and as
such, updated its housing tenant satisfaction survey to be applicable
to all housing, including unaccompanied. Most of the military services
are executing their housing satisfaction survey now and we look forward
to sharing the results with Congress later this year.
The Department also continues to explore leveraging privatization
as a tool to improve UH by evaluating the results of the Services'
pilot projects and incorporating the lessons learned from the broader
Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI). The Department
currently has eight existing UH privatization agreements-six within the
Department of the Army portfolio and two within the Department of the
Navy.
These privatized UH projects offer apartment-style accommodations
rather than the dormitory- style accommodations of traditional
government-owned UH and provide authorized Service members with high-
quality, cost-effective options for on-installation residences in high-
cost or challenged housing markets, to include remote and isolated
installations. While these residences are generally reserved for more
senior enlisted personnel who have already lived in traditional UH, the
Navy's pilot authority under 10 USC Sec. 2881a allows them to issue a
higher rate of partial basic allowance for housing to enlisted Service
members, ship or shore based, in the ranks of E4 and below who may
otherwise be mandatorily assigned to permanent party UH. The Department
will continue to seek innovative ways to provide high-quality UH to
Service members required to live on-base at cost-savings to the
government.
military housing privatization initiative
The Department continues to enhance the MHPI program and improve
our oversight of the private sector MHPI companies that own and operate
MHPI housing projects. As a result of our collaboration with the MHPI
companies, all 18 rights set out in the MHPI Tenant Bill of Rights
(TBoR) are fully available at all but one of the nearly 200
installations with privatized housing, representing approximately 99
percent of military families residing in MHPI housing. We will continue
our efforts to educate and engage Service Members and their families to
ensure they are aware of and take full advantage of the TBoR.
The Department continues to work on full implementation of other
MHPI reforms. In August 2024, the Department deployed the housing
complaints database and has received 38 responses, 32 of which are
available to the public while the remaining six are being processed for
publication. In addition, the Department is over 85% complete on its
mandatory, one-time inspections of government-owned and controlled
family and privatized housing. The Departments of the Navy and Air
Force are both 100% complete and we will be submitting an interim
report on their behalf to annotating their closure and reporting their
findings.
The Department is committed to working closely with you and the
committee staff to ensure the long-term success of the MHPI program and
we will remain diligent in our oversight to ensure DoD's privatized
housing projects deliver quality housing and a positive living
experience for military personnel and their families.
defense environmental restoration
The Department must take deliberate and sustained action to address
risks to human health and the environment resulting from past DoD
activities and enhance mission readiness by completing cleanups and
restoring DoD lands for effective use. Our environmental cleanup
program includes the Installation Restoration Program (IRP) and
Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP). The IRP is focused on
cleanup of hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants, while
the MMRP is focused on responding to unexploded ordnance and munition
constituents at former military ranges. These programs encompass active
installations, Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS--sites that DoD
transferred to other Federal agencies, States, local governments, or
private landowners before October 17, 1986), and sites DoD transferred
to other entities as part of its Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)
activities.
To date, the Department, in cooperation with State agencies and the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has completed cleanup
activities at 86 percent of Active and BRAC IRP and MMRP sites, and
FUDS IRP sites, and is now monitoring the results. During FY 2024
alone, the Department completed cleanup at 121 sites. Of the roughly
40,900 restoration sites, 34,379 are now in monitoring status or have
completed cleanup.
Our focus remains on continuous improvement initiatives in the
restoration program: minimizing overhead, adopting new technologies to
reduce cost and accelerate cleanup, updating criteria used to
prioritize sites for cleanup, and improving our relationships with
state regulators and affected communities through increased dialogue
and public engagement. These initiatives help ensure that we maximize
our available resources to complete cleanups.
While the Department continues to make progress on completing
cleanups, the remaining sites are some of the most complex cleanup
sites. Chemicals of Emerging Concern and others like per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) continue to pose challenges for DoD's
cleanup programs as new science requires reconsideration of previous
decisions and more expensive solutions to protect our Service members,
their families, communities, and the environment.
Additionally, some complex sites have either no feasible or only
inefficient solutions for cleanup and, as a result, the Department is
making significant investments in environmental technology to identify
new potential remediation methods.
In particular, the recent EPA drinking water standards for certain
PFAS are extremely low and present a significant challenge for the
Department. DoD is committed to prioritizing and responding to
locations where known levels of PFAS in private drinking water wells
are the highest, while also focusing on installing sustainable
treatment solutions, but this effort will take time and substantial
future resources.
In addition to our cleanup activities, the Department continues to
prioritize efforts to eliminate the use of Aqueous Film Forming Foam
(AFFF) at military installations. Over the past few years, the
Department has undertaken an aggressive initiative to develop and
demonstrate fluorine-free alternatives to AFFF. As of April 2025, five
products have passed the DoD qualification process. These products are
now available for purchase, and the Military Departments have used them
to make significant progress in their efforts to transition away from
AFFF use in more than 6,000 mobile assets and approximately 1,000
facilities.
indo-pacific priorities
hawaii
The relationship between the U.S. Military and Hawai'i has been a
critical piece of U.S. military and diplomatic strategy for over 125
years. Hawaii's strategic location in the Pacific, unique training and
port areas, and support for critical defense missions make it a
cornerstone of our posture in the Indo-Pacific region. In support of
this indispensable defense mission, the Military Departments have
jurisdiction over approximately 222,000 acres of land in Hawai'i,
roughly four percent of Hawaii's land base. This includes approximately
45,300 in lands leases from the State of Hawaii which are going to
expire between 2029-2032. These lands provide ideal locations for
specialized defense capabilities, multi-domain operating areas to
generate future force readiness, and training ranges that our Joint
Force leverages with allies and partners.
Retaining these mission critical training lands is a top priority
to support the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) warfighter.
The Department recognizes that past incidents, particularly the
fuel and concentrated AFFF spills at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage
Facility and the diesel spill at the Maui Space Surveillance Complex,
have resulted in a loss of public trust between the DoD and Hawai'i
residents. The situation has underscored the importance of working
collaboratively with stakeholders to address DoD's use of lands and
natural resources in Hawaii. Military personnel in Hawaii are working
to engage consistently, respectfully, and transparently to strengthen
relationships in support of the shared goals of national security,
economic prosperity, and a healthy environment. The Hawaii Coordination
Cell (HCC), established last year within EI&E, is working closely with
the Military Departments, USINDOPACOM, and OSD counterparts to support
a comprehensive and coordinated approach to support these efforts. The
HCC serves as a primary point of contact for State and local officials,
businesses, community organizations, and interested stakeholders to
connect with military personnel, engage in dialogue about key issues of
concern and create opportunities for collaboration. These activities
are essential to enable the continuation of the critical military
missions in Hawai'i.
construction on guam
The Department is preparing to execute several critical posture
initiatives in Guam that will help to ensure a free and open Indo-
Pacific. These initiatives will require unprecedented levels of
military construction to ensure our forces have the right
infrastructure to organize, train, equip and, if necessary, deliver
lethal combat power. These efforts include the relocation of Marines
from Okinawa, the deployment of the Integrated Air and Missile Defense
of Guam capability, and Polaris Point expansion. Additionally, this
surge in military construction activity will address damages caused by
Typhoon Mawar. The increasing demand for military construction,
compounded by labor and material shortages posed by Guam's remote
location, prompted the Department to pursue a comprehensive approach to
supporting delivering the right capabilities to USINDOPACOM and the
warfighter.
To address these challenges, the Department is undertaking a
holistic master planning effort to effectively sequence development,
prioritize infrastructure needs, and align support functions with
mission growth. This plan will consolidate all construction activities
across Guam, offering a cohesive and forward-looking vision for the
island's development. Furthermore, the Department is working to
integrate and synchronize military construction efforts the Military
Departments, Defense Agencies, and DoD Field Activities. This approach
is designed to ensure the timely delivery of critical capabilities and
quality-of-life improvements for warfighters. The master planning
initiative will serve as a dynamic tool, accounting for mission
timelines, dependencies, programming and design needs, environmental
factors, extreme weather considerations, and other essential
requirements to guide future infrastructure investments.
conclusion
Thank you for the opportunity to provide this energy,
installations, and environment program update. We appreciate Congress'
continued support for our enterprise and look forward to working with
you.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. General Wilson.
STATEMENT OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL DAVID WILSON, DEPUTY
CHIEF OF STAFF, G-9, UNITED STATES ARMY
General Wilson. Chairman Boozman, Ranking Member Ossoff,
and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for
allowing me to appear before you today.
Our installations are the bedrock of Army readiness,
lethality, and warfighting capability. They are where our
soldiers train, live, work, and prepare to defend our nation.
My testimony today highlights the Army's unwavering commitment
to transforming our installations into agile and adaptable
platforms that can meet evolving missions and counter emerging
threats. From cyberattacks, to natural disasters, our
investments in the right locations and facilities, guarantees
that our warfighters will have the operational and support
infrastructure they need to succeed in their mission.
Our facility investment plan prioritizes Military
Construction and infrastructure projects based on the direct
input from the commanders in the field and a careful assessment
of the strategic needs. In fiscal year 2024, we awarded
significant funding for MILCON projects, and we are allocating
more in fiscal year 2025, representing an increase in
investment and a commitment to improving our infrastructure.
Beyond MILCON, we are investing heavily in facility
sustainment, restoration, and modernization, or FSRM, in the
future. And we appreciate Congress recognizing the vital need
by establishing the minimum Facilities Sustainment,
Restoration, and Modernization (FRSM) requirements in the 2025
NDAA, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration.
Taking care of our soldiers and their families remains our
number one priority, and their well-being is directly linked to
the readiness and the ability of the Army to accomplish its
mission. We are also deeply focused on improving the quality of
Army family housing, both government-owned and privatized.
Tenant satisfaction is improving; however, we recognize that
there is always more work to be done.
We are also actively exploring innovative energy solutions,
including tactical microgrids and the potential for nuclear
energy on our installations. The Army continues to leverage
public-private partnerships to drive broader innovation and
reduce our reliance on traditional funding sources. For
example, we are actively using energy saving performance
contracts, utility energy saving contracts, and
intergovernmental support agreements to improve our
installations' efficiency, lower operational costs, and promote
sustainability.
Predictable resourcing is absolutely essential to modernize
our Army installations, maintain our warfighting edge, and
ensure the safety and well-being of our soldiers, their
families, and our defense communities.
Thank you for your continued support and your commitment to
our Military, and the dedication to ensuring that the readiness
of our Army is first and foremost at the forefront.
I look forward to your questions.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of LTG David Wilson
introduction
Chairman Boozman, Ranking Member Ossoff, and distinguished members
of the subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to discuss the
Army's priorities for installations, military construction, and family
housing. Our installations are the nexus of the Army's lethality,
readiness, and warfighting. The ability to protect and project combat
power from installations around the world is no longer guaranteed or
routine. We must ensure our installations and infrastructure transform
into agile and adaptable platforms that will support evolving mission
requirements and meet emergent strategic threats.
Over the last year, the Army has made meaningful progress to
increase the adaptability, resiliency, and quality of our
installations, but more needs to be done to fulfill our commitment to
our Soldiers, their families, and the American people. Working with
Congress, we will continue to build on our efforts in 2026 and beyond.
We must guarantee predictable resourcing to enable our
installations to modernize at pace with our Army's transformation
efforts. We need to apply our investments in the right locations and in
the right types of facilities. These investments will help to ensure
our warfighters have sufficient operational and support infrastructure
to accomplish their missions. Second, we must transform our
installations and services to ensure they are not only reliable, but
also resilient-able to adapt to new missions while quickly recovering
from disruptions and overcoming new and emerging threats. Our
installations must stand ready to support not only the Army, but the
entire Department of Defense, no matter the mission. Finally, our
installations must be efficient and effective to ensure our
investments, funded by the taxpayers, are returning value in building
and sustaining warfighter readiness.
facility investments
The Army uses a deliberate process to prioritize military
construction and other facility investments, which are used to produce
an annual Facility Investment Plan (FIP)-a prioritized list of
projects, by component, under consideration from which the Army
develops infrastructure requirements. This prioritization considers
several factors from our commanders and senior leaders, including the
relative importance of various facility ypes, the installation's
location, and the installation's primary mission. The FIP is used to
inform the Army's annual budget request.
The Army's commitment to modernizing facilities and infrastructure
is evident in our FY24 and FY25 MILCON programs. In FY24, we awarded $2
billion for 48 MILCON projects, significantly improving Soldier quality
of life and enhancing mission readiness. These projects include vital
upgrades to barracks, construction of childcare centers, and
modernization of armories for our Reserve and National Guard. Building
on this momentum, the Army is initiating 43 MILCON projects in FY25,
representing an even larger investment and further demonstrating our
dedication to infrastructure improvements.
To further enhance our infrastructure, we also utilize Facilities
Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization (FSRM) funding. A
significant portion of this FSRM funding is directed towards
modernizing Regular Army facilities to ensure they can support
operational deployments and training requirements. We also dedicate
substantial resources to Army National Guard facilities, recognizing
their critical role in national defense and homeland security, as well
as to Army Reserve facilities, which are vital for maintaining the
readiness of our reserve component. These FSRM investments are
essential for transforming our facilities to meet evolving mission
requirements and for delivering modern, critical infrastructure to
support and house our warfighters.
However, unforeseen circumstances sometimes require us to adjust
our funding priorities. As we have communicated to the HASC and SASC,
the proposed $1.1 billion FSRM reprogramming is a necessary decision to
address the urgent and evolving needs of the Southern Border mission,
ensuring the Army can rapidly provide critical enabling support to DHS.
This reprogramming, while impacting some planned FSRM projects, is
carefully structured to minimize disruption to overall Army readiness.
The Army remains committed to both modernizing its facilities and
fulfilling its national security obligations.
We are grateful to Congress for recognizing the Army's need for
additional investment in our facilities by establishing minimum FSRM
requirements for the coming years in the 2025 National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA). The Army looks forward to working with
Congress to develop a strategy to resource this requirement.
unaccompanied housing--barracks
Our first and highest priority is to take care of our warfighters
and ensure they have proper facilities to live, work, and conduct
training. The challenge we face is a substantial backlog of deferred
maintenance that built up over many years. The Army, with the help of
Congress, has significantly increased annual investment over the last
few years to address this backlog, but these investments will take
several years to realize their effect. In the spirit of continual
improvement, the Army expanded the annual Tenant Satisfaction Survey to
include Soldiers living in barracks which helps assess whether
investments in our barracks are improving Soldiers' quality of life. In
addition to making long-term investments, the Army is also taking
immediate action, such as, having barracks monitors and Department of
Public Works (DPW) staff from the installations improving the
maintenance tempo and facility management of the places Soldiers live
and work.
The Army continues to look for new and innovative ways to maximize
our facility investments to improve our barracks quality and reduce the
costs to taxpayers. Last year, the Army initiated a privatized barracks
project at Fort Irwin, California, where an initial life-cycle cost
analysis shows the potential for it to be cost-effective to have a
private company build and manage these barracks than to build and
sustain the full requirement of government-owned barracks. The Army
currently has unaccompanied apartment projects at six locations, four
target E6 and above unaccompanied Soldiers and two target lower
enlisted Soldiers. Three new privatized barracks projects are being
considered at four locations that currently host successful UH
apartment projects. We also thank Congress for the pilot program in the
FY 2024 NDAA allowing replacement of significantly degraded barracks
rather than continuing to invest in marginal repairs. This authority
can be used when the estimated cost for repairing a barracks is equal
or greater than 75% of the estimated cost to construct a new barracks.
The Army is using this authority at Fort Cavazos, where combining two
older barracks buildings into one single new construction building will
significantly decrease the long-term costs of continuing to repair
failing buildings.
army family housing
Taking care of our warfighters is also taking care of their
families. The Army takes care of our families whether their warfighter
is at home or not. The Army continues to make significant progress to
provide high-quality family housing-both government-owned and
privatized.
We thank Congress for supporting the Army's request to extend
certain authorizations in the FY 2025 NDAA-these extensions are
critical as the overseas coordination required for some of the projects
takes longer than domestic projects.
In addition to ensuring high-quality government-controlled housing,
the Army has made significant progress in improving the quality of
privatized housing domestically. Over the last 2 years, the Army has
implemented several oversight reforms to better hold privatized housing
providers accountable for maintaining the high-quality privatized
housing our Soldiers deserve. These efforts have included strengthening
and clarifying enforcement language in ground leases, conducting house-
by-house inspections, implementing quality assurance of construction
and renovations, and developing a standardized quality assurance
maintenance program that is applicable to all privatized housing
companies doing business with the Army.
By the end of CY 2026, the Army will complete third-party
inspections of all our family housing inventory. When our inspections
reveal deficiencies in work performed, the Army privatized housing
provider or installation DPW reacts quickly to rectify the situation
via the housing provider. The Army also conducts the annual Tenant
Satisfaction Survey to assess the quality of our homes and keep housing
providers accountable for maintaining those homes. I am pleased to
report that last year's survey results showed steady increases of 1%,
2.5%, and 1.5% in tenant satisfaction from prior years in Army Family
Housing, Privatized Housing, and the Privatized Unaccompanied
Apartments, respectively. Our increased investments, improved
maintenance response and customer service, and increased Army oversight
all contributed to these higher scores. These increases also indicate
the Army's housing providers are doing a better job servicing our
homes, but also highlighted areas where the Army and providers can
improve.
installation resilience
Modernized installations, which include ensuring access to reliable
power and water, are vital to assuring mission success. Given our
installations primarily rely on commercial utilities for energy and
water, we must ensure they are protected from external disruptions and
can quickly recover. Vulnerabilities, both natural and man- made,
associated with interdependent electric power grids, natural gas
pipelines, and water resources and systems can jeopardize installation
security and mission capabilities.
To assess these potential risks to our water and energy systems,
98% of our installations have completed Installation Energy and Water
Plans (IEWPs) to identify requirements and risks, and to develop
mitigation techniques that decrease operating costs. For example, the
Army is deploying microgrids on installations, conducting Black Start
Exercises (BSEs), and testing the cyber domain through the Cyber
Readiness Resilience Exercises (CRRE).
In addition to decreasing operating costs, efforts to reduce energy
and water consumption allow us to invest in modernization and
innovation of installation energy. Two such examples are tactical
microgrid systems and nuclear energy on installations. The Tactical
Microgrid Standard (TMS) was released in January 2023. It establishes
standards for communications and controls, safety, and cyber security
for tactical power grids, and defines the tactical grid architecture
using an open standard to support various systems and capabilities. The
Army continues to develop technologies designed to add energy storage
to tactical power systems, enable vehicle-exported power, improve
capabilities like extended silent watch, and hybridize existing ground
generator systems to reduce generator runtime, improve reliability, and
enable mobile, distributed operations.
The Army is carrying out the President's Executive Order on
Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security,
including establishing a program of record for the utilization of
nuclear energy for both installation and operation energy. This
includes quickly working to deliver on the President's direction to
begin operations of an advanced nuclear reactor on an installation no
later than the end of FY 2028. The Army expects to have additional
details at a later date.
To test our energy resiliency, BSEs allow installations to
experience the impact of a power outage from a service disruption. The
Army has completed 20 BSEs, including, seven exercises in FY 2024, and
is planning six more in FY 2025, and five in FY 2026. In FY 2024, the
Army conducted our first cyber resilience readiness exercise at Fort
Carson, Colorado and is planning an additional exercise this fiscal
year.
To be more efficient with taxpayer investments in our
installations, the Army's Office of Energy Initiatives (OEI) continues
to explore public-private partnerships that reduce the need for
appropriated funding and employ a wide array of energy technologies in
support of installation mission operations. The OEI looks to leverage
the value of underutilized installation land for the development of
energy-generation facilities that will enhance energy resiliency.
Rather than a monetary rent payment for leasing installation lands, the
Army typically seeks in-kind consideration to satisfy the fair-market
value requirement. For energy-generation facilities, this includes the
ability to prioritize power from the project to support critical
missions during grid disruption. The Army's collaboration with private
industry (both public utility companies and independent power
producers) has resulted in approximately $677 million of private-sector
investment and over $764 million of avoided costs for the Army. For our
active installations, the Army continues to use Energy Savings
Performance Contracts (ESPCs), Utility Energy Savings Contracts (UESC),
and Intergovernmental Service Agreements (IGSAs) to improve
installation efficiency and lower facility operational costs across all
utilities and services. The Army is working to award nine ESPCs and
UESCs totaling $338 million in FY 2025. Resilience enhancements remain
a focus for ESPCs and UESCs, including a planned natural gas pipeline
providing 16 megawatts of power generation at Fort Irwin and numerous
industrial equipment upgrades to improve operational efficiency at
Anniston Army Depot. The Army's 185 IGSAs, saving $120M, include
agreements for environmental services, waste management, and dozens of
other community partnerships. Going forward, we intend to increase our
use of ESPCs, UESCs, and IGSAs to reduce the long-term costs of our
installations.
The Army is doing comprehensive energy and water resilience
planning at installations worldwide, including in the Middle East
(CENTCOM), Europe (EUCOM), and Indo- Pacific region (INDOPACOM). These
forward installations are critical to assuring the Army's readiness and
maintaining warfighting skills, with special emphasis on the unique
threat picture and host nation requirements in each area. In EUCOM and
CENTCOM, energy risks include the reliability of host nation energy
supplies. In these regions, we actively collaborate with partners to
understand and mitigate risk. The Army is building energy resilience
across INDOPACOM by developing microgrids, implementing energy and
water efficiency measures, and ensuring adequate fuel reserves to
support operations during potential disruptions.
conclusion
In strategic competition, our adversaries are looking for ways to
challenge us not just overseas, but right here at home. They will look
for ways to eliminate our homefield advantage. Countering this requires
predictable resourcing to enable our installations to modernize at pace
of the Army's transformation efforts and remain the world's most
powerful fighting force. Ensuring safe, reliable, and high-quality
installations for Soldiers, Families, Civilians, and defense
communities is critical to ensuring the Army can remain adaptable to
mission requirements around the world.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. Admiral Jablon.
STATEMENT OF VICE ADMIRAL JEFFREY T. JABLON, DEPUTY
CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS FOR INSTALLATIONS
AND LOGISTICS, UNITED STATES NAVY
General Jablon. Chairman Boozman, Ranking Member Ossoff,
distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the
opportunity to testify before you today.
I am looking forward to discussing the critical role of our
installations and infrastructure that they play in effectively
developing, generating, employing, and sustaining the Navy and
Joint Force. It is an honor to appear before you today and a
privilege to speak on behalf of the sailors and Navy civilians
stationed at our 70 installations around the world.
The Navy's total MILCON and FSRM requirements far exceed
the funds available, but with strong congressional support, we
are focusing our infrastructure investments to maximize
operational readiness and to improve the quality of life for
our personnel and their families.
Your trust, confidence, and commitment are vital to
ensuring the Navy's continued capability to maintain the peace,
respond to crisis, and support critical Navy and Joint Force
requirements to win decisively in war. The Secretary of Defense
recently issued interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,
which directs Department of Defense activities to restore peace
through strength.
The Navy Logistics Enterprise, which includes our
installations and infrastructure, is focused on carrying out
the tenets of the Strategic Guidance through the implementation
of the Navy's Maritime Sustainment Strategy.
The Navy understands that readiness starts from the shore,
and effective infrastructure is the cornerstone of our Maritime
Sustainment Strategy to not only support the quality of life
for our sailors, but also sustain operations of the Navy and
Joint Force around the globe. We are focusing our efforts to
prioritize and program resources to repair, modernize, and
replace critical infrastructure directly supporting operational
readiness in the Indo-Pacific.
For example, the $2.2 billion Congress provided in the
fiscal year 2025 Disaster Supplemental provides critical
resources for Typhoon Mawar recovery efforts in Guam, to
include repairs to Apra Harbor, Glass Breakwater, HSC-25 Hangar
MILCON, and hardening of our critical electrical feeders to the
Navy base, and with congressional support, continued investment
in our infrastructure will maintain our progress toward a
modern, resilient, and ready network of installations that
ensure fleet readiness, combat logistics capability across
peacetime, competition, and contested environments to support
both the Navy and Joint Force lethality.
Thank you. And I look forward to our discussion today.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of VADM Jeffrey T. Jablon
introduction
Chairman Boozman, Ranking Member Ossoff, distinguished members of
the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you
today. I am looking forward to discussing the critical role of our
installations and infrastructure in effectively developing, generating,
employing and sustaining the Navy and Joint Force. It is an honor to
appear before you and a privilege to speak on behalf of the sailors and
Navy civilians stationed at our 70 installations around the world. With
strong Congressional support, we are improving our infrastructure to
maximize operational readiness and improving the quality of life for
our personnel and their families. Your trust, confidence, and
commitment are vital to ensuring our Navy's capability to maintain the
peace, respond to crises, and support critical Navy and Joint Force
requirements to win decisively in war.
strengthening our force from the shore
The Secretary of Defense recently issued Interim National Defense
Strategic Guidance, which directs Department of Defense activities to
restore peace through strength. Through the framework of this new
guidance, the Navy is standing ready if directed, to fight and win our
Nation's wars. In demonstrating that ability, the Navy is integral to
reestablishing deterrence, defending the American homeland, and
preserving our way of life. Our Naval Logistics Enterprise (NLE), which
includes our installations and infrastructure, is vital to addressing
the strategic challenges outlined in the Interim National Defense
Strategic Guidance.
A fundamental aspect of ensuring lethality is the ability to
effectively sustain military operations. To this end, the Navy is
focused on the implementation of our recently published Maritime
Sustainment Strategy to ensure the Navy can provide the right materiel
and services, at the right place and right time, across the competition
continuum, regardless of operational tempo and level of demand from
distributed operational forces. The Navy understands that readiness
starts from the shore, and effective infrastructure is the cornerstone
of our Maritime Sustainment Strategy to sustain operations of the Navy
and Joint Force around the globe.
Specifically, to ensure we are properly focusing our efforts and
resources to deter aggression by Communist China in the Indo-Pacific
region, we are assessing, prioritizing and programming resources to
repair, modernize, or replace critical infrastructure directly
supporting operational readiness in the Indo-Pacific. The scope of our
actions is focused on infrastructure required to support combat against
the pacing challenge of China. Investment in our infrastructure
maintains our progress toward a sustainable, modern, resilient, and
ready network of installations and contingency locations that ensure
fleet readiness and combat logistics capability across peacetime,
competition, and contested environments to support both Navy and Joint
Force lethality.
military construction
Investing in Navy installations is crucial for maintaining
operational readiness and ensuring that our forces can respond
immediately to emerging threats. The Navy's MILCON budget invests in
the highest-priority projects that provide the necessary infrastructure
to support advanced training, logistics, and mission-critical
operations.
MILCON projects that support the Navy's nuclear deterrence mission,
invest in INDOPACOM, support new platforms, advance Shipyard
Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP) efforts, and enhance key
facilities and infrastructure that contribute to warfighter lethality
are critical. In addition, MILCON investment in quality of life (QoL)
initiatives for our sailors and their families, including unaccompanied
housing (UH), child development centers (CDCs). MILCON investment is
also essential to sustaining fleet readiness. Prioritization of funds
is based on guidance from Navy leadership, input from fleet and
combatant commanders, and installation requirements.
base operating support and facilities sustainment restoration and
modernization
In addition to MILCON funding, our shore installations require FSRM
funding to ensure the Navy is equipped with modern and well-maintained
facilities to properly support warfighting capabilities around the
globe. This funding provides the necessary infrastructure enhancements
to support advanced training, logistics, and mission-critical
operations. Navy Base Operating Support (BOS) comprises fleet
operations, safety and security, facility support, QoL, and mission
support and management programs provided to 70 Navy installations
worldwide.
The BOS program sustains mission capabilities, ensures regulatory
compliance, and promotes QoL for sailors and their families. BOS funds
personnel and infrastructure support, contributes to morale and
retention, and enhances work force productivity.
I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to Congress for
providing $2.2 billion in supplemental funding to address damage from
Typhoon Mawar in Guam. This funding included $900 million for FSRM,
$130 million for Family Housing and $1.13 billion for MILCON. Damage
from Typhoon Mawar impacted both civilian and military infrastructure,
affecting mission support and QoL for both residents and service
members.
Restoration and Modernization (RM) funding is essential for
revitalizing critical infrastructure that has deteriorated over time
and use. DON RM investment priorities are aligned strongly with the
Department's focus on lethality. Increased funding for the utilities
and fuels programs is critical to account for recent volatile global
markets and to ensure ``must pay'' bills do not take funds at the
expense of fleet modernization RM projects.
The FY 2025 NDAA directs the military departments to spend 4% of
their real property plant replacement value (PRV) on FSRM by FY 2030.
Once implemented, this represents a historically significant increase
in shore infrastructure investment, will arrest future degradation,
begin to recover the maintenance backlog, and increase average facility
condition and remaining service life. We look forward to working with
you on the best implementation of this requirement.
shipyard infrastructure optimization program
The Navy's SIOP is well underway, having completed 45 projects at
our four public shipyards totaling over $1 billion. These projects
deliver facility and utility improvements, maintain dry dock
certifications, ensure safe handling of nuclear material, correct
facility safety deficiencies, and increase resilience. SIOP has an
additional 49 projects (including four dry docks) costing $6 billion
under contract.
The Navy is focused on construction and recapitalization of dry
docks (DD) and piers to support the class maintenance plans for our
nuclear powered submarines and aircraft carriers. The FY2025 NDAA
requires the SIOP to update cost and schedule management policy and
guidance. The SIOP is required to brief Congress quarterly on dry-dock
construction performance, and the Government Accountability Office's
2025 audit is focused on SIOP planning and contract management. We look
forward to working with you to ensure visibility and transparency on
our schedules and costs on this vitally important program.
unaccompanied housing
The Navy is committed to delivering QoL commensurate with the
sacrifices of our sailors. A key element to this is providing quality
UH for eligible sailors. The Navy is committed to, and focused on,
improving the current conditions of UH and addressing new concerns,
while producing a sustainable inventory enterprise-wide.
The Navy has made meaningful progress to address UH conditions and
occupant concerns, but there is more work to do. The Navy has taken
significant actions in UH to improve the QoL of our sailors. We've
increased RM funds by $45 million to repair poor-condition UH
facilities. We've also launched a free wi-fi pilot program at 12 UH
locations in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and are currently confirming
future funding availability for free high-speed wi-fi access for all UH
residents. In addition, SECNAV signed out a Department of the Navy UH
Bill of Rights and Responsibilities and Universal Lease with updated
guidance, and we are continuing to streamline the maintenance reporting
process.
Another significant action has been the Navy's ``Forging
Communities of Excellence'' initiative to address the September 2023
GAO report findings and FY 2024 NDAA requirements. This initiative
focuses improvements along three distinct Lines of Effort (LOE):
Facilities Improvement, Management, and QoL. LOE 1 aims to improve the
quality of the Navy's barracks through targeted investments in
government-owned barracks and expansion of UH privatization where
appropriate. The Navy has continued QoL enhancements in Military
Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) UH to expand projects for both
Hampton Roads, Virginia, and San Diego, California. These expansions
will privatize an additional 8,078 bedrooms in Hampton Roads and 3,435
bedrooms in San Diego. The Navy's pilot Higher Rate of Partial BAH
authority for UH MHPI was carried out using 10 USC 2881(a) LOE 2
ensures consistent service through a well-sourced, well-trained, and
well-equipped workforce. LOE 3 continues to build trust and
partnerships with residents by providing high- quality ancillary
services, comfortable surroundings, and consistent, meaningful
interaction. Under LOE 3, for example, the roll out of quick response
(QR) maintenance codes at four pilot locations resulted in a 50%
decrease in maintenance response times in 1 year. We are targeting
rollout of this capability across the enterprise by the end of calendar
2025. Furthermore, the Navy is implementing the Navy Housing
Accreditation Inspection Program in the 4th Quarter of FY2025 for all
government-owned or -leased UH. This program will generate performance
data to drive decision making and quality improvement initiatives. The
Navy expects to identify best practices and performance gaps with this
program in the coming fiscal year.
family housing
The Navy continues to prioritize execution, long-term monitoring,
and oversight of Navy Family Housing (FH) operations to enable safe and
affordable housing for service members and their families. Congress has
appropriated additional funding for FH, particularly at the Service
oversight level. The additional funding enabled us to increase to
nearly 200 new employees focused on oversight and/or inspections of
public-private venture (PPV) MHPI Housing. The new staffing levels
advancethe Navy's ability to better assess policies and processes, and
respond to the needs of our ssailors and their families.
Inspections have yielded additional insights on the overall
conditions and quantity of available housing units. The Navy has
completed 100% of the required FY 2020 and 2021 NDAA-required one-time
inspections. We've also implemented processes to ensure inspections
occur with each move-in and move-out, as well as lease pre-termination
inspections upon request. The Navy provides inspection results to PPV
partners for immediate remediation. We continually monitor health and
safety conditions, as well as maintenance work orders and follow- ups
with residents. PPV staff and partners have participated in 13 audits
assigned from GAO, the Naval Audit Service and the DoD Office of
Inspector General. The results of these audits have assisted the Navy
in improving our standards, procedures, and guidelines.
The Navy has also launched the Department of Defense (DOD) Housing
Feedback System (DHFS) to increase transparency and accountability of
DOD PPV FH. DHFS provides sailors and their family members with the
ability to publicly share feedback on housing conditions. In addition,
Tenant Satisfaction Surveys are conducted annually, informing the PPV
partners about resident concerns so they can take corrective actions.
Installation commanders monitor the actions taken to address tenants'
concerns.
navy child and youth programs
Navy Child and Youth Programs provide affordable, quality child and
youth services to our sailors and their families and are a workforce
enabler that directly enhances the readiness, efficiency, and retention
of our Navy. The Navy continues to pursue military construction,
facility sustainment (including equipment), and playground funding to
improve or maintain the condition of our CDCs and School-Aged Care
facilities.
The Navy is focused on expanding childcare capacity that involves
staffing initiatives, construction of new Navy childcare facilities,
and use of community resources. The quality of child youth programs is
high, but the Navy continues to face capacity shortfalls, particularly
in the fleet concentration areas of Norfolk, San Diego, Kitsap, Pearl
Harbor, Jacksonville and the National Capital Region.
The current total unmet waitlist for Navy Child Development Centers
is 2.5K, which is down from 5.3K at the start of FY 2023. The Navy is
working to increase staffing levels, currently at 87%. Efforts include
updating management staffing structure, enhancing training, recruitment
incentives, and staff childcare discounts. Also, Military Childcare in
Your Neighborhood fee assistance is available to families that are
geographically dispersed or in locations with long waitlists for on-
base care. The Navy has expanded fee assistance to over 9,000 spaces,
which is up from 6,500 at the start of FY 2024.
conclusion
To deter aggression by Communist China and others, we are
assessing, prioritizing and programming resources to focus on
infrastructure directly supporting the Navy and Joint Force in the
Indo-Pacific, as well as providing quality of life around the globe to
our vitally important sailors and their families.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today, and
thank you for supporting our uniformed personnel, civilians, and their
families around the world doing incredible work on behalf of the
security of this country. As Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for
Installations and Logistics, I look forward to working with you in the
continued pursuit of warfighting capability, readiness both afloat and
ashore, and support for our sailors and their families.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. General Sklenka.
STATEMENT OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL STEPHEN D. SKLENKA,
DEPUTY COMMANDANT FOR INSTALLATIONS AND
LOGISTICS, UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
General Sklenka. Chairman Boozman, and Ranking Member
Ossoff, and distinguished Members of this Subcommittee. I
really appreciate the opportunity to testify today regarding
your Marine Corps' Military Construction and the quality of
life initiatives that we have. On behalf of the Commandant,
also, I want to make a special thanks to all of you for your
continued support, to all of our Marines, the active duty,
reserve component, civilian, retired, and of course to our
families.
Now, the infrastructure and MILCON challenges confronting
the Marine Corps today, these are decades in the making, and
there are no quick-fix solutions. As repeatedly documented by
the Government Accountability Office (GAO), our deferred
maintenance and our MILCON needs, they are significant, and
they go beyond our ability to self-fund.
The year-long Continuing Resolution has exacerbated these
challenges. But what I am not going to do today is I am not
going to state that the only solution to these issues is more
money and greater resourcing. As we have previously testified,
and as has been noted by the GAO, additional funding is indeed
required, but so is leadership.
And to that end, the Commandant, his directive to us has
been clear: it is a commitment to our Marines and their
families, young people from your respective states. That
commitment is unwavering. They are what we value the most, and
that is why we will continue to accelerate the delivery of our
Barracks 2030 Project as well as aggressively implement our
Force Design and Marine Corps' modernization.
Now, regarding our bases and stations, the Commandant and I
have long expressed the point that these are no longer
administrative garrison sanctuaries. I think we should expect
that the opening salvo in any conflict with a peer adversary is
going to be aimed at our infrastructure, and our installations
here in the homeland will not be exempt from such attacks. In
fact, I think the case can easily made, easily be made that the
first shots are already being fired, fired in the form of cyber
attacks, UAS incursions, campaigns of subversion, as well as
disruption.
Against a peer adversary, we are going to find ourselves
not only fighting from our bases and installations, but in
several cases, we will likely find ourselves fighting for those
very bases and installations.
Now, with strong support from Congress, we are making
progress, but it is going to require a sustained effort over a
sustained period. No one budget year is going to provide enough
resources to overcome our existing challenges, or to eliminate
the threats to our installations. However, the Marine Corps, as
we always have, will continue to make every dollar count, and
maximize the return on investment for the American people and
the Marines that they have entrusted us to lead.
Now, we remain extremely grateful to the subcommittee for
your partnership and your leadership, and together we are going
to ensure that our installations are as resilient and as ready
as the Marines that they support.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today. And I
look forward to your questions.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Sklenka
introduction
Chairman Boozman, Ranking Member Ossoff, and distinguished Members
of this subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify about
the status and priorities of the Marine Corps military construction
(MILCON) program and quality-of-life initiatives. On behalf of the
Commandant and all Marines, I thank the Committee for its continued
support in providing the resources required to ensure your Marine Corps
ready to be first-to-fight. As the subcommittee is well aware, the
infrastructure and MILCON challenges confronting the Marine Corps, as
identified by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Government
Accountability Office, and in service testimony, are significant and
well beyond our ability to self-fund. As a consequence of the year-long
continuing resolution and reduced funding levels, the Marine Corps has
been forced to make some tough decisions. In FY 2025, the Marine Corps
is deferring $174 million in facilities sustainment, restoration, and
modernization (FSRM) and cancelling $4 million in order to account for
these funding impacts. $155 million of this deferral is tied to the
Barracks 2030 investments. This has also prevented us from spending the
mandatory minimums on FSRM, as established in the National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA). Remedying these systemic challenges across
our installation enterprise will only be possible with your continued
support.
current threats
The resiliency of our installations is critical to the Marine
Corps' ability to sustain combat readiness and mission effectiveness in
the face of a rapidly evolving global threat landscape. Our bases and
stations are not simply fixed support structures but integrated nodes
in our National defense architecture, which our adversaries will attack
in all domains. Resilient infrastructure enables the Marine Corps to
operate effectively under all conditions, in any threat environment, by
maintaining a reliable power grid, ensuring the supply of potable
water, and preserving communications that enable rapid mobilization,
the deployment of forces, and the projection of credible combat power.
This is why we are aggressively implementing the installation
components of Force Design.
Our adversaries are working tirelessly to subvert the resiliency
and daily operations of our bases and stations. China in particular is
more comfortable using, combining, and coordinating all means- military
and increasingly non-military-to achieve its operational and strategic
ends than any other adversary we've encountered. Militarily, China's
intent is to use air and sea attacks on our logistics networks to delay
and deny sustainment of our forces. China's planned use of cyber
attacks on our infrastructure will be designed to sow confusion and
discord in our communities while denying us clean water, reliable power
and electricity, effective sewage treatment, and other essential
services. Such attacks will attempt to disrupt our command and control
as well as our ability to project power from our installations.
Until recently, none of us currently in uniform have had to contend
with a contested strategic or operational environment; we had
unfettered access to and within the global commons for decades after
the end of World War II. We could transport whatever we wanted wherever
we wanted without fear of losing either that cargo or the platform
transporting it. We could set up at a benign port or airfield and
operate without any real threat to those operations. While we had the
occasional rockets to contend with or even local attacks to repel, we
never had to concern ourselves with existential threats to our global
force posture.
Those days are effectively over, and our installations will
undoubtedly be targets of adversarial intentions. In preparation for
this contested environment, the Marine Corps is prioritizing
investments and actions to improve the security of our facilities and
harden them against modern threats.
background
Though the Indo-Pacific remains the priority theater, our
adversaries will not confine their activities to one region. They will
contest us everywhere-including in our homeland. The weapons engagement
zone can no longer be viewed as something confined to the First Island
Chain, or any other limited geographic space. We should all expect the
proverbial first shots in any conflict with China to be aimed at our
infrastructure-not our infantry or aviation units.
Those fires will be in the form of cyber attacks on critical
infrastructure, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) incursions, traditional
electronic attack, and subversion or disruption via host-nationals or
foreign nationals. Marine Corps networks have been attacked globally by
China and other malicious actors, and they are under siege every day.
In the last week of May, the Marine Corps confirmed hundreds of
malicious attempts to access our information networks. The utility
systems, communications networks, and other critical infrastructure
supporting our installations remain under constant threat of adversary
infiltration and exploitation due to obsolete cybersecurity
infrastructure.
To succeed in such an environment, we will have to fight for our
bases and stations, and not just from them. Simply stated, our
installations are no longer administrative garrison sanctuaries, but
rather critical terrain to be defended and contested as such.
To ensure we prevail in the next fight, wherever it may be, we must
modernize and harden our installations-their physical infrastructure
and especially their networks -against attacks on our ability to
mobilize, project combat power, and sustain operational readiness. To
support this, we are developing Force Design Optimization Plans (FDOPs)
for our bases and stations, in addition to the Installation Master
Plans being developed in accordance with requirements in a previous
NDAA and title 10 U.S. Code Sec. 2864. Each FDOP will address new
facility requirements, identify future FSRM and MILCON projects
required to create the resilience necessary in conflict, and provide
all project documentation (via the DD1391 package). Once completed,
these plans will be made available to the Committee and provided to
each Member with a Marine Corps installation in their state, territory,
district, or adjacent district.
barracks 2030, service quality of life, and operational readiness
imperatives
Improving the readiness and quality of life of our Marines and
sailors via the full implementation of our Barracks 2030 Plan remains a
top priority for the Commandant, and this will not change. Barracks
2030 is our service's most consequential infrastructure investment plan
in 50 years, and its execution is essential to generating and
sustaining readiness. It is also essential to fulfilling our
obligation, our compact with the Marines and sailors we lead, to
provide them the facilities to support quality sleep, behavioral and
mental health, physical health and nutrition, and everything else to
prepare them for the challenges they face the next day. Ensuring better
sleep, dietary, and fitness outcomes should further contribute to fewer
lost days due to fatigue, injury, or illness, and will contribute to
our overall efforts to improve our culture of safety.
At present, we are unable to meet this obligation to our own
uncompromising level of satisfaction, but we are dedicated to this
mission and to remediating the devastating effects of decades of
deferred maintenance within our installation portfolio.
The Commandant and I are committed to providing Marines the
barracks they deserve and can be proud of, yet the obstacles to
overcome are significant-and they are decades in the making, as noted
in the CBO's Report on Deferred Maintenance in October 2024. It notes
the Marine Corps has a deferred maintenance bill in the billions of
dollars. The deferred costs at Camp Pendleton, Camp Lejeune, and Marine
Corps Base Hawaii total at least $4 billion.
But as the Commandant says: We became Marines to do hard things,
and remediating nearly two decades of underinvestment and deferred
maintenance in our barracks in a fraction of the time is one of those
hard things. At present, our Facilities Sustainment (FS) account is
funded to 54% of the active component requirement of $1.3 billion, and
77% of the reserve component requirement. In total, our FSRM accounts
are approximately 12% of our total operation and maintenance funding.
Despite these funding challenges, we are slowly eating into our
total shortfalls, and over the past 24 months we have initiated the
renovation and repair of 23 barracks at a total cost of approximately
$300 million, which markedly improves the quality of life for 7,300
Marines. While this is a good start, it is the proverbial drop in the
bucket for a portfolio with 108 barracks in need of renovation
estimated to cost more than $4 billion. The total estimated cost to
fully implement Barracks 2030 is nearly $30 billion over the next
several years for barracks modernization, material, and management
requirements.
In addition to renovations, we must accelerate demolitions to
right-size our inventory. While it may sound counterintuitive to
identify increased demolition (physical destruction) as a requirement
for improved quality of life, it is necessary to generate resources and
improve the living conditions of our Marines. Our current inventory of
658 barracks includes 69 that need to be demolished. Our plans include
demolishing 37 barracks between FY 2026 and FY 2030, including seven at
Camp Lejeune, six at Camp Pendleton, six at Marine Corps Air Station
(MCAS) Miramar, eight at MCAS Yuma, and the remaining 10 at various
other installations. Doing so will free the service from the costs of
heating, cooling, cleaning, and repairing old, largely empty
facilities, resulting in cost savings and avoidances of approximately
$125 million per year.
During a previous hearing, my predecessor testified that many of
our facilities lack air conditioning; this includes barracks at Camp
Horno in Southern California. While no one thinks this is acceptable,
few--if any--would think remediating this problem would require more
resources than what the service has available in all FSRM accounts for
the entire force--or in its warfighting readiness accounts for the
operating forces.
family housing
The Marine Corps remains focused on improving the Military Housing
Privatization Initiative experience for Marines, sailors, and families.
We have seen improvement in oversight, operation, maintenance, and
customer service by our public-private venture (PPV) partners. We
remain grateful for Congress' support for this additional oversight,
and we hold property-management companies financially accountable for
poor performance through incentive fee structures in our PPV business
agreements.
Where there are issues with maintenance, work-order completions,
and tenant satisfaction scores, the total incentive fee received by a
property management company can be cut by tens of thousands of dollars,
depending on the value of the property and the severity of performance
shortfalls.
Aboard our two largest installations, Camp Lejeune and Camp
Pendleton, we have reduced waiting times for housing. At present, the
wait time for housing aboard Camp Lejeune is 1-9 months for junior
Marines and 1-8 months for company-grade officers; for both groups,
waiting times depend on the neighborhood and home size. At Camp
Pendleton, the wait time for junior Marines is 1-4 months, with no wait
in some neighborhoods. For company grade officers wait times range from
a few weeks to 12 months depending on home size. While these wait times
are improvements over previous years, we will strive to reduce them
even further.
child development centers
High-quality child care is a readiness priority for the Marine
Corps, and we are matching that priority with investment in child care-
related MILCON projects. A $44.1 million Child Development Center (CDC)
at Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Pendleton is currently under
construction to add 250 childcare spaces, which will satisfy the
existing demand for increased classroom capacity. In Guam, a $105.2
million CDC was awarded in May 2024 to support 276 childcare spaces,
which will support our growing posture on the island. These new CDCs
will offer increased childcare capacity where it is needed the most,
facilitating necessary changes in our force's footprint and providing
long-term relief from extended wait times. However, while construction
helps resolve long wait times related to overall capacity at an
installation, it does not solve more pressing issues related to
staffing at our CDCs.
Currently, 16 of our installations operate CDCs. However, five
locations-MCB Quantico, MCB Camp Lejeune/MCAS New River, MCAS Beaufort/
Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) Parris Island, MCB Camp Pendleton,
and MCB Hawaii-account for 75 percent of the Marine Corps' childcare
waitlist. Those same five installations are operating at 85 percent of
their authorized staffing levels due to difficulties attracting and
retaining childcare workers. To address these unacceptable wait times,
the Marine Corps is taking active steps to ensure that staffing levels
at our CDCs meet the needs of our Marines, sailors, and families. More
than 40 percent of our direct-care employees are Marine spouses, and
PCS contributes to the annual turnover rate at our CDC facilities. To
better support both our CDCs and Marine spouse employment, we have
established a program that allows for non-competitive transfer of
childcare employees, so they can transfer seamlessly to a new duty
station. Through this program, the Marine Corps has retained more than
180 spouse employees in our CDC workforce. Also, in line with
requirements laid out in Section 633 of the FY25 NDAA and in alignment
with Department of Defense guidance, the Marine Corps has implemented a
``no fee'' first-child discount for all direct-care employees at our
CDCs to attract qualified candidates and increase employee retention.
The Marine Corps also provides Military Child Care in Your
Neighborhood (MCCYN) fee assistance for families without access to on-
base child care, whether due to wait lists or being stationed at a
location without a nearby CDC. In FY24, more than 1,800 children were
enrolled in the MCCYN program, with 733 community-based providers,
ensuring greater childcare availability for Marine families while also
supporting local businesses. These efforts directly support Marine
families and enhance overall force readiness.
fy 2025 milcon update
The Marine Corps is executing its fiscal year 2025 MILCON program
with appropriations provided by the FY 2025 continuing resolution. To
posture ourselves in the best manner to serve the Nation, we are
investing in the following areas:
Pacific Posture:
--Marine Corps Base Hawaii: We are constructing a new aircraft hangar
to support the home basing of KC-130J and MQ-9 aircraft. The
KC-130J is the Marine Corps' largest organic aviation platform,
offering increased in-theater lift capability for troops and
equipment. The MQ-9 is now the Marine Corps' largest UAS, and
offers persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
capabilities over extended ranges. Both of these aviation
platforms will provide crucial support to the joint force in
the Indo-Pacific.
--Guam: Guam is the only location west of the international dateline
that we have guaranteed access to in a conflict. With this in
mind, we are fully committed to ensuring our footprint in Guam
can support the forces necessary to deter, and if necessary,
prevail in conflict. We are building a new youth center to
support Marine families stationed on the island. We are also
constructing earth-covered magazines to store modern ordnance.
These projects contribute to key components of force readiness,
supporting the personal and operational requirements of Marines
as we adjust our forward posture.
--Australia: We are making improvements to our posture at Australian
Air Force Base Darwin, including the construction of an
aircraft maintenance hangar and maintenance support facilities.
These investments will provide increased maintenance and
storage capacity in support of Marine Rotational Force-Darwin
and theater security cooperation missions in the Indo-Pacific.
Modernization of Aviation Support Facilities:
--Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina: We
are constructing new maintenance facilities and hangar space at
MCAS Cherry Point, NC. This includes a sustainment center to
accommodate F-35 aircraft, maintenance and storage space, and
secure data network areas. Additionally, a composite repair
facility will provide a depot-level support for advanced
composite materials and rotor-blade repair.
Marine Forces Reserve:
--Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington: We are investing in a new
parachute survival training facility, for the maintenance,
repair, and storage of parachutes, as well as storage and
maintenance of arms for Marine Corps Reserve units in
Washington.
This MILCON program is a balanced approach and reaffirms our
enduring commitment to the Indo- Pacific, with five projects in the
region. Ultimately, this program enables us to provide and sustain
Marine forces that support our National security interests as
identified by our civilian leaders. We remain grateful for your
continued support in this continual endeavor.
advanced manufacturing and the organic industrial base
Across the Marine Corps, organizations face common operational
readiness challenges such as equipment obsolescence, diminishing
manufacturing sources, and materiel shortages. Meanwhile, persistent
supply-chain issues cause long lead times for parts replacement.
To mitigate these challenges, the Marine Corps is improving and
standardizing the implementation of advanced manufacturing practices at
all levels of command across the enterprise. Advanced manufacturing
creates opportunities to fully realize the value of distributed
operations and shore up supply-chain gaps in real time and at the point
of need. The technology for construction-scale additive manufacturing
(AM) is rapidly maturing, and we seek to invest in capabilities such as
concrete AM to address some immediate shortfalls in storage structures.
With Congress' continued support of our AM innovations, we will rapidly
deliver maintenance and storage facilities for newly developed weapons
systems and munitions while reducing costs and timelines for design and
construction. While such capability is particularly valuable in
expeditionary environments, it offers similar value for more permanent
installations as well.
The Marine Corps' Organic Industrial Base remains critical to both
weapon system sustainment and Fleet Marine Force readiness. The Marine
Corps' depot-level maintenance facilities repair 85 percent of the
service's ground equipment and directly support overflow field-level
maintenance for all three Marine Expeditionary Forces and Marine Forces
Reserve. During conflict, the Marine Corps' depot level maintenance
capability provides battle damage repair both forward and at the depots
ensuring damaged weapons systems return to the fight as quickly as
possible. Investments in AM technology will support this critical
mission, and in any future conflict, positioning more capable machines
as far forward as possible will reduce our reliance on overburdened
supply chains in a contested environment.
conclusion
The Marine Corps Installations and Logistics enterprise is
aggressively pursuing modernization initiatives and improvements to our
posture in the Indo-Pacific. As the Marine Corps continues its
transformation to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving threat
environment, it is abundantly clear our installations are no longer
administrative garrison sanctuaries-they are warfighting enablers in
their own right.
In the next fight, our installations will be as engaged and
essential to success as any of our warfighting formations. Against a
near-peer or peer adversary, we will certainly fight from our bases but
may also be required to fight for our bases, to preserve access to the
capabilities they provide our forces around the world. Our bases and
stations, at home and abroad, will be on the front lines of logistics,
command and control, cyber resilience, and force projection. Our
installations will sustain Marines operating in contested, distributed,
and degraded environments. They will serve as critical nodes in a
network of stand-in forces and must be capable of enduring disruption,
adapting to new threats, and sustaining lethality over time. We must
plan, posture, and protect our installations accordingly.
Every dollar invested in MILCON and infrastructure readiness
returns immense value to the Nation, supporting quality of life,
enabling forward presence, accelerating modernization, and ensuring we
can respond decisively to crises before they become conflicts. We will
show up every day and prove ourselves worthy of the trust of our
Marines, our partners, and the American people by demonstrating our
stewardship, accountability, and readiness.
Thanks to the steadfast support of Congress, we are making real
progress. From Barracks 2030 to cutting-edge logistics hubs and
resilient infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific, we are preparing our
installations to be mission-critical assets prepared to support our
warfighters in any future campaign. But this is only the beginning. The
pace of change demands we continue this momentum and accelerate it.
The Marine Corps remains the Nation's premier force in readiness,
and we are grateful for your partnership. Together, we will ensure our
installations are as resilient and ready as the Marines they support.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and for your enduring
commitment to our mission, our infrastructure, and the Marines who
stand ready to defend our Nation. Semper Fidelis.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. And General Miller.
STATEMENT OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL TOM D. MILLER, DEPUTY
CHIEF OF STAFF FOR LOGISTICS, ENGINEERING,
AND FORCE PROTECTION, UNITED STATES AIR
FORCE
General Miller. Good morning, Chair Boozman and Ranking
Member Ossoff, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee.
I am honored to appear today to discuss the fiscal year
2026 Air Force Military Construction Program. I would like to
begin by thanking the subcommittee for your steadfast support
of our Nation's Air Force and the Military Construction funding
that you have provided. Multiple projects, including an air
traffic control tower, a childcare development center, and
multiple Military Construction projects, benefited from the
$160 million in additional appropriations provided by Congress
beyond the fiscal year 2025 President's Budget.
Importantly, $487 million that Congress provided for the
fiscal year 2025 Disaster Relief Supplemental provides much-
needed resources to support Anderson Air Force Base's recovery
from the devastation of Typhoon Mawar.
Our Nation continues to face a nexus of complex challenges:
Defending the homeland, deterring the pacing threat of China in
the Indo-Pacific, the increasing complexity of multi-domain
threats, and the competition for resources, and the increasing
rate of technological change.
The People's Liberation Army continues expanding,
modernizing, and diversifying its entire Military, including
its air, space, cyber, and nuclear forces. In the face of these
challenges, this year's fiscal year 2026 budget reflects
ongoing modernization efforts, including revolutionizing global
strike capabilities built around the Sentinel and the B-21
Raider.
Sentinel is the largest, most complex weapon system
acquisition program the Air Force has ever undertaken. We are
working with the Office of the Secretary of Defense in seeking
opportunities to reduce costs while revising the program's
Milestone B recertification.
MILCON for Sentinel support facilities at Vandenberg Space
Force Base, and Hill, F.E. Warren, and Malmstrom Air Force
bases continue as the program restructures. The budget request
includes funding for utility corridors and design for launch
and control facilities, support to the B-21 program across
Ellsworth, Dyess, Whiteman Air Force bases is also included in
this year's submission.
Without question, our airmen are the foundation of the Air
Force. This request preserves the well-being and quality of
life for service members and their families through investment
in much-needed housing and childcare development centers.
Generous congressional support in fiscal years 2022 through
2025 funded most of our CDC projects that were currently
executable design stage. The Air Force is actively working on
design of 15 additional CDC projects totaling $492 million for
inclusion in future budget submissions.
Additionally, in fiscal year 2026, the Air Force Military
Family Housing and Construction program focuses on planning
studies, designs for future construction, and two projects
improving housing in Japan, one at Yokota and one at Kadena Air
Base.
In closing, the Air Force's strong partnership with this
subcommittee's members, the dedicated staff, are both essential
to the modernization of our assets, the safety of our
installations, and the welfare of our airmen and our families.
I look forward to continuing to support, and to this
hearing today. Thank you.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Lt. Gen. Tom D. Miller and Brig. Gen. Zachary S.
Warakomski
introduction
Chairman Boozman, Ranking Member Ossoff, and distinguished Members
of the Sub- committee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the
Department of the Air Force (DAF) Fiscal Year 2026 Military
Construction Program.
Our installations remain the platforms from which we enable and
project combat power in and through the air, cyber, and space domains.
DAF installations serve as key nodes in a global network of operating
locations that enable Joint Force mission success around the world;
making the readiness, resiliency, and sustainability of installations
matters of strategic importance. Our installations are where we train
and equip for joint operations, control, and sustain air and space
weapon systems, test new weapon systems, generate readiness, and
provide safe, healthy communities that many of our Airmen, Guardians,
and their families call home.
Our nation continues to face the nexus of complex challenges:
deterring the pacing threat of China in the Indo-Pacific region; the
increasing complexity of multi-domain threats; the competition for
access to resources; and the increasing rate of technological change.
The People's Liberation Army is expanding, modernizing, and
diversifying its entire military-including cyber, space, and nuclear
forces-at a rapid pace to support revisionist goals and objectives.
These developments pose unique and fundamentally new challenges for
deterrence, and while conflict is certainly not inevitable, the risk of
military confrontation is increased in this environment.
This new strategic environment demands that we reestablish the
warrior ethos, and rebuild the lethal and ready force, to provide the
warfighting capability our Nation needs to compete and win. A
foundational element of our deterrence is our installation
infrastructure. We must ensure our installations are resilient,
optimized, and operationally efficient to successfully defend the
homeland; prevail against the full range of threats; deter strategic
attacks against the United States, our allies, and our partners; deter
aggression and be prepared to prevail in conflict when necessary.
In the face of these challenges, this year's budget reflects
continued modernization efforts revolutionizing global strike
capabilities built around the B-21 Raider and Sentinel Ground Based
Strategic Deterrent; developing and fielding the Next Generation Air
Dominance family-of- systems; cost-effective, resilient forward basing;
and an expeditious transition to a wartime posture. The DAF Military
Construction (MILCON) program continues to prioritize nuclear
enterprise modernization and combatant command (CCMD) infrastructure
support with an emphasis on the Pacific and Europe. The Facilities
Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization (FSRM) portfolio remains
focused on sustaining our existing infrastructure. Furthermore, we
preserve the well-being and quality of life of our servicemembers and
their families through investments in housing, dormitories, and child
development centers (CDCs). We remain committed to sustaining the DAF's
power projection platforms. We appreciate the continued partnership
with Congress to ensure the Air Force and Space Force are well-postured
to defend the homeland, deter, and win.
infrastructure: long-term readiness
The budget request includes infrastructure and other long-term
readiness investments that we must fund now to create sustained
readiness over time- to be prepared to fight well into the future. As
the Air Force continues to focus balancing available resources against
the current strategic environment and across the different time
horizons, our infrastructure requires careful re- examination to ensure
it is both resilient and efficient. Years of competing priorities have
eroded the Air Force's ability to maintain its infrastructure across
the globe. Simultaneously, air bases are threatened in ways not seen in
modern history.
Installation resiliency has proven to be increasingly important as
adversary long-range precision-attack capabilities have rapidly
improved. Particularly in the Indo-Pacific, China has spent decades
building a deep magazine of advanced cruise and ballistic missiles
specifically to threaten U.S. force presence in the region. In
response, the Air Force has spent considerable time, energy, and
resources to develop an Agile Combat Employment (ACE) scheme of
maneuver, emphasizing rapid mobility and force dispersal in the region.
ACE complicates the adversary's wartime calculus and denies them the
lucrative targeting opportunities that known, fixed, and thinly
protected locations provide. Air Force installation infrastructure
provides the backbone enabling our long-term readiness.
installations
The DAF relies on its MILCON and FSRM programs to provide ready and
resilient installations. Yet, relying on direct investment at the
historically budgeted levels is insufficient to reverse the
longstanding trend of deteriorating facilities and failing
infrastructure. Our portfolio of 177 installations, 69,000 facilities,
and 183 million square yards of airfield pavement is not sized to
optimize the vital infrastructure of the current force structure.
Two decades of assuming risk in infrastructure investment, coupled
with the burden of excess infrastructure, has led to a backlog of
maintenance and repair requirements and degraded infrastructure. The
Department works to mitigate these challenges by setting clear
objectives, goals, and key actions to align installations with critical
mission capabilities; optimize vital infrastructure; and maximize
mission assurance.
The Air Force currently carries significant excess infrastructure
across the board, along with a $49.5 billion maintenance backlog that
continues to grow. Since 1990, the Air Force has reduced in size
considerably, including a 35% reduction in end strength and a 60%
reduction in fighter squadrons, but it has only reduced its CONUS
footprint by 15%. Moreover, today, roughly half of all infrastructure
across the Air Force is in a moderate or high-risk condition. While the
Air Force has been able to prioritize its resources to keep critical
mission generation infrastructure (e.g., runways) in good working
order, such prioritization has come at the expense of our supporting
infrastructure. For example, over 70% of utility infrastructure on Air
Force bases in the Indo-Pacific are in a high- risk condition, a
problem made acute by the highly corrosive tropical or arctic
environments of many facilities and by limited skilled local labor.
Additionally, our buying power has eroded, with construction costs
rising roughly 50% in the last 10 years.
installation resilience
Ruggedizing our installations against evolving natural and man-made
threats to continually project power and compete in an era of pacing
threats from the People's Liberation Army is paramount for overall
installation resilience and Department of Air Force mission assurance.
The Air Force appreciates the approximately $1.6 billion provided
in the December 21, 2024, American Relief Act. The $487.3 million
MILCON funding is being used to design and construct the critical
infrastructure projects necessary to address the destruction resulting
from Typhoon Mawar on Andersen Air Force Base (AFB), Guam. Moreover,
the flexibility provided in the Disaster Relief Supplemental language
will allow us to construct facilities to be more resilient to future
destructive weather events.
special interest items
natural disaster recovery efforts
The Natural Disaster Recovery (NDR) program has greatly benefitted
from Congressional support over the last several fiscal years and we
are seeing the results of this sustained and significant investment.
The program is substantially complete with only two projects remaining
to be awarded at Tyndall AFB, Florida. To date, we've awarded 96% of
the NDR program, totaling over $4 billion of investments to improve
mission readiness, resilience, and efficiency at Tyndall AFB, Florida,
Offutt AFB, Nebraska, and Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.
taking care of people: child development centers and dormitories
We strive to provide a high quality of life for our members and
their families. At the heart of that goal is affordable, accessible
childcare for our Airmen and Guardians and safe, high-quality dorms for
our unaccompanied members.
The inability to access affordable and quality childcare can impact
a Servicemember's ability to report for duty and his or her decision to
stay in the service. To this end, the DAF is using a two-prong
programmatic approach to improve CDCs: targeted investments in FSRM to
address facility condition concerns, and posturing MILCON projects to
increase capacity. The DAF continues to invest in CDCs through our
MILCON and FSRM, of the 138 CDCs in the DAF inventory, none are in poor
or failing condition.
In FY 2025, we are spending $224 million in FSRM funding on six CDC
projects. Additionally, Congressional support in FY 2022 through FY
2025 funded most of the CDC MILCON projects currently at an executable
design stage (information on specific projects included in the FY 2026
request will be provided once available). The Child and Youth Facility
Master Plan facilitates project advocacy by identifying CDC MILCON and
FSRM projects that address child and youth facility condition and
capacity challenges. The FY 2025 Continuing Resolution (CR) Spend Plan
includes $59 million for the CDC at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, which
will also serve as the Department's first use of mass timber
construction, and a $22.4 million addition and alteration of an
existing CDC at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.
Equally important to us is providing unaccompanied service members
with high-quality housing on our dormitory campuses. We will meet the
National Defense Authorization Act (FY22 NDAA) for FY 2022 Quality
quality-of-life requirements for permanent-party dorms by investing
$1.1 billion across FY 2022-2026 to address facility and living
conditions. This is a nearly three-fold increase over the previous 5
years. The Government Accountability Office report on barracks
identified many issues; however, problems with our dorms are limited,
and we remain committed to providing safe and adequate living
conditions.
The DAF investment strategy for unaccompanied housing remains
focused on restoration and modernization of dorms using FSRM funds,
which allows MILCON funds to address capacity shortfalls and facility
recapitalization. Additionally, the DAF appreciates the pilot program
authority provided in the FY24 NDAA allowing the replacement of
dormitories using FSRM funds when needed repairs exceed 75% of the
MILCON project to replace it. Though the DAF has few dormitories that
meet the replacement criteria, we can certainly make great use in some
high-need areas. The FY25 CR Spend Plan included two new dorm projects,
one at Joint Base Langley Eustis, Virginia for $106 million, and the
first increment of a Medical Education and Training Campus dormitory at
Joint Base San Antonio for $77 million.
The DAF remains steadfast in our support to our Airmen, Guardians
and their families. Reducing childcare waitlists by 45% (from October
2023 through October 2024) is a significant achievement, but sustaining
this progress requires consistent funding for on-base childcare
options, subsidies, and staffing. Since FY19, 13 funded CDC projects
created 2,100 new childcare slots. Our commitment to family housing
remains strong, with $550 million allocated for FY 2024-FY2025 to
sustain safe living facilities for our Airmen. The DAF will continue to
enhance quality of life for our service members and their families
through construction of quality housing and childcare facilities.
fiscal year 2025 air force milcon cr spend plan
In FY 2025, the active-Duty Air Force and Space Force MILCON
program is $3.35 billion. This funding supports the DAF's commitment to
fulfilling our strategic requirements, postures us for the future high-
end fight, and ensures we continue taking care of our Airmen,
Guardians, and their families. The program supports Combatant
Commanders with a focus on the Pacific and European theaters and
modernizing the nuclear enterprise. Additionally, the MILCON program
continues efforts to bed down new weapons systems and seeks to
recapitalize facilities that have outlived their usable life or no
longer meet mission requirements. Our request also focused on Design to
reinforce the Air Force's MILCON program stability and consistency.
Program stability continues to be a major focus, ensuring mature
projects are included in the budget and improving confidence they will
award within the programmed amount in the year of appropriation.
combatant commander infrastructure
The FY25 MILCON CR Spend Plan prioritized CCMD requirements with a
particular emphasis on the Indo-Pacific and European theaters. Direct
support to the CCMDs accounts for 17% of the FY25 MILCON program and
aligns with the Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance to Build a
More Lethal Force, while directly Prioritizing Preparedness for War.
Our FY25 program addresses some of the urgent U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
(USINDOPACOM), U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), and U.S. European
Command (USEUCOM) facility priorities.
Support to USINDOPACOM will enhance the United States' defensive
posture in the region, reassure allies and partners, and increase
readiness capabilities. The investment of resources to improve
infrastructure and facilities throughout the Indo-Pacific Theater
provides our allies, partners, and potential competitors a clear
indication of the United States' long-term commitment to the region.
Three projects in the FY25 CR Spend Plan support the Pacific Deterrence
Initiative (PDI) totaling $187.4 million: a runway extension at Yap
International Airport ($96 million), Federated States of Micronesia; a
Theatre Corrosion Control Hangar, Kadena AB, Japan ($66.4 million); and
the Tactical Multi-Mission Over-the-Horizon Radar project in Palau ($25
million).
The Air Force remains committed to USEUCOM priorities and its
European partners for collective security and territorial integrity. In
FY25, the Air Force CR Spend Plan included $106 million for the
European theater to support the prepositioning of equipment in Denmark.
This project will further improve deterrence efforts in the theater and
enable joint and coalition forces to quickly respond to aggressive
regional actors. The Air Force CR Spend Plan also supported Combatant
Commands within the United States to include a continued focus on
Weapons Generation Facilities directly supporting USSTRATCOM at
Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota and Malmstrom AFB, Montana.
new mission bed downs
Approximately 41% of the program, $1.42 billion, supports New
Weapon Systems to ensure the DAF remains the world's premier air and
space force. These systems include the Sentinel Ground Based Strategic
Deterrent, B-21 bomber, C-130J, F-35 fighter, T-7A training aircraft,
Long Range Stand Off facilities, F-16 Mission Training Center, Combat
Rescue Helicopter, Over the Horizon Radar System, and the E-11A
Battlefield Airborne Communications Node aircraft.
The DoD is building a force that is lethal, resilient, sustainable,
survivable, agile, and responsive through modernization of key
capabilities, the first of which are nuclear forces. The FY25 CR Spend
Plan continues the focus on modernizing the nuclear enterprise by
supporting the bed down of new weapons systems and missions. The plan
funds four projects at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, for a total of
$284.5 million, and two projects at Dyess AFB, Texas, totaling $31.3
million to bed down B-21 Raiders. It also includes three projects at
F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming, totaling $417 million, a project at Malmstrom
AFB, Montana, totaling $20 million, and two projects at Vandenberg
Space Force Base (SFB), California, totaling $277 million, to support
transition from the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile
weapon system to the Sentinel Weapon System.
Sentinel will develop and deploy modern Aerospace Vehicle
Equipment, Command and Launch infrastructure (e.g. launch facilities,
launch centers, and other ground infrastructure), and Support Equipment
& Trainers. The Sentinel program is the largest Air Force land
acquisition effort since the original Minuteman, primarily to acquire
temporary construction easements for utility corridors in the missile
fields. The Minuteman III-to-Sentinel conversion must occur on a
precise timeline to maintain the operational readiness of the nuclear.
We will continue to inform Congress on the Air Force's progress during
design, construction, and commissioning of Sentinel facilities. Once
online, the B-21 Raider and Sentinel weapons systems will ensure the
Air Force can effectively deliver two-thirds of the Nation's nuclear
triad well into the future, should the need ever arise.
existing mission recapitalization
The FY25 MILCON CR Spend Plan also includes $719.2 million to fund
current mission projects, focusing on the most critical
recapitalization of existing infrastructure. It also includes a new
dormitory in Virginia and another in Texas, a CDC in Idaho, research
facilities in Massachusetts, Joint Integrated Test and Training Center
in Alaska, Security Forces facility in Georgia, a Fire Station in Ohio,
the U.S. portion of a NATO Airlift Hangar in Spain, and support for
infrastructure in the United Kingdom.
design
Design funding remains a central focus of the DAF program to
reinforce program stability and consistency. Sufficient design funding
enables projects to progress rapidly through design and meet maturity
criteria for admissibility into the program, provides more accurate
cost estimates, and maximizes the opportunity to award projects in the
year of appropriation. Without sufficient design funding, the Air Force
must award designs by design phase, adding risk associated with costs
and timely delivery of design. The DAF design program includes weapons-
system-specific design funds supporting the B-21, Sentinel, Survivable
Airborne Operations Center, and other programs.
housing construction, operation and maintenance
Quality of life for our Airmen and Guardians and their families
remains a top readiness priority for the DAF. We continue to focus
investment and innovation on our housing, dormitories, and CDCs.
dormitories/unaccompanied housing
The DAF is on track to meet the FSRM investment requirements
established by the FY22 NDAA. This is part of the largest dorm
investment in over a decade. However, we recognize more is needed. In
FY2022-FY2024, we funded 104 projects totaling $570 million to repair
and renovate dorms, HVACs, roofs, and other critical facility systems.
Projects are underway or being planned at 18 installations that will
continue our efforts to improve quality of life for our most junior
Airmen and Guardians.
The DAF unaccompanied housing (UH) inventory includes nearly 58,000
permanent party and over 45,600 training beds. Per FY24 NDAA
requirements, interim guidance from DoD established Building Condition
Index (BCI, a 0-100 scale) as the UH Uniform Condition Index. The DAF's
overall strategy remains focused on restoring and modernizing dorms
with FSRM funds and addressing capacity shortfalls and facility
recapitalization with MILCON funds. The DAF Dormitory Master Plan
guides this effort by providing the comprehensive forecasts, estimates,
and recommendations required to strategically execute dormitory
projects when and where they are most needed. Current assessments show
0.1% of permanent party beds are rated less than 60 on the BCI.
Training dorms are another key component of our military service
members' growth and development. Current assessments show only 0.1% of
training beds are rated less than 60 BCI. Notably, the DAF executed
seven FSRM projects for $67 million at training dorms in FY23-FY24.
family housing
The DAF is focused on eliminating inadequate housing from the DAF
inventory and correcting health and safety deficiencies. In addition to
enabling planning studies, designing for future construction projects,
and renovating existing DAF-owned homes, the Military Family Housing
construction program also supports restructuring Military Housing
Privatization Initiative (MHPI) projects.
In FY26, the DAF Military Family Housing construction program
focuses on planning studies, designs for future construction and two
projects to improve housing in Japan: one project at Yokota AB and one
at Kadena AB.
Our Military Family Housing Operation and Maintenance (O&M) funds
efforts to sustain, improve, and modernize our inventory of
approximately 14,900 DAF-owned family housing units and provides
enhanced oversight of over 52,000 privatized homes. Combined, the
family housing O&M and construction programs will ensure continued
support for the housing needs of Airmen, Guardians, their families and
caregivers, as well as our Army, Navy, and Marine Corps teammates
living in DAF-owned and privatized family housing.
The DAF MHPI inventory contains over 52,000 privatized end-state
unit homes spanning 31 projects across 63 installations. In some cases,
the financial assumptions and economics of the deals fell short of
expectations through no fault of the project owners. In these cases,
the DAF requests funding to restructure to ensure projects don't
default on loans and conditions of the homes remain acceptable.
privatized housing
Quality, affordable housing has a direct correlation to
recruitment, retention, and readiness. Hence, we remain focused on
improved oversight, long-term financial health, and sustainment of the
housing inventory. We are committed to ensuring MHPI projects provide
safe, quality, and well-maintained housing where military members and
their families and caregivers will want and choose to live.
We continue our efforts to improve our privatized housing portfolio
and address the remaining elements of the MHPI reforms set out in the
FY 2020-23 NDAAs. We made significant progress to implement reforms to
enhance our oversight of privatized housing and hold MHPI companies
accountable for providing quality housing. Specifically, several
congressionally mandated provisions were implemented throughout various
DAF housing programs.
Since 2020, we have added 218 government positions across the
privatized housing program, increased inspections, provided additional
training to housing personnel, and revamped housing governance. We
continue to maintain Resident Councils for two-way communication
between the residents and installation and project owner leadership. We
then use feedback from tenant satisfaction surveys to develop action
plans for improving the residents' experiences and encourage our
Airmen, Guardians, and their families to engage with resident advocates
to help resolve any disputes and improve communications among all
relevant DAF stakeholders.
We also expanded our metrics for assessing the health of the
privatized housing portfolio, particularly with regards to resident
satisfaction, maintenance quality and responsiveness, and property
management operations. Most of our private partners meet or exceed DAF
standards as prescribed in our metrics. However, when we identify
concerns with operational performance, we have placed a small number of
private partners on Community Action Plans, or if more systemic, on
Performance Improvement Plans with milestones and schedules. The goal
is to remedy deficiencies and ensure our military families receive
quality service and housing.
Some privatized housing projects require financial restructuring to
continue to remain financially stable and market comparable. The
restructure goals are to ensure the projects can fully fund operational
expenses, debt servicing, and sustainment of the homes for the life of
the lease and also fund reinvestment needs during the mid-term
reinvestment period.
united states space force
Space Force Guardians secure our Nation's interests in, from, and
to space. Our core purpose as a service is to achieve space superiority
in a rapidly evolving and increasingly contested domain. Space
superiority requires the Space Force to be trained, equipped, and ready
to conduct space warfighting operations. Through achieving space
superiority, the Space Force will provide the foundation for the Joint
Force to project power and dominate other domains, secure the homeland,
deter, and, if necessary, defeat aggressors who threaten our Nation and
way of life.
The Space Force presents combat-ready squadrons and detachments to
the combatant commands through component field commands. While the
service provides deployable combat detachments to the combatant
commands, most of the combat-ready space forces we field are employed-
in-place, meaning we execute combatant command missions from our
installations, which serve as power projection platforms. Mission-
ready, resilient installations and facilities are therefore integral to
Space Force readiness and warfighting effectiveness.
The Space Force is committed to resourcing infrastructure
requirements by identifying those projects that directly impact the
performance of weapons systems and prioritizing them for funding
consideration. We prioritize projects balancing weapons systems,
quality of life, and force support infrastructure requirements to
reduce risk to mission and address the requirements of an independent
military service. Our investment in MILCON increases capacity and focus
on reducing risk to mission and force. We've placed a particular
emphasis on mission bed down, energy resilience, assured access to
space, security improvements, and combatant command requirements within
the Indo-Pacific. Our investments in FSRM address existing
infrastructure and focus on improving readiness and quality of life for
Guardians, Airmen, their families and mission partners. These
initiatives are focused on electrical, heating and cooling, water, fire
suppression, roofs, and dorm improvements.
military construction
MILCON increases capacity and readiness for the Space Force. The
Space Force received $109.8 million in the FY25 MILCON CR Spend Plan.
FY25 USSF Unspecified Minor Military Construction projects include $7.2
million to install redundant power distribution at Strategic Weapons
System Ashore and Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Space Force
Station (SFS), Florida; $6.3 million to install an emergency generator
at Morrell Operations Center, Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida; and $11
million to replace fire and water wells at Clear SFS, Alaska. The first
two projects support our Spaceport of the Future (SOTF) initiative.
Additionally, $84.9 million was included in the FY25 MILCON CR Spend
Plan for Design, including $63 million for assured access to space
(Spaceport of the Future). This significant Design request is necessary
for projects to rapidly develop, to provide accurate estimates, and
maximize the opportunity to award future MILCON projects in the year of
appropriation.
In an era of rapid technological advancement and evolving security
threats, the Space Force needs agile space architecture to
appropriately address the unpredictable challenges we face. The launch
complex remains the foundation of our assured access to space. Assured
access to space procures launch services and delivers on-orbit
capabilities used by joint warfighters, combatant commands,
intelligence agencies, civilian services, and the commercial space
industry. Globally competitive ranges with capacity and infrastructure
to support launch and test operations on demand therefore advance our
National security interests.
The SOTF program invests USSF MILCON dollars into our aging launch
infrastructure to guarantee the DoD's ability to provide world-class
launch capabilities to public and private partners. Launch Ranges at
Cape Canaveral SFS and Vandenberg SFB were established in the 1950s to
support long range testing and emerging government space launch
actions. Despite the infrastructure for these ranges being established
decades ago, they have been continuously maintained, sustained, and
improved through the years to meet the needs of a limited range
customer base.
However, as demand for national security, civil, and commercial
space capabilities continues to grow, our launch range infrastructure
has not modernized sufficiently to meet the significant increase in
launch demand. Accordingly, the Space Force undertook a broad effort to
analyze our launch infrastructure enterprise and assess range
modernization efforts to maximize our ability to support U.S. launch
requirements. Launch rates rose approximately 30% each of the last 2
years, and we expect rates to continue to rise through the Future Years
Defense Plan. Therefore, the Space Force is prioritizing enhancements
so that we have the infrastructure needed to meet these launch demands.
Increased demand requires significant planning and resources; all of
which are captured under SOTF. SOTF is an all-encompassing initiative
for which the Space Force is taking a comprehensive, holistic approach
to review all factors contributing to range costs and launch
throughput.
facility sustainment, restoration, and modernization
We view the FSRM and MILCON programs as interdependent. Together,
these funding streams provide the sustainable foundation for 14 Space
Force installations and more than 80 smaller geographically separate
units, sites, and ranges. FSRM preserves infrastructure readiness by
providing flexibility to repair facilities and infrastructure, thereby
maximizing lifespan. The Space Force received $444.5 million in the
FY25 MILCON CR Spend Plan.
Our top FSRM execution priority areas as a service are Combat
Readiness and Mission Assurance. Space Force FSRM focuses on
installation resiliency and enabling our employed-in- place force
presentation model. Our FSRM investments strengthen our installations
as warfighting platforms and ensure the availability of these weapons
systems for our no-fail missions.
quality of life
The Space Force's employed-in-place model presents unique
challenges to Guardians.
Given most of our members are not deployed downrange like many of
their sister service counterparts, Guardians must balance executing
their mission and managing the responsibilities of family and home
life.
To maintain morale, retain our members and their families, and
secure mission readiness, Space Force quality of life programs and
associated MILCON and FSRM investments serve as essential force
multipliers. Our service is committed to investing MILCON and FSRM
resources to support CDCs and providing safe, quality, well-maintained
housing and dorms for Guardians and their families. When our Guardians
are free from worry, they can better dedicate themselves to protecting
our Nation's interests in, from, and to space.
weapon system sustainment
Space Superiority also relies on a robust Weapon System Sustainment
(WSS) strategy, fully integrated with FSRM and MILCON programs. This
integrated approach is critical given the Space Force's employed-in-
place operational posture. WSS directly contributes to space
superiority by ensuring sustained system availability and
maintainability through depot-level maintenance, including software
updates and sustained engineering. This proactive sustainment posture
safeguards equipment health and readiness, ultimately maximizing
operational capability and ensuring continued dominance in the space
domain.
Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the Department of the Air
Force's MILCON and FSRM programs. We appreciate Congress' continued
support for our enterprise and look forward to working with you on our
MILCON and FSRM priorities.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. General Warakomski.
STATEMENT OF BRIGADIER GENERAL ZACHARY S. WARAKOMSKI,
ASSISTANT DEPUTY CHIEF OF SPACE OPERATIONS
FOR OPERATIONS, CYBER, AND NUCLEAR, UNITED
STATES SPACE FORCE
General Warakomski. Chairman Boozman, Ranking Member
Ossoff, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, thank
you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the U.S. Space
Force for our Military Construction Program.
The Space Force remains laser-focused on securing our
nation's interest in, from, and to space, and as access to
space grows, the strategic landscape is becoming increasingly
complex. Many of our systems were fielded in an uncontested
environment, and today our adversaries are aggressively
fielding capabilities to contest and ultimately control space,
fundamentally shifting it into a warfighting domain.
They are also posturing to challenge our critical
infrastructure both at home and abroad. Meanwhile, our
installations serve as home to our Guardians, Airmen, mission
partners, and their families who live and work there. The
preponderance of our combat-ready guardians are employed in
place at their home stations, executing their missions from our
installations, which serve as power projection platforms.
The vital importance of our facilities and infrastructure
cannot be overstated. It is foundational to the launch and
operational missions we conduct across the entire spectrum of
conflict to provide essential capabilities to the Joint Force.
Military Construction funding for the Space Force provides
flexibility, balancing infrastructure requirements across our
weapon systems, quality of life, and Force support portfolios.
FSRM priorities include essential upgrades to power, electrical
and water systems, heating and cooling, fire suppression,
roofs, and dormitories.
MILCON priorities focus on increasing capacity and reducing
risk to mission, with an emphasis on mission bed down, security
improvements, and assured access to space.
The Spaceport of the Future Initiative, encompassing our
East and West Coast launch complexes, remains the foundation of
our assured access to space and is instrumental in enhancing
our national security space launch capabilities. We continue to
diversify launch providers, increase launch sites, and invest
in range facilities and increase payload processing capacity,
all while closely monitoring the long supply chain.
We want to thank Congress for the $109.8 million in MILCON,
$444.5 million in FSRM, and the $84.9 million in planning and
design that Space Force received in fiscal year 2025. This
includes $63 million in planning and design for Spaceport of
the Future to keep our launch enterprise globally competitive.
Thanks again for your continued advocacy for Space Force
MILCON, as well as the Quality of Life Initiative supporting
our guardians, airmen, and their families.
I look forward to our dialogue.
Senator Boozman. Thank you very much. Thank you for your
testimony. We will get started with our questions.
I had the opportunity to go to the Army Museum over the
weekend. I saw a little blurb on one of the morning shows about
the new exhibit there. And it is in the Army Museum, but it
really is about the fighting patriots that really, you know,
stepped forward at the time of crisis as our country was
beginning. But I would really recommend that all of you go and
see it.
It is outstanding, again, it is in the Army Museum, but it
is really not an Army museum in the--Army exhibit in the sense
that that same spirit is what embodies you all, the people that
have served since then, who have done such a tremendous job of
keeping us safe, keeping us free, sacrifices of you in uniform,
and your families, it certainly is a family affair. And we are
going to be talking about housing, and all of the things that
we can do to keep families together, you know, that aspect of
things.
So let us start out with Mr. Marks. Mr. Marks, given the
ongoing legal uncertainty surrounding project labor agreements,
how is the Department managing the day-to-day impact on
projects in the pipeline, especially those approaching award
that are now stalled due to uncertainty over whether a project
labor agreement (PLA) is required or not? Has any guidance been
given to avoid delays or compliance issues in the interim? And
finally, how will this impact the projects in this year's
request if it is determined that PLAs are required?
Mr. Marks. Senator, first, thank you for that question, and
I do appreciate----
Senator Boozman. Lots of questions.
Mr. Marks. Yes, Senator. But I do appreciate the time that
we did have to begin to discuss this. First and foremost, as I
shared with you, anything that increases cost and schedule is
of concern to the Department right now, and so we are working
very, very hard to look at that. The administration supports
the use of project labor agreements where those are practicable
and cost-effective, but I again want to emphasize that I affirm
and recognize your concerns about the costs and the drivers
that could potentially cause those projects to increase.
Right now, we are not going to be pursuing any blanket
deviations, but we are working with NAVFAC and USACE to go
project by project and ensure that we are finding the most
economical and speedy way to continue to move these projects
along so that we can assess those on a project-by-project
basis.
We are also working with OMB to determine our next steps
and how we best address this issue for the long term, given the
nature of where we stand today. And so the impact of that, as
we spoke earlier, is all about mission and readiness and how we
drive that forward, and so much of the directions that we have
given in working with these esteemed colleagues to my left is
really to continue to drive those as quickly as we possibly can
to meet the readiness concerns we have, and to keep the costs
down as best as we possibly can.
Senator Boozman. Very good. Thank you. The Deputy Secretary
of Defense directed a review of the MILCON portfolio to
identify opportunities for greater efficiency. As you know,
initiatives like this often take time while the review isn't
complete, I would like to hear from the panel: Are there any
early findings or promising areas that could be acted on
quickly. Since you are already in the midst of building the
fiscal year 2027 budget, is there any realistic expectation
that these efficiencies will be reflected in that submission.
Or are we likely looking at a longer timeline before we see
tangible changes?
Mr. Marks. Senator, let me lead with that just in a broad
sense, and then I will defer to my colleagues. As we are
working on those, some of the early things that we are
examining continue to be the use of other transactional
authorities where it makes sense to move quickly. More
importantly, we are taking a page from our partners at Defense
Innovation Unit with accelerated design build, ways to bring
contractors together more quickly, get through this changing
requirements idea so that we can get it done quickly, and move
it ahead quickly, the idea of also building projects--bundling
multiple projects together where that makes sense, so that we
can, again, move things together quickly.
And then finally, the idea behind replacing failed or
failing facilities, so the repair-by-replace work that we have
done collectively to more efficiently replace those using O&M
dollars again. All of those are things that we want to share
collectively and make sure that we are doing those in a way
that moves us ahead transparently to meet the mission
requirements.
Senator Boozman. Anyone else.
Admiral Jablon. Senator, as you said, the MILCON cost is
really astronomical and really getting out of hand. So what our
objective is to think, act, and operate differently in the Navy
for possible alternative construction methods, module
construction using tension fabric structures instead of regular
brick and mortar; that will buy us some efficiencies both in
cost and time.
Also, Honorable Marks mentioning about block of specific
types of buildings that we do repetitively, such as CDCs and
barracks, could bring the cost down.
Senator Boozman. Very good. Senator Ossoff.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
General Miller, thank you again for being here. Thank you
for our conversation yesterday as well. I think you are aware
last August I had the pleasure of hosting Air Force Chief of
Staff General Allvin in Georgia. We visited several
installations including Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta.
And man, are the people of Valdosta proud of and supportive
of Moody. Mayor Matheson, Dr. Lucy Greene of Moody support
group, I mean, that is a base community that just loves hosting
the Air Force and provides so much support for the airmen and
the civilians who work on and around the base. And they are
thrilled that Moody has been selected to host the F-35 with the
A-10s leaving the Force, and critical infrastructure upgrades
are already underway to prepare the installation for that
transition.
You and I discussed this yesterday, and here in this public
setting I would like your commitment again that you will work
closely with me, with the subcommittee, with the community in
Valdosta to ensure that the base is prepared and successful to
swiftly bring those aircraft to Georgia?
General Miller. Ranking Member Ossoff, thank you for the
call yesterday, for taking the time. Absolutely, Moody has so
much combat capability for the United States Air Force in one
place, from the rescue squadron, to the base defense group, to
the fighters there, A-10s now, F-35s in the future, I do commit
to you to work, it is a multi-faceted question to--you asked,
how do we pull to the left?
And so pulling to the left is, you know, looking at the
environmental requirements, the facility requirements that you
just mentioned, the aircraft laydown, all the combat
capability. And most familiar with Robins' and Valdosta's, you
know, support to the Air Force communities, and can't thank
Georgia enough for that.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you. Looking forward to working with
you on that. And I do want to discuss Robins, and again, you
and I discussed this yesterday, but I want to raise here in
this public setting once again with you the condition of the
Air Logistics Complex. I mean, you know how extraordinary the
work being done at Robins is in terms of all of the
maintenance, and not just on the airframes but also the
avionics and so many of the systems, but that air logistics
complex really needs more investment.
The condition of the facilities' degradation, neglect,
faulty construction was just--it is a disservice to the airmen
and civilians who are there making sure that the Air Force has
aircraft, avionics systems that are in the state they need to
be in. So I am asking you here for your commitment to work with
me and the subcommittee and the leadership at Robins to
accelerate investment in key projects at Robins that may
include FSRM funding, and to upgrade facilities at the Air
Logistics Complex.
General Miller. Yes, sir. And in the public forum, I do
want to just applaud, Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex
produces--has turned around vexing problems we have had with
weapon systems F-15, C-5, C-130 in all aspects, meeting on-time
delivery and providing more flight line availability for those
weapon systems in wings throughout the Air Force.
And you remarked avionics in particular is a particular
skill set that the complex there produces for many weapon
systems that I didn't just mention, and you do have my
commitment that looking at, not only the workload that is there
now at Warner Robins, but what is in the future also coming to
Warner Robins, that the facilities, the infrastructure, the
overhead cranes, the power, all the ability in the classified
environment also for the avionics, as mentioned, will be
addressed and planned for in advance and not late to need.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you so much, looking forward to
working with you, General.
And Admiral Jablon, thank you as well for your service and
your testimony today. Georgia is proud to host Naval Submarine
Base Kings Bay. We are proud to host the East Coast home for
the Ohio-class submarines. We are working closely with the Navy
and with the Department in order to prepare for the transition
to the Columbia-class boats. It is one of my top priorities to
make sure that we are investing in Kings Bay to prepare it for
the equipment and the missions that are coming.
Can I have your commitment, Admiral, to work with me and
the subcommittee and the leadership at Kings Bay, and local
leaders in Georgia to ensure that the base is fully prepared to
accept the new Columbia-class submarines?
Admiral Jablon. Senator, thank you for that question. As a
former Submarine Group 10 Commander in Kings Bay, you do have
my commitment to work with you and the subcommittee. As you
know, the Columbia-class submarine is our number one priority
in the Navy, and the infrastructure which supports that is
vital to its success.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Admiral.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. Senator Hyde-Smith.
Senator Hyde-Smith. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you,
Ranking Member. And thank you for being on the panel today and
your willingness to serve, and I just appreciate everybody here
in uniform, and that is not in uniform, for your commitments. I
just want to get that out there.
And I really appreciate the fact that in your fiscal year
2025 budget you included the Keesler Air Force Base Tower. That
is so important for that air traffic control tower there, and
it is certainly part of our national defense, but we are very
proud of it and appreciate that.
And this is for those who want to answer that, a concern of
mine, is how is the Department ensuring that smaller but
strategically essential installations, such as those in
Mississippi, are not overlooked when it comes to long-term
planning for necessary infrastructure upgrades and resource
prioritization?
Mr. Marks. Senator, thank you, and good morning. First and
foremost is, as I have mentioned before in previous testimony,
the understanding that combatant commanders and the laydown,
and the need, so as we think about things like Golden Dome,
when we think about the defense of our installations, counter-
small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), other things, is the
importance of our installations, again, not only as Force
projection platforms, but as warfighting places themselves.
And so as we take that, the Department is taking a
comprehensive look at all of our locations to ensure that we
are in the right locations at the right time, and making sure
that we are making the proper investments to meet those there.
And I know each of the services has their own determination of
how that is important, but I assure you that we are taking that
seriously as we look across the entire portfolio of our
installations and their importance to what the future defense
of the national--our national security.
Senator Hyde-Smith. Thank you for that. And I will go back
to you. The prior administration was very slow in evaluating,
processing, and reporting to this committee the required
projects restructurings under the Military Housing
Privatization Initiative, particularly those caused by
shortfalls in the long-term reinvestment accounts for those
projects. What is your team doing to expedite these evaluations
and reports to this committee and OMB so that our service
members can benefit from the much-needed improvements these
restructurings will provide for them?
Mr. Marks. Senator, thank you for that, and as a past
resident of military housing, I assure you that I appreciate
greatly what you are discussing here today. What we are doing
right now is to take a hard look at that, working with my
service partners to ensure that the investments that are being
made are there. That the care of our families is of utmost, not
only for their own readiness, but their health, life, and
safety as well, as you know.
And so I wanted to make sure that we take a harder look at
that again early into the job and diving deeper with each of
the services to look at that, but I share your concerns and
will continue to share with this committee what we learn and
how we make improvements to the portfolio.
Senator Hyde-Smith. That is very much appreciated.
And I have no further questions.
Senator Boozman. Senator Gillibrand.
Senator Gillibrand. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
In January General Wilson, in January of this year, I wrote
a letter advocating for the inclusion of a new 42nd Infantry
Division Headquarters on the Army's fiscal year 2026 unfunded
priority list. Funding this project will secure an overdue
upgrade to the 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters in Troy, New
York, and help facilitate the planned construction of an $800
million cannon factory at the nearby Watervliet Armory.
I would like you to speak to the significance of both
projects. What can you tell us, tell this committee about the
impact of the new headquarters for the 42nd Infantry Division
and the importance of continuing the expansion of the
Watervliet Armory?
General Wilson. Yes, Senator. On the Watervliet Army Depot,
Army Materiel Command has prioritized that facility in their
Facility Investment Plan. The Facility Investment Plan that is
ran annually by the Army Installation Management Command. And
so that is accounted for in that space is all of our projects,
and we run this Facility Investment Plan annually across, with
senior commander input, and they determine what prioritization
each of their projects in their respective areas will have, and
we continue to support those commanders on the ground
priorities from the Department of Army staff level.
Senator Gillibrand. Thank you. General Miller, I would like
to discuss infrastructure projects in Niagara Falls Air Reserve
Station. I am requesting funding to construct a combined
operations airfield facility to further support the work done
by the 914th Operations Group and Subordinate Units. It is my
understanding that although this project is not in the
President's Budget Request, it is a strong candidate for the
unfunded priority list.
Can you speak to the benefits of a modernization and
properly sized combined operation airfield facility,
particularly at a location like Niagara Falls, which is
certified nuclear-ready, and supports the worldwide combat air
refueling mission?
General Miller. Thank you, Senator, for the question. The
combined ops--having a combined mission set in one facility has
very qualitative improvement for the mission, when people work
together and they can team together, especially and a
responsibility like you just described that Niagara Falls has,
and other responsibilities that could go there, having a team
that works at a facility that they can be proud of, that they
are--that will be able to last for mission upon mission that
comes down, not just playing a short game for the mission but a
long game, has a huge impact.
And we are a retention force, as you know, so when we bring
an airman into whichever component within the Air Force, Guard,
Reserve, or Active Duty, we want to keep them, we are investing
in them. It is a high-tech service, and so they are making a
decision on whether they are staying based on the facilities
they get to work in, you know, the care that we put into where
they work, where they live absolutely important.
Senator Gillibrand. Yes. Well, thank you, General Miller.
General Wilson, it is my understanding that the new runway
lighting infrastructure is needed to improve aircraft safety
during takeoff and landing at Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield,
located at Fort Drum. Considering the recent frequency of
airfield incidents, including the tragic collision at GCA in
January, can you speak to the importance of this project as
well as other infrastructure projects that may be necessary to
improve air traffic safety?
General Wilson. Yes, Senator. In fact, the Army supports
this, and supports the move from fiscal year 2027 to '26 for
this project time line move out.
Senator Gillibrand. Yes.
General Wilson. And that was just signed on yesterday.
Senator Gillibrand. Great. Thank you.
And last question, General Miller, with the continuing
proliferation of small, unmanned aerial systems, including the
strategic success of Ukraine's Operation Spiders Web and
Israel's recent drone operations staged from within Iranian
territory, I am wondering what additional passive
infrastructure defenses the Air Force may be considering to
protect aircraft on the flight line, including construction of
hardened aircraft shelters.
General Miller. Thank you, Senator. We have been thinking
about this long before the dramatic events that everyone saw on
television. I think it is a multifaceted problem with a
multifaceted approach, facilities absolutely has a play there,
but also electromagnetic spectrum, direct energy, the
authorities, especially within the United States, coordination
with the FAA, coordination to prosecute, whether it is FBI that
is going left of launch of Counter-SUAS.
So facilities, and infrastructure, and hardening does have
a play, but it is a multifaceted play. We don't want to spend
years and years only going after the facility piece, only to
learn that something--that there is a different threat that we
are seeing in the rearview mirror.
Senator Gillibrand. And when can we expect a plan or
proposal with regard to UAS?
General Miller. I actually work very closely with our
director of operations who is the lead for the Air Force
because all the things I just mentioned, which I know we are
short on time, but I will get back with the A-3 as the lead for
the Air Force on it, and we will get back with your office, or
if you have time, with you.
Senator Gillibrand. Anytime. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Ranking, Member.
Senator Boozman. Admiral Jablon, and General Miller, the
Navy and Air Force sustained major infrastructure damage on
Guam due to Typhoon Mawar. While Congress provided initial down
payment to the Disaster Relief Supplemental, significant
unfunded recovery remains. There appears to be little, if any,
disaster recovery fund in this year's budget request. What
actions are the Navy and Air Force currently taking to address
the damaged infrastructure on Guam, and what is your plan to
request and secure the additional funding required for full
recovery?
Admiral Jablon. Senator, thank you for that question. As I
mentioned in my opening statement, really thankful for
Congress' supplemental of $2.2 billion, focusing those--that
investment specifically on FSRM investments to get after the
Typhoon Mawar effects that destroyed many facilities.
The backlog of infrastructure to correct from Mawar is
about $40 billion right now, so we are looking at those most
critical infrastructure assets, hardening, our electrical
utilities, going after electrical utilities within the Navy
base at Polaris Point, to focus FSRM and MILCON dollars on
that. But we are working as diligently as we can in a
prioritized way to get after Mawar recovery efforts.
General Miller. And Chair Boozman, if I could add? From the
punishing environment, as you know, of Guam, of humidity, wind,
it has a degrading effect on equipment. We have had a lot of
pre-positioned equipment that we had prepositioned at Anderson,
and this is prior to the typhoon where we didn't have adequate
facilities to shelter from the weather. That was only
accelerated through--when the typhoon hit, so we had degrading,
spalling concrete, and uncovered equipment that just
accelerated after the typhoon.
We have taken the funds that have already been provided by
Congress and doing warehousing to get equipment out of the
weather. We have $109 million in two projects which we will
award in August and September to address two dorms that we need
to renovate, two out of four, that we are looking at.
But to get here, to your question very directly, we would
be decades trying to absorb the requirements that we have
within the base budget for the service. If it is--$8 billion,
is the current estimate for the Air Force, which is more than
twice as much as we have in MILCON for any 1 year, for current-
mission MILCON, and new-mission MILCON.
Senator Boozman. Senator Murkowski.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And good morning, gentlemen. Thank you for your service. I
want to begin my questions to you, General Miller. You are
nodding like you are expecting this.
[Laughter.]
General Miller. You have a good team, ma'am.
Senator Murkowski. Yes, I have an excellent team. Thank you
very much.
I want to talk about the Joint Integrated Test and Training
Center (JITTC), this is the Joint Integrated Testing and
Training Center at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), one
of the Air Force's top priorities for MILCON. In the fiscal
year 2026-1 files that the committee received last week, the
Air Force increases that request to $152 million in fiscal year
2026 authorizations.
Can you share with the committee how we jumped--this was
always a significant project. It was big, even in Air Force
terms, but increasing from $97 million to $152 million? And
also whether or not we should expect any delays or other
consequences in the project based on the late addition to the
scope of the project?
General Miller. Yes, Senator, thank you. That the
importance of the JITTC, I don't have the words to describe how
important it is to the Joint Force, to the Air Domain. So you
know the mission analysis behind that, in the analysis as we
were going forward, the power requirements because of that
unique capability that the JITTC brings drove an additional
substation that was required. So $105 million additional
dollars, that that was the majority of the escalation is, the
power requirements are so dramatically larger for what the
mission of the JITTC will be. That was the escalation.
Senator Murkowski. So can you, General, can you share
then--because you know the situation in Cook Inlet with the
natural gas supplies dwindling, how is the Air Force working to
secure long-term energy needs for, not only for JBER, but
really for the bases more broadly in Alaska?
General Miller. So Senator, I am sure you are aware of the
recent announcement for the microreactor at the----
Senator Murkowski. Yes, finally. We are pleased to see
that.
General Miller. Yes ma'am. And that is really, I think,
that is an indicator for the future for us, not only for a
location that is so reliant on a source of reliable that is
repetitive energy to have it there, but from a resiliency
standpoint, from being able to island off of the grid. It was
mentioned earlier in testimony that absolutely attacking our
SCADA systems at the beginning of an attack from a cyber
perspective is an easy take for an adversary.
So if we have mission systems that are relying on a
commercial electrical grid and thinking about the impact that
would have. The energy independence that it would give us for--
to be able to island from an energy perspective on
installations with critical missions throughout the United
States and deploy, and I think the encouraging piece there is,
it is a 5-megawatt reactor, but to build--if there are
additional requirements to build additional work. We are
looking forward to that and seeing, you know----
Senator Murkowski. What is it going to do to your time
line? Are you worried about that, that it pushes out the time
line for the JITTC to be fully stood up?
General Miller. Time is not on our side on any piece of
this, so I will have to get back with your team on the
specifics of the time line. I was aware of the dollar
escalation, from a time perspective. I think once they came to
the conclusion that there is just no way to meet it with the
current power requirements, they took that into the planning. I
will have to take that for the record to get you the details on
that.
Senator Murkowski. Well, I would appreciate that.
Let me turn now to you, Mr. Marks. Also sticking with the
energy vulnerability, we know the situation in Alaska, again, a
great reliance on natural gas out of the Cook Inlet, and up in
the interior there, specifically at Fort Wainwright, the
concern about Wainwright being vulnerable to unexpected outages
and operational issues.
I am wondering whether the budget request reflects
appropriate funding levels to address energy reliability
challenges like we have at Wainwright. And then I am going to
throw an extra question in here related to dual-use
infrastructure. I have been pushing much more aggressively on
what we can be doing within, particularly, the Alaska
environment, to move towards opportunities to construct
projects that are able to serve multiple departments and
agencies. I am concerned about energy, and I want to focus on
dual-use infrastructure.
Mr. Marks. Senator, thank you for that. First, being
sensitive to time, I know the first one: Installation energy
resiliency plans are certainly part of what has been put into
the program. And so I will be happy to come back to you and we
can discuss that one further.
Senator Murkowski. Great.
Mr. Marks. Alternatively, on dual-use, I agree with you,
partnerships and industry best practices are things that we
need to continue to pursue. And so also that is something that
we can share together, and I will be happy to come back and
meet with you on that.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I have many
questions that I will submit for the record. But I appreciate
the individuals being here today.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. Senator Baldwin.
Senator Baldwin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Ranking
Member. And thank you to all of our witnesses. Thank you for
your service.
I want to start with you, General Wilson. I understand the
Army Reserve is facing a multibillion-dollar backlog in
deferred facilities, restoration, and maintenance, and I am
concerned about the impact this backlog has on readiness, for
not just for the Reserve but also the Active component, given
the critical sustainment and logistics capabilities that reside
within the Army Reserve.
Fort McCoy in Wisconsin is a key installation for Reserve
component training and large-scale mobilization. For the Army
G-9 perspective, how are Military Construction investments at
Fort McCoy, as well as those for individual Reserve units in
Wisconsin, being prioritized to support their long-term
strategic value?
General Wilson. Thank you, Senator. All of those
requirements are prioritized by that component, the Army
Reserve, COMPO 3, and so what comes in as part of the
Facilities Investment Plan for the COMPO 3, it is their
assessment based on the status of their facilities and
infrastructure. And like Fort McCoy, which is a serious
mobilization station and site for the Army. I can tell you that
they are giving it the right level of attention and ensuring
that is accounted for in the Facilities Investment Plan moving
forward.
Senator Baldwin. Okay, thank you, General Wilson.
Secretary Marks, I worked with this committee to secure
funding for a new community noise mitigation program
implemented by the Office of Local Community Defense
Cooperation. I was disappointed by the long delay in making the
first round of funding available to local governments, and I
want to make sure that you are aware that communities such as
Dane County in Wisconsin have been waiting for this funding for
years.
The 115th Fighter Wing began receiving F-35 aircraft in
2023, and the neighboring residents are still waiting for
Federal assistance in addressing noise impacts.
So Assistant Secretary Marks, will you work to ensure this
funding competition moves forward without delay?
Mr. Marks. Senator, absolutely. And first let me thank you
for your leadership on that. As someone who just left an F-35
training base with more than 50 F-35s, I understand the source
of your concern at Truax. So thank you for that.
Senator Baldwin. Okay.
Mr. Marks. Yes, ma'am, and in fact, what I would like to do
is come back to you and sit down with you and explain the
competitive process in ways that I think we can bolster the
case to make sure that that does move forward without delay. So
I would be happy to come back and do that with my team, if that
would be acceptable. The second round of competition is ongoing
right now.
Senator Baldwin. Yes, it is.
Mr. Marks. And so we certainly want to make sure that we
put all of the effort behind that, and I acknowledge that, and
we would be happy to schedule that with your team.
Senator Baldwin. Yeah. It closes out shortly in early July.
Mr. Marks. That is right.
Senator Baldwin. And I know that my community is working
very hard on their submission for that, and I would welcome a
follow-up with your team to talk in more granular detail.
Mr. Marks. Yes, ma'am. Happy to do that, ma'am.
Senator Baldwin. Mr. Secretary, this committee has also
long been concerned about the backlog of cleanup efforts at
current and former defense installations. The most recent
publicly available information from the Defense Environmental
Restoration Program on the status of planned remediation is
from fiscal year 2023. That information lists an intent to
devote over $1 million to cleanup activities, in Wisconsin in
fiscal year 2025.
I know I speak for many on this committee when I express my
dissatisfaction with the full-year Continuing Resolution that
passed in March. But my question for you, Mr. Secretary, is:
What is the status of this fiscal year 2025 funding that was
planned for locations in Wisconsin, including Badger Army
Ammunition Plant? And the second question is: Is the Department
still on track to devote this funding towards urgently needed
cleanup efforts there?
Mr. Marks. Senator, thank you. We take our environmental
responsibilities very seriously, and I do owe you a deeper dive
as I am learning the position right now with my team on each of
the cases, and unless General Wilson may have more to this. But
I can assure you that we are going to continue to push forward
for those things. What I need to make sure that I go back and
look at is how that all lays down flat within Wisconsin, which
I don't have with me today. Be happy to take that for the
record and come back to you on that.
Senator Baldwin. I would appreciate that. Maybe we can do
both topics at once as a follow-up meeting.
Mr. Marks. Absolutely, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.
Senator Baldwin. For many years, the Badger Army Ammunition
Plant operated, and while it was declared surplus to the Army's
and the Department of Defense's needs back in the late 1990s,
there is still some remediation that needs to happen there.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
General Wilson. And Senator, from the Army standpoint, we
account, there is 27 sites that we are still working toward,
and we are committed to the EPA standards for remediation and
the prioritization, of course, the most contaminated location
is how we are making sure that we step through the list.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. And the Senior Senator from
North Dakota, Senator Hoeven.
Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, thanks to you and
Ranking Member for holding this hearing today.
I would like to thank all of you for your incredible
service, and as well as all your staff that is here with you.
Thanks for your incredible service. We appreciate it, and for
being here today.
General Miller, some gratitude to you for the resurfacing
at the Grand Forks Air Force Base runway, or the upgrades I
should say, to that runway, very important. Right now, we are
actually hosting, as you know, the B-1 from Ellsworth as they
are making modifications there for the new B-21, and I think we
are the logical place to bring it for the Dyess B ones when
they have to do the same. So thank you for that, being on top
of that. Appreciate it. And by the way, that is going very
well. In addition to our ISR mission, hypersonics, satellite,
and all the other things we do there at Grand Forks.
I want to ask you about Sentinel though. Very important
that we keep Sentinel on track, as you know, because of the
Nunn-McCurdy Review, we have had a pause, but now from what I
have seen, Air Force is doing some very good things about
getting to concurrency and actually installing Sentinel across
the three ICBM bases and working to get back on track.
And we work very hard to keep that program funded, and we
are doing that again through reconciliation. Talk to me about
how you are going to make sure that that gets done concurrently
across the three bases, and on schedule?
General Miller. Thank you, Senator, for the question, and
the concurrently versus serial, you know, and getting there is
important work right now even during the restructuring on
Sentinel for utility corridor work, which is vitally important
regardless of the specific restructuring action. The utility
corridor work that is being done now and the planning and
design for launch facilities and launch control facilities all
has to be done in advance.
I think, not knowing what the future brings, there are
budgetary requirements in the future, doing the things we can
do right now in the known environment is important. And so that
is where we have--parts of the Sentinel program paused under
the restructuring, but not the part you just described. So the
utility corridor and the planning and design for that launch
facility, launch control facility all can be done and is being
done now.
Senator Hoeven. And you are committed to proceeding as I
have just described, and you and I have just discussed?
General Miller. Yes, sir.
Senator Hoeven. Thank you. And then the weapons generation
facility at Minot Air Force Base, right now, the only place
that we have, air launch cruise missiles, particularly, nuclear
air launch cruise missiles, is Minot, and Barksdale will be the
only places going forward. We need upgrades to that Weapon Gen
Facility. Talk to me about how you are going to get that done
in a timely way?
General Miller. There are $44 million in projects that
Global Strikes identified specifically to get that FSRM
actually to keep the weapons' storage area not only viable but
able to accept Long Range Standoff (LRSO).
Senator Hoeven. LRSO, right.
General Miller. LRSO, specifically. There different
requirements over time that are just a function of weather,
keeping airmen out of the weather from a security standpoint.
But then there is configuration of a specific--and I know we
are in an unclassified environment, but a configuration and
security that have to be addressed, which Global Strike has
looked at all those requirements. And I know it has competed
extremely well in the prioritization for the FSRM dollars.
So they definitely have a strong voice--you know, they
definitely have a strong voice within our prioritization within
the Air Force.
Senator Hoeven. And your intention is to have those
upgrades in place by the time LRSO is ready to go, because
right now we are not on track for that, but your intention is
to be on track for that?
General Miller. My intention for the configuration piece,
absolutely. I need to go back, and loop back on the roads, the
roofs, the non-configuration piece. I need to take that one for
the record, Senator, and come back to you or your staff with--
to get that part of the answer.
Senator Hoeven. Thanks, General.
General Wilson, for our number one project for our guard at
the 817th Engineering Company in Jamestown, they are actually
using the Civic Center. This is a large Sapper Group
engineering company that has been deployed multiple times
around the globe, always does an incredible job, they need a
new facility. There is $2.5 million in the 2025 Continuing
Resolution, but it was not in the 2026 Budget Request, this is
a priority. What can you do?
General Wilson. Senator, we will make sure that we circle
back with the guard from their facilities investment plan
consolidated list that was approved by them. Of course, that
prioritization, we are committed to supporting based on the
resourcing that becomes available.
Senator Hoeven. Okay, and this next one, I know is really
important to the Chairman of the committee here because he
likes to come up to North Dakota and go to Devil's Lake, where
we have an incredible Army National Guard base, Camp Grafton.
And not only does it provide a lot of training, particularly
for NCOs, but also it houses the BIA Law Enforcement Training
Center, which is the only one we have other than down in
Artesia, New Mexico.
There is a facility there for lodging, and I know you would
want our chairman to be comfortable when he comes up there. And
that has been 100 percent design completed, $8 million spent on
the project cost, but he might be coming pretty soon, so we
need to make sure we keep that moving. And out of deference to
our Chairman, can you help me keep that moving?
General Wilson. Yes, Senator, we will keep track on the
progress. And the Corps of Engineers does a pretty good job in
the oversight.
Senator Hoeven. They do. Again, really appreciate all of
you and the work you do. Thank you so much.
And again, thanks, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Boozman. We look forward to staying there.
Senator Ossoff.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Admiral Jablon, as you know, Albany, Georgia, hosts Marine
Corps Logistics Base Albany, which is essential to Marine Corps
readiness and sustaining expeditionary combat power for the
Marines. I would like to hear from both Admiral Jablon and
General Sklenka on this, please.
In fiscal year 2023, I worked alongside the Marine Corps
Logistics Base leadership in the Albany community to help
secure planning and design funding for a new consolidated
communications facility at the logistics base to more
efficiently support the vital Marine Corps logistics mission
there.
My question for you is: Will you work with me to ensure
that we move swiftly to construction for this project? Again,
we have already funded planning and design; it is the top
priority for the facility and the community?
General Sklenka. Senator, you absolutely have our
commitment. Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany is our Marine
Corps' sole depot. It is, when you look at among first, in
terms logistics support entities within the Marine Corps,
Albany is it. And any way that we can ensure that we deliver
capability to our warfighters quickly and effectively we will
take that.
Senator Ossoff. Anything to add, Admiral?
Admiral Jablon. No, Senator. That depot is under Lieutenant
General Sklenka's authorities.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you. General Wilson, as you are aware
of Chattahoochee Valley in Georgia, proud home of Fort Benning,
the Maneuver Center of Excellence, as well as elements of the
75th Ranger Regiment, and I am particularly concerned, as I
mentioned in my opening statement, about quality of life for
service members at Benning and across the country.
In fiscal year 2024 I helped to secure the funding to plan
a new elementary school at Fort Benning to replace Dexter
Elementary School on post. Dexter was built in 1968, it is an
aged facility, but the children of our service members deserve
the very best. Again, we have already funded planning and
design. Do I have your commitment, General Wilson, to work with
me and the subcommittee to try to expedite the construction of
that new school for Military families at Fort Benning?
General Wilson. Yes, Senator, you do have my commitment.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you. General, I also want to raise
with you the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Lab in Forest
Park, Georgia, on the Fort Gillem Enclave, which is DOD's only
full-service criminal forensic lab. And I have had the pleasure
of visiting the facility. It is remarkable what they do, both
for traditional criminal forensics, but also for material that
is secured and exploited from battlefields around the world.
Last year, working alongside Senator Reverend Warnock, we
successfully helped extend the authorization needed to complete
the construction of a new forensic lab at the Gillem Enclave.
Can I have your commitment, General Wilson, to work with me and
the subcommittee to ensure that this project has the resources
necessary to see it through?
General Wilson. Yes, Senator.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you. Mr. Marks, I want to touch on
the plans for reconciliation and try to get some clarity from
the Department. There is $900 million of Military Construction
funding requested in the reconciliation measure. What specific
projects is that funding for?
Mr. Marks. Senator, I appreciate that question. As we view
this as one bill, we are looking at defensive systems,
munitions, munitions procurement, readiness, and quality of
life programs are all included in that package.
Senator Ossoff. That is many things and important things.
My question is: What specific projects will be funded by the
$900 million allocation requested for the reconciliation
measure as opposed to the remainder of MILCON funding, which
the administration wants to move through the normal
appropriations' process? What is that $900 million for
specifically at the project level?
Mr. Marks. Senator, let me come back to you at the project
level so that I can show you those things again. New to that,
and I don't have that granularity right now.
Senator Ossoff. Okay. Will you please commit to providing
the subcommittee with a project-by-project list of which
projects are intended to be funded by the $900 million
reconciliation portion, versus the remainder of the traditional
appropriations?
Mr. Marks. Senator, I will work with you to try to get the
best answer to that question, yes.
Senator Ossoff. Well, I appreciate that commitment. And can
you think of any reason why, where, as this typically proceeds
fiscal year, after fiscal year, the subcommittee is provided
with a list of projects that constitute the totality of the
MILCON budget request, why there would be this nearly billion
dollars floating out here that wouldn't have a project-by-
project justification?
Mr. Marks. Senator, I believe it would be there. Again,
what we are looking at is the submission of the 2026 Budget as
a standalone, and then the FY DP will come in 2027, so I will
have greater granularity looking into the future, but let me
get back to you on that, Senator. And I will do my utmost to
answer that for you.
Senator Ossoff. Okay. So just to be clear, Mr. Marks, you
are going to follow up with the subcommittee, and you are going
to get us a list of those projects that are intended to be
funded via the $900 million reconciliation portion of the
overall MILCON budget?
Mr. Marks. We will attempt to do that, yes, Senator.
Senator Ossoff. You will attempt to do that. Okay. I
appreciate that.
And Mr. Chairman, that concludes my questions.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. And I want to thank our
witnesses for being with us today, and thank you for your
service. And I know we look forward to working closely together
to improve the quality of life for our men and women that are
in uniform, and their families, and then also to give them the
resources to keep them safe as they keep us safe.
For our retiree General Miller, again congratulations, and
thank you for your dedicated service for so many years, we do
appreciate that. And as I said earlier, I know this is a family
affair. We greatly appreciate them.
ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS
For Members of the Subcommittee, any questions for the
record should be turned into subcommittee staff no later than
the close of business on Tuesday, June the 24th.
Questions Submitted to Hon. Dale Marks
Questions Submitted by Senator Deb Fischer
Question. Would the Department of Defense support appropriating
Facility Sustainment Restoration and Modernization (FSRM) funding for
3-years?
What efficiencies, if any, would this create? Please provide
examples, both qualitative and quantitative. If available, please
provide estimates for potential savings, to include cost avoidance.
What would the impact be on your overall FSRM backlog?
What would the impact be on future military construction needs if
your overall FSRM backlog is reduced?
Answer. The Department recognizes the potential advantages of
multi-year availability of Operations and Maintenance funds for
Facility Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization (FSRM). These
include cost savings through single contractor awards facilitating
long-term planning (e.g., supplies, workforce) and reduced
administrative overhead. It also enables comprehensive planning for
large, complex projects unsuitable for traditional 1-year contracting
cycles, and allows for tackling larger chunks of the deferred
maintenance backlog, rather than phased or piecemeal approaches.
Currently, annual O&M appropriations limit the Government's negotiating
power due to tight deadlines for solicitations and awards before funds
expire after 1 year. This compressed timeframe and the annual end of
year deadline encourage higher contractor bids to mitigate potential
risks.
Therefore, as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 President's Budget, the
Department has requested appropriations language that would allow for
five percent of the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) appropriations to
be available for a second year, which would provide additional
flexibility and mitigate many of the inefficiencies of single-year
FSRM. A second year of O&M funding availability provides more time to
plan, design, contract for, and execute comprehensive facility
renovations to extend the lifespan of facilities and delay or avoid
military construction replacement projects. The Department is exploring
options to yield the best facilities maintenance program possible while
meeting appropriate Congressional oversight requirements. We look
forward to continued partnership with Congress to achieve that goal.
______
Questions Submitted by Senator Jon Ossoff
Question. We can all agree that this year's budget submission
timeline has been unfortunate, to say the least. Adding to this year's
uncertainty, the Department also chose to leave nearly $900 million of
requirements in mostly planning and design funds, out of the budget
request, and instead place it in reconciliation.
Assistant Secretary, what specific projects is that planning and
design funding for? Can you provide a list of what projects these
designs will be for?
Answer. The Department is providing a spend plan consistent with
the letter sent to the Department on July 22, 2025 from HASC Chairman
Rogers and SASC Chairman Wicker. The Department will provide further
information consistent with Public Law 119-21 as requested in the
letter.
Question. Who will make the decision about how that money gets
spent? Will it be you, moving down your unfunded priority list or up to
OMB?
Answer. The Department intends to spend the funding consistent with
the spend plan that will be transmitted pursuant to Section 20013 of
Public Law 119-21.
Question. Recognizing that these funds are considered a requirement
for fiscal year 2026, why would they be requested in reconciliation as
opposed to regular appropriations? Knowing full well reconciliation is
never a guaranteed legislative tool, why would you risk nearly a
billion dollars in funding required for our National security?
Answer. The Department is focused on meeting critical warfighting
requirements as efficiently and expediently as possible. The Department
appreciates the support to the critical missions funded by Section
20013 of Public Law 119-21. I commit to ensuring that every taxpayer
dollar spent supports increasing our lethality.
Question. Would you characterize the Department's request as a
slush fund of $900 million for MilCon?
Answer. The funding provided in Public Law 119-21 will be spent on
critical priorities in missile defense, air superiority, and nuclear
forces and improving infrastructure and capabilities of the U.S. Indo-
Pacific Command. I am laser-focused on working with other senior
leaders in the Department to ensure that this funding is spent with
maximum efficiency and at the best value to the U.S. taxpayer.
______
Questions Submitted to LTG David Wilson
Questions Submitted by Senator Deb Fischer
Question. Would the Army support appropriating Facility Sustainment
Restoration and Modernization (FSRM) funding for 3-years?
Answer. The Army supports authorizing FSRM for 2 years, with
appropriate controls to include the goal of awarding in year one. Army
sees limited advantage for a 3-year authorization. Authorization for 2
years will reduce risk and uncertainty resulting from the constraints
of single year funds
Question. What efficiencies, if any, would this create? Please
provide examples, both qualitative and quantitative. If available,
please provide estimates for potential savings, to include cost
avoidance.
Answer. Anticipated efficiencies from this initiative include:
--Allows commands to reallocate funds when bids are substantially
different than budgeted amounts. This helps in situations where
bids are either high or low. Per bullet four below, expect to
see fewer situations where this occurs due to additional time
for pre-award work.
--Provides addition time for contract procurement when Congressional
notification is required.
--Offsets recurring impact of Continuing Resolutions where funds are
received mid-year complicating execution of FSRM funding and
investment plans. The Army is continually pushed into executing
FSRM work at Year End and loses most of our negotiating
leverage. While the Army does not have quantifiable data to
support, anecdotally, contractors are collectively aware of the
fiscal year deadlines and inflate their bids. This proposal
allows more efficient execution of both Sustainment and
Restoration & Modernization work.
--Alleviates the difficulty in conducting a thorough review of site
conditions and/or inaccurate request for proposal (RFPs) and
scopes of work (SOWs), the lack of pre-award work often results
in additional funds for contract modifications.
--Provides time to better define R&M projects requiring longer
procurement time, e.g., larger, more complex projects.
--Provides flexibility to execute emerging requirements, e.g., damage
caused by extreme storm or other natural events which occur
late in the fiscal year.
Question. What would the impact be on your overall FSRM backlog?
Answer. Since the Army anticipates better defined projects,
accounting efficiencies, and normalized workload will result in lower
bids and costs for projects, additional projects will be funded and
backlog reduced when compared to status quo.
Question. What would the impact be on future military construction
needs if your overall FSRM backlog is reduced?
Answer. The Army anticipates military construction needs would
decrease if the FSRM backlog is reduced. A lower backlog (i.e., high
facility condition index) would redirect resources from break/fix
activities to more sustaining activities (e.g., preventative
maintenance) that helps ensure facilities can function through their
design lives. Longer design lives will reduce the need for full
facility recapitalization which is typically a MILCON requirement. In
many cases the R&M program can relieve pressure on military
construction in those cases where a major renovation can satisfy
mission in lieu of a full facility replacement.
______
Questions Submitted by Senator Jon Ossoff
Question. It has been 5 years since legislation was enacted to
provide more protections for military families living in privatized
housing.
In 2022, I led an 8-month bipartisan investigation into substandard
privatized military housing conditions, which uncovered mistreatment
and neglect of families living in privatized military housing on
several installations, including on post at Ft. Gordon in Augusta--
where families were getting sick because of mold in their homes.
While there's been some progress to upgrade privatized housing
conditions on Ft. Gordon and elsewhere, we continue to hear troubling
news from servicemembers and their families about the poor conditions
of privatized housing and the inadequate support from housing providers
on installations in Georgia and across the country, including on
Georgia's Ft. Stewart and at Hunter Army Airfield.
Yet confusingly, the Army's fiscal year 2026 budget request seeks
to reduce funding for privatized housing maintenance and oversight.
With perpetual issues plaguing military privatized housing, why is
the Army attempting to reduce funding essential to protecting military
families and what impact will the cuts have?
Answer. The funding reductions are in response to a variety of
factors. First, the largest reduction of $21.7M in requirements
reflects the conclusion of the FY2020 NDAA mandated third-party
inspections for all domestic privatized housing, to include Puerto
Rico, Hawaii, and Alaska, which will be concluded by end of FY2025. The
reduced FY2026 inspection requirement accounts for the remaining
government-owned/controlled inventory, which is primarily overseas (10K
homes) and will be completed by the end of FY2026.
Additional reductions are largely attributed to the reduced
civilian personnel supporting housing operations, pricing adjustments,
and broader budgetary cuts. We are assessing the impacts of the
Deferred Resignation Program and potential outcomes of the cuts to
personnel and funding. The Army is placing strong emphasis on
responsible restructuring, which will include assessment of tasks and
roles that can be streamlined and effectively executed with a smaller
workforce. Our goal is to minimize the impacts of these cuts on
servicemembers and their families.
Question. If we were to provide more funding, could you use it and
how?
Answer. Additional funding would be immediately used to strengthen
oversight, improve responsiveness to tenant/resident concerns, and
enhance the long-term quality and safety of privatized housing. Despite
the projected budgetary and personnel cuts in FY26, the Army must
maintain sufficient resources to support, train, and sustain a
permanent, dedicated workforce. This includes housing inspectors,
tenant/resident advocates, and personnel overseeing privatized housing
operations. As the Army modernizes processes and integrates AI tools
where appropriate, we must reassess and realign workforce requirements
while prioritizing staffing for mission-critical housing functions.
Further, additional funding could expand our operational capacity
to meet current and future NDAA requirements more effectively, through
cross-functional training courses, expanded contract support services,
and continued modernization of oversight tools and systems to improve
data collection, performance tracking, and transparency.
It is critical that the Army maintains a strong commitment to
protecting military families through adequate investment in housing
oversight, tenant/resident support, and long-term infrastructure
improvements. Quality of life for those who serve not only affects
morale but also recruitment, retention, and overall readiness.
SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS
Senator Boozman. The hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:51 a.m., Tuesday, June 17, the
subcommittee and recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of
the Chair.]
MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND RELATED AGENCIES
APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2026
----------
TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2025
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met at 10:31 a.m. in Room 124, Dirksen
Senate Office Building, Hon. John Boozman (chairman) presiding.
Present: Senators Boozman, Collins, Murkowski, Hoeven,
Hagerty, Fischer, Rounds, Hyde-Smith, Ossoff, Murray, Baldwin,
Peters, and Gillibrand.
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
STATEMENT OF HON. DOUGLAS A. COLLINS, SECRETARY,
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHN BOOZMAN
Senator Boozman. Good morning. The subcommittee will come
to order. Mr. Secretary, it's good to see you, and thank you so
much for coming today to discuss fiscal year 2026 and 2027
budget requests.
The budget request total $441.2 billion in fiscal year 2026
for the Department of Veterans Affairs, including medical care
collections, the Transformation Fund, and the Toxic Exposures
Fund, representing a 10 percent increase over fiscal year 2025
enacted levels. This includes $134.6 billion in discretionary
funds, a $5.4 billion increase from fiscal year 2025.
The request includes $301.2 billion in mandatory funds, a
$34.2 billion or 12.8 percent increase over fiscal year 2025.
Within this amount is 52.7 billion in the TEF, $22.2 billion
increase over fiscal year 2025. The budget also requests a
total of 122.6 billion in medical care advanced appropriations
for fiscal year 2027. Finally, the request includes $262.1
billion in advance for veterans' benefits.
Mr. Secretary, I need to say at the outset, that because of
the significant delays in submitting the budget, the
committee's yet to receive detailed budget justification
materials from the Department. These materials are essential to
the committee's work, and I hope we'll see them very soon.
The PACT Act has certainly been a dramatic change for
veterans, and I also think VA has a good story to tell about
its implementation. The new veterans enrolling, and the number
of PACT Act related claims received and processed, it also
created the Toxic Exposure Fund. This year's budget request
represents more than a $22 billion increase.
The budget request includes a large increase for the
electronic medical records program, a total of $3.5 billion.
DOD stumbled out of the gate in its efforts to deploy the
system. But after a pause, it successfully completed
deployments throughout the country and abroad. VA announced
that not only are deployments of the system resuming, but
they're accelerating. With well more than $12 billion of
taxpayer money invested, it's time to start seeing a return on
the investment.
But given the difficulties experienced in the Pacific
Northwest, I look forward to hearing more about how these
deployed sites will be brought up to standard and how VA plans
to execute the new accelerated deployments.
Mr. Secretary, you've been in the headlines recently as the
VA reviews the size of its workforce. Members are hearing from
our constituents regularly on this, and I look forward to
hearing more about your plans, to ensure you have the right
people in the right places to take care of our veterans.
In addition to updates on those big picture items, we also
look forward to hearing details about the Department's request
for mental health services, including efforts to prevent
veteran suicide, initiatives to prevent veterans' homelessness,
resources dedicated to care for women veterans, and efforts to
improve care for our rural veterans. We look forward to
discussing these and other issues this morning.
Before we hear from the Secretary, I'd like to recognize my
colleague, Senator Ossoff, for any opening comments that he
would have.
STATEMENT OF SENATOR JON OSSOFF
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A pleasure to be
back with you again. And appreciate our bipartisan working
relationship, and looking forward to continuing our shared
efforts to support America's veterans. I want to welcome you
Secretary Collins, a fellow Georgian. Thank you for your
service.
And before we begin, as always, but particularly given
events in the Middle East over the last several days, I want to
express my gratitude to all of those who serve the United
States with such courage and professionalism. I know we are all
united in praying for the safety of service members, as well as
diplomats and intelligence professionals who are overseas
defending the nation.
As we examine the Department's fiscal year 2026, $441
billion request, I want to begin by emphasizing that it is our
shared priority on this subcommittee, across the aisle, to
ensure that the men and women who have defended the United
States in uniform receive the care, support, and benefits that
they've earned. And I emphasize that word earned because VA
benefits are not handouts or giveaways. This is a sacred
contract between the nation and those who have defended it, as
well as their families.
The purpose of today's hearing is for the Secretary to
present the VA's budget request for fiscal year 2026. I echo
the chairman in expressing my concern at the lack of
supplemental materials and budget justification materials,
which makes it very challenging for us to assess the merits of
the overall request. I hope we can get some more details in the
course of this hearing.
We see that the overall discretionary and mandatory funding
levels for VA have increased. We recognize, the chairman also
mentioned, in the first 2 years of the PACT Act between August
of 2022 and August of 2024, in Georgia alone Mr. Chairman, more
than 6,500 new Georgia veterans enrolled in VA healthcare.
We have seen 51,000 veterans with PACT Act claims granted,
and of course to serve America's veterans, the VA needs to be
staffed appropriately, to provide care both within and without
the walls of VA facilities. And the VA needs to be welcoming to
all veterans who have worn the uniform and to offer programs
and assistance that these veterans need.
Mr. Secretary, you've requested a significant increase to
expedite the rollout of the electronic health records
modernization effort, as well as an increase in the
construction accounts. Perhaps most significantly, and I know
of some substantial bipartisan concern, we see a shift of $18
billion away from what Congress advanced last fiscal year for
VA medical care.
Those funds have been reprogrammed toward The Toxic
Exposures Fund, of course, a worthy endeavor and something that
was established via the PACT Act. But there is substantial
concern about this cut to the medical care account. I hope we
can get some more details on that in the course of this
hearing.
And Mr. Secretary, you know that now and long predating
your tenure, Georgia veterans and veterans across the country
are deeply frustrated. They're frustrated by wait times for
appointments and care. They're frustrated by years--long
adjudication of their claims, and the feeling that they're just
slamming their head into a brick wall when they try to claim
the benefits they've earned through their service.
Veterans are frustrated that they can't get answers and
basic information from the Department. And frankly, Mr.
Secretary, Members of Congress are frustrated that we can't get
basic answers and information from the Department. And if you
step back and think about it, if United States Senators can't
get transparency from the VA, what hope is there for the rest
of the country?
Mr. Secretary, when you came and met with me in advance of
your confirmation, you promised me that as a former Member of
Congress, you understood the vital role of Congressional
oversight and pledged to be transparent and responsive.
But to be very candid with you, so far this year, although
I've appreciated our opportunities to speak, the Department has
been unresponsive to Congressional oversight, and has acted
unilaterally without consultation of Congress in ways that I
think you're aware have caused substantial concern and
opposition on both sides of the aisle, and in both chambers of
Congress.
So, I appreciate that you've been willing to get on the
phone when I call, but Mr. Secretary, with all due respect, I
don't call just to hear the sound of your voice. I want to make
sure the Department is providing this subcommittee with the
information that Members of Congress have requested, so that we
can make sound decisions on behalf of our constituents and
America's veterans. So, we are not off to a great start when it
comes to transparency and responsiveness, but I'm hoping that
that can change, and we can build an effective working
relationship.
There are a few core concerns where we need more
transparency; with respect to contract cancellations, the VASP
program, staffing levels, the budget justification,
supplementary materials that this subcommittee receives almost
always in advance of this hearing, but which we lack today.
And members of this subcommittee and members of the Senate,
Mr. Secretary, are going to continue to ask for information
about your plans and intentions and Department operations,
because as you know, from your time in Congress, that's our
job. It's what we were elected to do. We can't legislate just
based on someone's word or promise. We have to verify and
understand precisely what you and other members of the
Executive branch are doing.
So today, I look forward to hearing how the specifics of
your fiscal year 2026 requests will ensure that, for example,
clinical staffing gaps are filled. I also have some questions
as you anticipate, and we discussed yesterday, Mr. Secretary,
about some specific Georgia facilities. I thank you for your
service to the nation. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the time.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. You are recognized Secretary
Collins.
SUMMARY STATEMENT OF HON. DOUGLAS COLLINS
Secretary Collins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member,
and it's good to see both of you and also the other Members
that are here today. And Chairman, thanks for the opportunity
and Ranking Member, again, is always good to be with a fellow
Georgian.
And there's a lot of things going on. One of the things is,
my first opportunity to come before this committee, and I've
been looking forward to it for a while, to look at where we're
at, to take an assessment in about four and a half months into
my tenure, also into roughly about halfway through the first
five and a half-six months of the Administration.
And one of the things that I have found, and I expressed
this to you before, is I've traveled to about 17 states so far,
16-17 states, about 60 facilities and seeing firsthand what our
VA is capable of and what we're doing, and the issues, and the
struggles that we have as an organization that for the years
has had issues.
And I think this is the thing that I want to bring out. As
we go forward, it's not a matter of if there's a problem, there
has been a problem. And I think this transcends even my time,
definitely as Secretary, but even really coming into my time
when I was in Congress, for over 8 years. We've seen this in
Georgia, I was here in Congress when the first issues started
coming out of Augusta, Georgia, when it started coming out of
Phoenix. When we have found the Choice Act, that's how we then
came to the MISSION Act. Which then leads to a lot of where we
are today.
Now, some of the things that I have said before, and I want
to say again, is that we are a very special group with the
largest, of course, of all the Federal agencies outside of DOD.
And if you break DOD up, we're actually the largest single
agency. We're larger than the active-duty Army, personnel wise.
When we look at that, and you look at the mission that we
have, and the silos that have been created many times in our
hospitals and our benefits, one of the things I want to be very
specific about is that we treat the best clients in the world.
We have a very specific purpose. We're there to treat the
veteran. And that became my core mission when we first started.
This was to make sure that veterans were our center focus and
not the organization itself.
As a Member of Congress and as I'm hearing from both
Chairman and Ranking Member this morning, there is difficulty
at times, and especially when 60 percent of your phone calls
have to do with VA-related items, whether you're a member of
this committee or not. That's a lot. And I've already said
before that when 60 percent of the constituent calls have to do
with VA, then that's a failure on our part. Somewhere along the
way, we've not made it either easy enough, or processed enough,
or give answers well enough, to make sure that the veteran is
getting what they have, and I appreciate what the Ranking
Members said, earned.
As one of those who has served for over 23 years in the Air
Force and in the Navy as well, it is something that I take very
seriously. It's an honor. It's not a gift from the government.
It's an earned benefit when you raised your right hand. When we
look at this, it has made me understand how much that we have
to go and how far we need to get there.
In the past, what I have heard when I was in the Hill and
off the Hill, is the issues of delays, wait times and others,
which by the way, is also an interesting issue. And it's also
interesting for us as we have to deal with the realities of our
VA medical center, which is the largest healthcare system in
the country is that we're one of the few that actually take
wait times and use them the way that we do.
Most are doing it with the customer satisfaction. They look
at wait times and they vary, because of the population they
have. We need to make sure that our wait times for our veterans
is something that they can get, not only in our system, but
outside of our system. Community care, coupled with our direct
care, is something that is vital. It's what the MISSION Act
requires, and we're going to actually put that in purpose.
We've not had that the last few years. We're actually putting a
re-emphasis on it.
I'll hit more on healthcare and I look forward to our
Health Records Management System. I think that's a great
discussion we need to have. And Mr. Chairman, you brought that
up and it's been brought up by the Ranking Member as well. This
is vital to not only get our healthcare records management
system up to date, but taking what has happened and moving us
forward in the future. Because right now, it is a problem with
our community care and it's a problem internally as well,
because our system is not where it needs to be. We are using a
system; it is very outdated.
I want to move really quickly to our veterans benefit. One
of the things that this morning we were able to actually
announce that we have finished 2 million disability claims this
year, faster than has ever been done, in light of all that is
going on. And we're looking to be 14 percent higher over the
year by the year-end of processing disability claims.
When I took over in February and January 20th, and when I
came in the first week of February, there was 260,000 of our
backlog disabilities, over 125 days. That number is now under
190. We've cut almost 71,000 off of our disability claims in a
little over three and a half months. That's what that does. It
clears up our backlog. It gets our answers to our veterans
quicker, and it make sure they get what they want and what they
need.
Overall, the VA is this, and I'm going to end with this. I
don't think that anything that I have wanted, expressed, or
said for my goals for the VA are different than any Veteran's
Service Officer (VSO), any Member of Congress, any member of
veteran who wants the same, they want an access that is easy.
They want an access that is good. They want a quality facility.
They want an excellent use and efficiency of the taxpayer
dollar. And I believe that is what we're working toward.
We all have differences on how to get there, and that's
what these committee hearings are for, and that's how we work
together. And I look forward to working with this committee as
we move forward and continuing to answer questions in the best
way we possibly can.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I'll yield back.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Douglas A. Collins
Chairman Boozman, Ranking Member Ossoff, and distinguished members
of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
Since becoming the Secretary of VA, I have met many of the men and
women who show up to work every day at the Department with a deep
dedication to our mission-delivering health care and benefits to
millions of Veterans who have served our Nation. They have my sincere
thanks, and I cannot wait to meet more of them in the months ahead.
In this same period, I have come to learn what many of you on this
subcommittee also realize: VA needs reform. We must do a better job of
delivering timely care to Veterans, getting to ``yes'' so Veterans can
get the benefits they have earned, and making sure the money Congress
appropriates to VA is not diverted to non-mission critical or even
wasteful programs.
In 2024, discussions in Congress about the need to reform VA were
often just a thinly veiled request for more employees. But the
Department's history shows that adding more employees to the system
does not automatically mean better results.
The Biden Administration's record is a perfect example. During
those 4 years, VA failed to address nearly all its most serious
problems, such as benefits backlogs and rising health care wait times.
The numbers speak for themselves:
The number of VA employees grew by more than 52,000 full-time
equivalents from fiscal year (FY) 2021 to FY 2024. Did all those extra
people make things better for Veterans? No. In fact, VA's performance
got worse, as health care wait times rose and the number of Veterans
waiting for disability benefits increased.
Something must change, and it is up to us to make that change.
Under President Trump, we are working to solve problems that have
persisted at VA for decades. Our goal is to create a Department that
works better for the Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors we
serve.
I have never been shy when it comes to addressing tough issues
head-on, and I will not ignore the elephant in the room here today. As
everyone here is aware, we are conducting a thorough review of the
Department's structure and staffing across the enterprise.
As I have said countless times, this review is aimed at finding
ways to improve care and benefits for Veterans without cutting care and
benefits for Veterans. Our goal is to increase productivity and
efficiency, eliminate waste and bureaucracy, and improve the delivery
of health care and benefits to Veterans.
We are going to maintain mission-essential jobs like doctors,
nurses, and claims processors; and reduce administrator, advisor, and
middle manager posts to eliminate duplicative, unnecessary layers of
bureaucracy that do nothing to serve our Veterans and hinder our
mission.
Our goal is to ensure we have employees where they are needed, cut
unnecessary overhead, and strategically reduce staff to ensure VA's
budget is mostly going directly to Veterans. We will accomplish this
without making cuts to health care or benefits to Veterans or VA
beneficiaries.
Year after year, calls for VA reform come from every corner-
lawmakers, the media, watchdogs like Inspectors General and the
Government Accountability Office (GAO), Veterans Service Organizations,
and individual Veterans across the country.
This year, finally, we have embarked on a historic effort to reform
VA. We have been emphatic that we will not be cutting benefits and
health care-only improving them. And we are engaging career subject
matter experts, senior executives, and political leadership to
restructure the Department so it works better for Veterans.
We are doing what literally all VA stakeholders agree needs to be
done. So, what has the reaction been? We have been met with a barrage
of false rumors, innuendo, disinformation, and speculation implying we
are firing doctors and nurses, forcing staff to work in closets and
showers, and that there is ``chaos'' across the Department.
Why? Because we canceled some duplicative contracts for work VA can
and should be doing in-house, and we let go of one half of 1% of non-
mission critical employees.
To hear our critics tell it, the Department was perfect until we
started making changes in January 2025. Everyone knows that is not
true.
The fact is that VA health care has been on GAO's high-risk list
for more than a decade. GAO even says VA faces ``system-wide challenges
in overseeing patient safety and access to care, hiring critical staff,
and meeting future infrastructure needs.'' We are working hard to fix
these and other issues, and we need your help. We want to work with
Congress to fix VA. But our shared goal needs to be making things
better for Veterans rather than protecting the Department's broken
bureaucracy.
VA is not a Federal jobs program. It is an organization whose sole
purpose is to serve Veterans. We must never lose sight of that.
And despite major opposition from many in the media, union bosses,
and some in Congress, we are already making significant progress to
better serve Veterans, including:
--Making sure Veterans get the health care choices they were promised
under the Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening
Integrated Outside Networks Act.
--Decreasing VA's disability claims backlog by 25% (https://
news.va.gov/press- room/record-breaking-va-claims-production-
brings-backlog-under-200k/) since January 20, 2025, after it
increased 24% during the Biden Administration.
--Processing record numbers of disability claims (https://
news.va.gov/press- room/va-processes-one-million-disability-
claims-faster-than-ever-before/), reaching 1 million claims
processed for FY 2025 as of February 20, 2025, faster than at
any point in history.
--Implementing major reforms (https://news.va.gov/press-room/va-
announces- major-survivor-benefits-reforms/) to make it easier
for survivors to get benefits, after serious problems (https://
edition.cnn.com/2025/03/19/politics/veteran- suicides-va-
benefits-invs) during the Biden Administration.
--Accelerating the deployment (https://news.va.gov/press-room/va-
names-nine- additional-facilities-that-will-deploy-federal-ehr-
in-2026/) of its integrated electronic health record system,
after the program was nearly dormant for almost 2 years under
the Biden Administration.
--Phasing out treatment for gender dysphoria (https://news.va.gov/
press-room/va- to-phase-out-treatment-for-gender-dysphoria/) .
Frankly, this commonsense reform should have been done years
ago.
--Ending Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at the Department
https://news.va.gov/press-room/va-ends-dei-stops-millions-in-
spending-on-dei/), reversing the divisive Biden-era policies
and stopping more than $14 million in DEI spending.
--Bringing nearly 60,000 VA employees back to the office (https://
news.va.gov/press-room/va-announces-return-to-in-person-work-
policy/), where we can work better as a team to serve Veterans.
But we are just getting started. We have an obligation to make VA
work better for the Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors we
are charged with serving. That is exactly what we have been doing and
exactly what we will continue to do.
As I previously stated, we appreciate your help and support and
look forward to working with you and your Senate colleagues to improve
the lives of those who have worn the uniform. Today, I ask for your
help on three pressing issues:
1. We ask you and your colleagues to confirm our highly qualified
nominees--many of whom are Veterans--as quickly as possible. Five
nominees are currently awaiting full Senate confirmation, three of whom
have been waiting nearly 2.5 months for the Senate to act.
2. We ask that you pass President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill,
which would benefit all Americans by providing the largest working- and
middle-class tax cut in history.
3. We ask that you approve President Trump's FY 2026 Budget
Request.
President Trump is committed to balancing the budget while
providing adequate funding for critical non-defense discretionary
priorities-securing our borders, caring for our Veterans, and continued
infrastructure investment. Reaching balance requires:
--Resetting the proper balance between Federal and State
responsibilities with a renewed emphasis on federalism;
--Eliminating the Federal Government's support of woke ideology;
--Protecting the American people by deconstructing a wasteful and
weaponized bureaucracy; and
--Identifying and eliminating wasteful spending.
The budget levels reflect the reforms necessary to enable VA to
fulfill its statutory responsibilities in the most cost-effective
manner possible.
The budget provides increased funding for health care services
tailored to Veterans' needs, both at VA medical centers and in the
community. The budget ensures that the Nation's Veterans are provided
with the world-class health care they deserve. In addition, Veterans
who qualify for access to care with local community providers would be
empowered to make the choice to see them, rather than having to drive,
in some cases, hours to access the nearest VA facility.
VA discretionary budget request for FY 2026 is $134.6 billion, and
$52.6 billion for Toxic Exposures Fund, for a total request of $187.2
billion. This is an increase of $27.6 billion (+17%) above the FY 2025
enacted level.
VA is committed to ending Veteran homelessness. The budget includes
a new effort, Bridging Rental Assistance for Veterans Empowerment
(BRAVE), which will provide $1.1 billion to support the President's
commitment to end Veteran homelessness. VA will be directly responsible
for programs and financial support to provide rental assistance and
other support services.
The budget request also includes $3.5 billion for the Electronic
Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program. VA's EHRM effort is moving
the Department from a decades-old legacy system to a modern system that
is interoperable with systems at the Department of Defense and other
Federal partners, as well as participating community care providers,
allowing clinicians to easily access a Veteran's full medical history
anywhere they seek care. Acceleration of the EHRM rollout is now a top
VA priority effort. The FY 2026 funding will enable VA to complete
planned deployments in FY 2027.
Thank you for your time and attention, and I look forward to your
questions.
Senator Boozman. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. And with that,
we'll start our round of five-minute questions. Mr. Secretary,
last year's VA budget, which was not under your watch, last
year's VA budget request took a great amount of risk with some
of the assumptions it made.
VA assumed it had sufficient carryover balances to avoid
requesting a second bite for veterans' medical care, yet later
told Congress that it had a $12 billion shortfall in those
accounts, an amount subsequently revised to $6 billion. VA also
told Congress that it would exhaust its benefits funding before
the end of the fiscal year, prompting us to pass an emergency
supplemental.
Only afterwards did we learn that VA didn't actually
utilize any of that supplemental funding. After the events of
last year, the appetite for continued bailouts in Congress is
extremely low. Mr. Secretary, how much risk is VA assuming with
this budget? And how confident are you that the data and
assumptions underlying the request are sound?
Secretary Collins. Mr. Chairman, I think that was one of
the biggest issues that came up consistently in my confirmation
hearings with the information that was given, taken back, move
forward. As we've all come--to not rehash the entire episode
altogether--there were assumptions made, and also hirings and
others that took funds, and there was a rapid acceleration
that, especially in the VBA side that took that money down.
What we are doing and what I have told our budget folks,
and I've also told each of our business lines, that they are to
work within the numbers that we have, their look--ahead, and
make sure that there's nothing and the underlying assumptions
for our carryovers and the funds. I ask this question almost
weekly in making sure that we're at, because I will not come up
here in a situation in which we've overspent or at least
perceived overspent.
That was the problem that I think, again, not having a part
of it last year, that was the part that bothered me the most,
was their numbers were not adding up when they came up here.
And then after even the OIG report and other reports came out,
it just was frankly to some mismanagement in how they/we were
hiring and how we were appropriating money and not keeping up
with it.
I'm very solid in what I believe our numbers are for this
year. I believe that the backing is solid on that as well. My
budget people are here as well, and I think they'll agree with
that going forward. So, I think where we're at right now is
where we need to be, to make sure that we're spending
appropriately and making sure the services are available.
Senator Boozman. Very good. Mr. Secretary, I know something
that's very important to you is veteran suicide, which it is to
me and so many other members of this committee on both sides of
the aisle. VA has numerous suicide prevention initiatives, and
yet we still see elevated suicide rates among veterans relative
to their civilian counterparts.
Can you discuss how the VA is approaching suicide
prevention? And under your leadership, what current initiatives
do you believe are working to reverse these negative trends?
Secretary Collins. Chairman, this is the one that really
literally keeps me up at night if I think about this. And when
I get the reports coming in from the field, especially when we
have had death by suicide occurring on our own campuses, I get
those notifications immediately. And then we have, what has
happened since 2008, is a number that's not really changed. In
2008, 17 to 22 veterans taking their own life.
The issue that I have is we're spending approximately in
the budget $588 million dollars for what is called prevention.
But yet we're still not seeing anything different. So, what I'm
looking at is a fresh new approach. We're going to look at
how--and of those numbers, 17 to 20 veterans, depending on the
numbers you use--half of them have not had contact with the VA.
They've not been in our system, in other words.
So, things like the Fox Grant program, which reaches out to
organizations which I encourage is to be renewed this time. 95
organizations have been a part of that. And they're reaching
out and helping veterans who are not necessarily enrolled in
our VA system. They're bringing them in.
I have also been reaching out to other organizations, going
to different places, nonprofits, and others to say, how can we
work together? Because at this point, I think the monies that
you're appropriating, the monies that we're trying to spend,
goes to one thing: is that, can we help a veteran not get to
the point where they feel like they have to take their own
life?
But for me, it's just a complete re-look at how we're doing
it. We can't keep doing the same things the same way and expect
different results. We've got to make sure that we're doing it
differently.
Senator Boozman. Very good. Senator Ossoff.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you
again, Mr. Secretary.
So just to start with the basics here, Mr. Secretary, the
total all--in request for fiscal year 2026 is $441.2 billion,
correct?
Secretary Collins. Yes.
Senator Ossoff. And how much of your medical services
request is for personnel? And how many personnel through this
medical services request do you intend to employ in fiscal year
2026?
Secretary Collins. I have my budget guy Andrew here as
well, if there's numbers that we need, Mr. Chairman, at your
discretion. The issue that you brought up is, right now there
are currently 465,000 employees in VA as a whole. Veterans
Health Administration (VHA) has 409,000 of those.
Senator Ossoff. I'm so sorry, the question is, how many
staff do you intend to employ through the medical services
budget in fiscal year 2026?
Secretary Collins. Andrew, do we have that--396,000.
Senator Ossoff. 396,000. Okay. The fiscal year 2025
request--and just to be clear, that's intended staffing of
medical services in fiscal year 2026? Say the number again?
Secretary Collins. 395,000.
Senator Ossoff. 396,000. Okay. How many physicians do you
intend to employ in fiscal year 2026?
Secretary Collins. Physicians, Andrew.
Senator Ossoff. I'm sorry, who are you?
Secretary Collins. Andrew is our budget director. Right
now, we currently have 28,868 physicians.
Senator Ossoff. Yes. So, how many physicians do you intend
to employ in fiscal year 2026?
Secretary Collins. We're not cutting physicians. So, at
this point in time, under that budget, we're still looking to
continue 28,868 at minimum. Because we're also having to add
physicians, which are not, which are exempt. So, we're adding
those as we can.
Senator Ossoff. So, here's what we usually--this is, for
example, the budget request from 2025, and it specifies that
for 2025, we're requested 25,099 physicians. So, we usually get
this in advance of this hearing. So, my question is just how
many doctors you intend to employ?
Secretary Collins. Yeah. And at this point in time, I'll
take that and get it back to you. As I told you yesterday on
the phone, there'll be some more information coming later this
week.
Senator Ossoff. Okay. How about dentists?
Secretary Collins. Same answer.
Senator Ossoff. Do you have the number for nurses?
Secretary Collins. We currently employ 91,040. I'll have
the breakdown.
Senator Ossoff. But my question is how many----
Secretary Collins. And I understand and breakdown will be
provided as I said yesterday.
Senator Ossoff. Okay. Well, how have you calculated the
money you need for personnel without having yet decided how
many personnel to employ?
Secretary Collins. In the breakdown of the budget, which
right now is still going on, these are the numbers that we are
using to go forward from last year's budget into this year's
budget. And at this point there is also a gap in how many we
currently hired and not hired. And so, at this point, I'll have
the numbers for you that we've not provided yet. We'll be
providing those numbers.
Senator Ossoff. But you've proposed about $17 or $18
billion cut to the medical services account, correct?
Secretary Collins. That is not the President Budget makes
adjustments to the funding that devote additional funding,
appropriate funding to community care. This is not a cut to
total funding to VHA. In fact, the total medical care budget
grew by 17 percent to $24 billion.
Senator Ossoff. Not medical care, medical services. So, and
just to be clear, I mean, the chairman mentioned this. We
usually get this, which specifies----how many folks you intend
to employ.
Secretary Collins. I understand completely.
Senator Ossoff. We have a 26-page PowerPoint. But in that
26-page PowerPoint, here are specified about $17 billion in
cuts to the medical services budget. So, what are you cutting
in medical services? Who specifically are you cutting since
that's exclusively personnel?
Secretary Collins. Again, this is the issue that we have
and I'll just state this for either us to go back in circles.
We'll be providing more of those numbers, as I said yesterday
on our phone call, this week. So, at this point in time, the
numbers that we're providing are the numbers that we have at
this point. I'll be happy to talk to you further about those
later.
Senator Ossoff. I understand that, that's why we usually
get these in advance of this hearing. I mean, I'm wondering if
we need to reconvene having received the full budget request.
Because the thing that is causing a lot of consternation is
this proposed $17-$18 billion cut to medical services. And so,
today is the budget hearing, where you justify the budget
request. So how do you justify this cut to medical services and
who are you going to fire in order to pay for it?
Secretary Collins. And I'll go back to the same answer I
gave you just a few minutes ago. I mean, in this process, we'll
have the more information on that part of it as we go forward.
The basis of the budget was based on our workforce as it
existed and moving forward. And the numbers have not been cut
to the medical care budget.
Senator Ossoff. I'm sorry. Yes, it has. You have in your
PowerPoint here, $17-$18 billion in cuts to medical services.
Again, this is a 26-page PowerPoint to justify the budget. And
this is the budget hearing, so who's getting fired? I don't
know Mr. Chairman, if we need to reconvene after they send us
the materials, but I think this is insufficient clearly, and
I'll follow up in my next round.
Senator Collins. We don't.
Senator Ossoff. [continued] Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Boozman. Senator Fisher.
Senator Fischer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you,
Secretary, for being here today, and thank you for the work
that you do.
You spoke in your earlier comments about the wait system,
and I've been proud to work on a program recently, the External
Provider Scheduling system, and the system uses technology to
link VA scheduling teams to providers in the community,
allowing them to directly see available appointments and then
schedule appointments for veterans.
This makes the scheduling process much more efficient and
it increases the number of appointments schedulers can schedule
per day, enabling veterans to receive care sooner.
Unfortunately, last year, the Administration slow walked and
even rolled back the rollout of EPS at some VA medical centers.
Mr. Secretary, given the uncertainty that we saw with the
EPS rollout last year, stakeholders are rightfully on high
alert for program disruptions. Can you provide some reassurance
that the External Provider Scheduling (EPS) rollout will
continue without disruption under the current Administration?
And do you think it would be beneficial to create a line item
for EPS to create greater certainty for the program and to
ensure its success?
Secretary Collins. Senator, I think, as you mentioned, that
is one of the biggest issues that is currently out there as far
as how we rate wait times, as far as from direct care to
community care and back. Yes, we're going to continue with EPS
and EPS has resulted in over 28,000 appointments scheduled in
more than 7,400 providers of services onboarded. Just and the
Omaha VAMC, as well, we just had 56 providers brought on and
755 coming in the queue.
It's also showed a reduction in the number of days from
file entry date going forward to the first scheduled
appointment, which is the important date, how much time does it
take to get that first contact, to then get an appointment.
So, we're doing everything we possibly can. Those will be
definitely used as we go forward for the scheduling on what we
can get. And I look forward to working with that as we go
forward. And also trying to find any other way that we could,
especially with a third-party system, which is, especially when
you deal with outside our community partners as well. This also
leads into another discussion at some point concerning the
Electronic Health Records Management System, which does not
communicate well to anybody.
Senator Fischer. Exactly. Right. Would it be helpful to you
to make it a line item in the budget? The EPS system?
Secretary Collins. I think if that's the feeling of this
body as well it's not something we would oppose.
Senator Fischer. Okay, thank you. As you know, VA
facilities are old, several decades old, and the costly
renovations, they just don't cut it anymore. In Nebraska, our
Omaha VA Medical Center is 75 years old this year, and I've
been working to ensure a new VA medical center in Omaha as a
priority. And I was pleased to see that the Department
requested a major increase in the major construction account.
Mr. Secretary, can you talk about the need to continue to
invest in our VA infrastructure and the Department's plans for
ensuring a strong VA footprint?
Secretary Collins. Yes, I can. And again, as you made
reference to, that's $3 billion, so $1 billion increase in the
major construction as we look forward. This also brings up a
bigger issue, and I think this is for the Chairman and for
everybody here. When you look at our construction processes--
because most of our facilities were averaging about 60 years in
age, of these facilities. The problem we're having is over the
past few years, especially in Congress, we've seen the problems
of building facilities. We saw this in Colorado. We've seen it
in other places, in the expanding cost of these facilities.
Part of that is how we're funding these. We're starting out
with a proposition that I'll give, we'll put into the budget,
major construction, say a hundred million to do a site study.
Then we'll come back the next year and we'll do maybe even a
little bit more, 200 million to do land. After a while, you've
now run a project that should take 24 months, you've run it
into almost eight to 10 years, Louisville being an example, and
others being an example of how long this can get strung out.
And also, you've increased the cost.
So, I'm glad we're funding it, but we need to look at more
of a front-end funding model, especially if we're going to
replace whole hospitals. I give this example. Right now,
there's a proposal that has increased by several hundred
million dollars just in the last few years, in St. Louis to
replace that center. It's now up to $1.7 billion, has not been
moved forward on, but it's increasing every year due to regular
costs.
And I'll just refer it back to a hospital in my hometown of
Gainesville, Georgia, which built a similar sized facility.
They built it for half of that, more than half of that price,
and did it in less than 24 months. We've got to get out of this
process of overseeing and completely redo how we're looking at
major construction.
Senator Fischer. I agree with you on that. It's important
to be able to move it because then you're using taxpayer
dollars to provide for our veterans in a more responsible
manner as well. I think we have to also look at flexibility.
And when I was first elected to the Senate, one of the first
things I did was write the CHIP IN for Veterans Act, and we
have had such success in the Omaha area with that partnership
established with the community.
So, I thank the VA for being responsive in processes like
that so we can continue to provide services to VA as we work to
make better use of taxpayer money on the larger facilities that
of course, are also needed. So, thank you, Mr. Secretary. Thank
you.
Secretary Collins. And we look forward to continuing
support of the CHIP IN as well.
Senator Fischer. Thank you.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. Senator Hoeven.
Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks to you and
the Ranking Member for having this hearing today.
Secretary, I want to start actually by thanking you. It
seems to me that to run a very large agency like the VA
successfully, you have to do a number of things. First, provide
leadership, then build a strong team, and then empower them.
And from what I've seen, that's just exactly what you're doing.
And the example I want to point to is the Fargo National
Veterans Cemetery. Because of your strong leadership and your
willing to work with us, we've created a partnership between
the VA, so your agency, the state of North Dakota, the private
sector, and veterans, to move forward on a very important
project for our veterans in the region. That's going to be a
huge benefit to our state of North Dakota.
This is our one and only Federal veterans cemetery. It's
going to serve all of Western Minnesota and everything in South
Dakota, all the way over to Spearfish. I say that for the
benefit of my colleague, Senator Rounds, and we were governors
together, so we go back a long ways. But South Dakota's got a
nice cemetery for our veterans way out in the Western end.
And so, this is incredibly important for this region of the
country. And you were willing to sit down and listen to what
we're trying to accomplish. And then you directed your people
to work with us. I want to give a special thanks to Jon Lauder,
to Darrell Owens and also to Don Bivens. But mostly to you,
because it's that kind of leadership that enabled you to
actually leverage your resources.
So, we're talking about your resources today, and you only
have so many resources at the Federal VA, and you're always
going to have demand for more services than you're ever going
to have resources to supply. So here you are, leveraging state
and private sector resources in a very significant way to do a
lot more for veterans where they really need the help.
And so, for the veterans and their families, they're going
to now have a cemetery in the Fargo-Moorhead region, which is
more than a quarter of a million people right there. And then
you've got, as I say, that huge area that you're going to
serve. And that doesn't happen without the right kind of
leadership. And so big thank you to you.
But also, it emphasizes how important it is--and I want to
very respectfully ask our colleagues on the other side of the
aisle--work with us to get more of your folks in place. For
example, the Assistant Secretary overseeing the cemetery, Sam
Brown, he hadn't been confirmed yet. Don Bivens, who's going to
be your Congressional person for the Senate, he hadn't been
confirmed yet. You need these folks in place.
And serving veterans has never been a partisan issue. It's
an issue that we all need to work on together. And so, the
point of this is first, big thank you, and this is so important
that we're moving forward now the right way, and we look
forward to continue to work with you on it. But it really
highlights the need for you to get your folks, your team in
place, you so you can do more of it.
Secretary Collins. I appreciate that, Senator. Let me just
also emphasize this as well, it's not just Sam at our National
cemetery as well. Our CFO, Topping, is still waiting to be
confirmed as well. That's a big issue. I know especially since
we're sitting here discussing budget. Also, our General
Counsel. We're sitting here--we're in June right now, going
forward.
So, any encouragement that we could to get these passed,
and I understand the differences in bodies and members wanting
to vote, but at least put them to the floor and vote on them.
Because it does have an effect in the Departments, not just
mine, but others. But right now, we have a single confirmed
appointment in our Department. We have the Deputy and that's
it.
Senator Hoeven. Yes. And 100 percent and you've gone
through the full process and you bring experience not only as a
congressman, but as a colonel in the military, as somebody
who's served in combat. I love the fact that your dad was in
the highway patrol. I was governor, so you know how much I love
the highway patrol.
So, I mean, you just bring that background and I would hope
that everybody could look at that and say, okay, sure. If
there's somebody in there, that there's truly an issue and
they're controversial, whatever, but let's see if we can't get
more of these folks on board to serve our veterans. So that's
my pitch there as well as a thank you, big thank you.
The other thing I want to bring up briefly is for veterans
getting access to VA reimbursement in nursing homes, they have
to go through a whole additional set of reviews and
regulations, which a lot of nursing homes won't do. And if we
could just make those reviews and requirements consistent with
what CMS requires, I think a lot more nursing homes would
accept VA reimbursement for veterans, which is really important
to the family because they don't have to dissipate all their
resources before they would go on Medicaid, right? And then
they can have that veteran in their community.
And the Office of Federal Compact Compliance Programs--I
say that for a reason. It sounds kind of bureaucratic,
governmental, and that's exactly the process. When they're
throwing a lot at things in place that require duplicate costs,
and whatever you can do to work with us there, I think would
really help veterans get access to long-term care.
Secretary Collins. Senator, I'm looking for everybody,
because that is one of the issues that we look forward, is our
older veteran population. This is going to become more and more
of an issue as we move forward, especially something we have to
look at. It is concerning to me that we do have duplicative,
not only in this area of long-term care, but others as well.
It's one of the biggest things that I have faced in my tenure
in just a large bureaucratic organization.
I said this before and I will continue to say it.
Unfortunately, the VA has come sort of the example that's used
most of the time for bureaucratic organizations that are large
and unwieldy and don't get stuff done. I'm trying to streamline
that to where we can get decisions made a lot quicker.
Senator Hoeven. Right on. And it's not just institutional
long-term care; it's also home care.
Secretary Collins. Exactly.
Senator Hoeven. And so that's a big deal. Really big deal
too.
Secretary Collins. And I am looking forward to, we're
continuing to up with the Elizabeth Dole Act and continue to
move forward on a lot of that caregiver issues that are going
to be coming along.
Senator Hoeven. Again, thank you Secretary. Appreciate it.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. Senator Hyde-Smith.
Senator Hyde-Smith. Thank you Mr. Chairman. And thank you,
Mr. Secretary. We so appreciate your willingness to serve and
your leadership is very much appreciated by this body. You've
got a tall drink of water in front of you, but, so thank you
for stepping up to that. And we appreciate you coming to
Mississippi back in April, to the State Veterans Home there on
the Gulf Coast. That meant a lot to the community and to our
veterans that we have there. Very important segment of our
society on the Gulf Coast.
We have about 180,000 veterans in Mississippi. And these
men and women stepped forward, many from rural towns and small
areas. It amazes me the percentage of veterans that we have
that came out of small, small towns that didn't even have a red
light in them. We are very proud of that, because it's our duty
to ensure when they come home, that they do have access to
quality care, that's going to meet their specific needs.
And as the challenge that you and I both are aware of that
they face, is the shortfall in the infrastructure, particularly
construction funding for VA medical centers. And the fiscal
year 2024 VA state home construction grant priority included
184 projects, yet only 10 were approved for funding. Many of
these delayed projects involved the basic repairs as well as
some critical upgrades that are truly critical, but things that
direct effectively the quality and safety of our veterans in
the care that you're so well aware of.
So how does your Administration plan to address the
Department's growing infrastructure needs, given the reality of
limited construction funding?
Secretary Collins. Well, that's what we had hit a little
bit earlier, and I want to just go specific, and you're talking
about the 184 projects on the priority list and ten approved
for funding. This is the problem that we're facing all along.
And it's not something that goes away, and it's the reoccurring
maintenance issues. It's the growth issues. There are areas--
our home state of Georgia, Atlanta, is one that is growing,
probably one of the fastest in the country.
And yet, we look through long-term construction plans, it's
trying to get the process moving. The big thing, and I think,
and I would love to have both sides of the aisle help on this,
we really need to go back and take a look at how we're doing
long-term construction inside the VA. And it's going to come
from statute, a great deal. Because we have, Corps of Engineer
involvement, we've got major projects. We've got a lot of
different things that really just throw a roadblock into how we
are to get these projects done.
And what we're wanting to do is we've used--in fact, we
moved some monies this year to get some non-reoccurring
maintenance cost knocked off that had been lingering. So, we
used some of that money, and that was before I got there and
even afterward.
One of the reasons we do have a larger ask is because of in
2026 was geared toward critical and safety needs as we go
forward. But we did not get to ask for a full capital account
on the previous budget, which was not ours because of the
yearlong CR, and because of the CR process. That's another
issue that's going to come in involved in this as we go
forward. So, we're looking at everything we possibly can.
And in some of the areas where hospitals just may not be in
a process of being, especially from the major hospitals being
rebuilt, is can we do larger size CBOCs, clinics, that can take
some of the pressure off of some of our hospitals and then redo
some of what is in our current hospital set up.
Senator Hyde-Smith. And thank you for your work on that
because I mean, you certainly have it focused and you're
certainly aiming to that. But you and I both know, we are so
aware of the long wait times for appointments, and I know that
you're working on that, the red tape that trying to access the
care and the benefits that they've earned. But despite the
record levels of funding for the VA in recent years, many of
these frustrations still remain.
So, you want to share with us what your Department is doing
to make sure the funding plus ups are translating into faster,
more efficient care for veterans?
Secretary Collins. Well, we're looking at back now and also
taking advantage of all the resources that we have. And I think
that's been one of the issues that I've looked at in just the
last few months is, are we using the resources given by
Congress, not from just a dollar and cents standpoint, but also
from the aspect of using our community care networks and using
the balance that we have, especially in our growing areas to
make sure that veterans can get the care that they need
quicker.
Unfortunately, in the last little bit and especially in the
last few years, we've seen a move away from community care and
to keep it more internal, keep it in-house. And I won't go to
the national motivations for that. I think there was many
involved, but I believe VA care is VA care no matter where
we're paying the bill at, because we're going to hold them to
the same high standards.
So, we've got to look at it from a perspective of, are we
using our community care partners, which sometimes are quicker
than our direct care, and many times we're quicker in our
direct care than our community partners. But in certain
specialty areas we are also using the best medical interest
standard now, which is also giving the doctor and the veteran
much more of a discussion together on what is the best medical
interest for that veteran to get that care quicker and in the
process they need.
Senator Hyde-Smith. Yeah. And we're seeing results there. I
certainly appreciate that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. Senator Murray.
Senator Murray. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and our
Ranking Member, Senator Ossoff. Good to work with both of you
on this really critical committee.
Secretary Collins, you are charged with making sure we keep
our promises to our veterans. And I will tell you, as the
daughter of a veteran, one who had great need for the VA
benefits, I take this work seriously.
Now, Mr. Secretary, I know you hate scaring our veterans,
but here's what I know. When you fire thousands of VA staff
with no rationale beside Musk said so, that really scares
veterans. When you cancel hundreds of contracts, including a
cancer registry in my state, that scares veterans. When you
muzzle our researchers, that scares veterans.
When you eliminate the VASP program, which helps save
veterans from foreclosure in their homes, that scares veterans.
When you remove language saying veterans and doctors can't be
discriminated against based on their political views or marital
status with no explanation until after people called it out,
that scares veterans.
And more than just scaring veterans, it puts the care and
the support they have not only earned, but are entitled to, in
serious jeopardy. So, if you're concerned about scaring
veterans, my suggestion is to stop doing what you're doing,
focus on what matters. Stop implementing policies with no
explanation or analysis, lift the hiring freeze, and get our
facilities fully staffed.
So, to that end, I have a few questions about some of the
actions that veterans have told me they are deeply concerned
about. And I hope today you can put their minds at ease and
give us some clear, straightforward answers. Secretary Collins,
there's been a lot of discussion regarding your decision to
modify VA provider guidelines that would open the door to
discrimination. You struck the words age, national origin,
politics, marital status, and disability, from the anti-
discrimination policy that was applied to our VA hospitals and
our clinics.
When you change the guidelines and removed the words,
making clear when discrimination is not tolerated, what you
actually signaled to veterans across the country, that they may
be actually denied the care that they need. So, Mr. Secretary,
if you insist these categories are already covered by Federal
law, and therefore your changes do not provide openings for
discrimination, will you commit then to reinstating the
previous policy?
Secretary Collins. Senator, this is exactly what--and I
appreciate you taking my own words because it's about time that
somebody up here actually decided that they were not going to
continue to repeat false things that keep people and veterans
from actually trusting the VA.
And by bringing this up again, which was a Guardian
article, which by the way, two major publications, The Post and
Times, others who looked into this said, there's nothing there.
But the Guardian who wanted clickbait decided to run with
something, and then it was amplified, is scaring veterans. And
if they're concerned, because also----
Senator Murray. But you took words out----
Secretary Collins. Understand something. No, may I finish
this because this is important, because I've been accused of
this. It's not scaring, nothing was changed that actually
affected it. This is the problem we're seeing. Title 5, U.S.
Code 2302, prevent discrimination based on marital status,
political affiliation. 7102, participation rights and barring
interference with those rights, all there. VHA directive 1019,
governing all medical services provided by VA and prohibits
discrimination on the basis of marital status or political
affiliation. There's nothing changed.
By the way, our bylaws also don't say that we have to feed
our patients three times a day. Should we put that in there
specifically? No, I'm not going to let you get away with this.
Senator Murray. Well, Mr. Secretary, I have the floor for a
second----
Secretary Collins. No, you're not being truthful with this.
Senator Murray. What I'm telling you is what veterans hear
and what Americans hear. Please listen. When you take something
out, it says that's been eliminated. Period.
Secretary Collins. No, it does not.
Senator Murray. Well, it does.
Secretary Collins. Only when you have a cheap magazine like
The Guardian who wants to put it out there and put it in a
position, and then have actually people of your stature and
others who amplified it. How can it be that something that
doesn't change anything, that fact checkers have already said
doesn't change anything.
Senator Murray. Okay, your position is, it doesn't change
anything. I hear you.
Secretary Collins. It doesn't. There is no position. It is
the fact.
Senator Murray. Well, do you think it's possible to be
eligible for care and still be discriminated against when you
try to access healthcare?
Secretary Collins. No one is discriminated against at the
VA. And by simply repeating that, could keep somebody from
getting the critical mental health care that they need. And
that would be on you and anybody else that wants to repeat it.
Senator Murray. Well, Mr. Secretary, in fact, many of us
have heard from women veterans----
Secretary Collins. Then did you help correct them?
Senator Murray. Mr. Secretary----
Secretary Collins. Did you help correct them, or did you
put on the line?
Senator Murray. Did you? You took the words out. I did not.
Secretary Collins. I did. I've been on TV. I've put out
videos, I've done everything because of a false article. I
cannot believe we're still going down this route.
Senator Murray. Well, I can believe it.
Secretary Collins. It's amazing.
Senator Murray. I can believe it when you take words out
that people hear them, and I'm telling you that, Mr. Secretary,
I'm simply telling you, when you took those words out, people
heard it in a specific way. Therefore, I'm asking you, why
don't you put them back in and eliminate----
Secretary Collins. No, they heard it in a specific way
because a reporter who looked for clicks decided to write an
article that he knew was false.
Senator Murray. Again, I have heard from women veterans
about experiences, which is why I have----
Secretary Collins. Do you have an example that you can give
to me? Because I'll make sure it's created. Nobody is to be
discriminated against.
Senator Murray. Well, if you're going to call each
individual woman in the country and tell them they're not going
to be discriminated against.
Secretary Collins. There's not every woman in the country
that's done this because, number 1, we only serve veterans.
Senator Murray. Let me move on. Let me move on. I want to
ask you about the Toxic Exposure Fund; this is really critical.
Congress has already appropriated funding for medical care,
which has been passed into law. Your budget request proposes to
cancel $18 billion of that money and shift it over to the Toxic
Exposures Fund. I am supportive of putting funds where they're
needed, but I do want to make sure that you are aware there are
specific limitations for the use of those funds that are in
statute.
These are guardrails to prevent misuse and address
concerns. We put that in because of concerns from my colleagues
on the other side of the aisle, who were very concerned about
turning that into a slush fund. So, can you commit to us that
you will abide by those limitations for all the funds being
spent from the TEF, to include agreements made with the
committee about what expenses, incident to delivery of care,
means?
Secretary Collins. We're committed to following the law and
this stuff that we're supposed to in this. And I know this was
a concern from the previous Administration because the previous
Secretary to my seat actually said he could do whatever he
wanted to with those funds. I'm willing to work with this
committee, as I have said and told you before, I'll work with
this committee to follow the rules on that.
Senator Murray. All I'm asking is, you're asking to move
$18 billion into that fund. Are you committed to following the
guardrails, the statute language that surrounds those funds?
Because Mr. Secretary, if that is true, then how can you commit
that the veterans who were not eligible for care that is
unrelated to toxic exposures will not have their care cutoff or
limited because of the $18 billion, dollar decrease to funds?
Secretary Collins. Because just as we look at our budgets
and we do take the monies that are coming in, we're going to
meet the needs of the veterans who come before us.
Senator Murray. Well, I find it really challenging to think
that you can take $18 billion out of general medical care, put
it into the TEF fund, and I have no problems with the TEF fund
as long as we live by the limitations. But that is care that
other veterans will not see.
And let me just ask you--Mr. Chairman, if I have time one
final question. I have repeatedly raised concerns over the
direction VA is taking with the research program. And now it
was reported that VA officials are ordering physicians and
scientists to not publish their work without seeking approval
from Trump's political appointees.
According to a VA official, this policy is specifically in
place to prevent, ``negative national exposure.'' So, Mr.
Secretary, if a research finding would advance veterans health
but does not align with the Administration priorities, will you
allow it to be published?
Secretary Collins. I not familiar with the question you
have. I am not going to answer a hypothetical, but I don't
foresee anything. We've not done anything to restrict our
researchers in going forward.
Senator Murray. Well, this is on your website.
Secretary Collins. Okay. We're not restricting our
researchers. I mean, I don't know how else to answer the
question.
Senator Murray. If you are ordering physicians and
scientists to not publish their work without seeking approval,
you can answer that in a forced way by saying yes, of course,
we're not going to say no.
Secretary Collins. That had nothing to, I think we're if at
best, and I'm not even sure this is at best, but I'm going to
reach here and say this is also discussing a policy that had
nothing to do with research and publishing research. It had a
media----talking to media on other issues. But I'm happy to
take this and see what you're actually discussing. But nothing
has changed as far as we know. So, no, the researchers can do
their research.
Senator Murray. But then, I--all researchers? You will not
deny a researcher that shows that this whatever helps veterans?
Secretary Collins. Again, hypotheticals. We can go down all
that. I can't answer a question if we don't have an exact end
to a question, this researcher or that researcher.
Senator Murray. I'm sorry--that arbitrarily you're going to
say no to any kind of that leaves me very curious about how
you're going to move forward on research.
Secretary Collins. At this point, I'm not saying either
way, Senator. I'm sitting here saying that we're not
restricting it.
Senator Murray. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. Chair Collins.
Senator Collins. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Welcome, Mr. Secretary. Maine has one of the highest
percentages of veterans in the entire country, something about
which we are very proud. We are also one of the most rural
states in the country. So, the work done by the Office of Rural
Health is essential in our state and other rural states. The VA
received $15 million in fiscal year 2025 to support the Highly
Rural Transportation Grant program, yet many rural veterans in
Maine still lack options for getting themselves to the VA
Medical Center in Augusta.
Just to give you an example, from my hometown of Caribou,
Maine, it is an eight-hour, 500-mile round trip to drive to get
to the Togas hospital, the VA hospital in Augusta and back.
Current rules are really strange. They limit the eligibility to
counties with fewer than seven people per square mile.
Now, even in one of the most rural states in the country,
Maine, that means that only one county, Piscataquis County, of
our 16 counties, is eligible to receive a grant. So, I joined
with several of my colleagues to introduce a bipartisan bill
that would change this formula and expand eligibility for this
grant program. Do you think that this is a bill that you could
work with us on, to make sure that our rural veterans can get
to the VA hospital, of which we have only one in the state of
Maine?
Secretary Collins. Right. And it is a beautiful state and a
beautiful facility, Senator, it's good to see you as well. Yes.
I've come from not as rural of an area that is as your
beautiful state, but also my North Georgia was very rural as
well. I think the Ranking Member will agree that, that as we
have a say, and probably down our way, your way as well, you
just can't get there from here. It just doesn't work. But our
veterans need it.
And so, we're looking at everything from a perspective of
how we do this. But I'll say, we, the VA supports this bill.
There are a few amendments that we'd like to work with you on
that we think could make it better going forward, but we
support that. And of course, the availability of appropriations
to make it happen.
Because the worst thing in the world is to have a veteran
who can't get the help that they need and being able to do
that. So yes, we're going to be working with you. Love to work
with your staff, further on that, if we can find ways. I know
Senator Murkowski as well. Alaska is a little bit rural.
Correct?
Senator Murkowski. We don't have those roads.
[Laughter.]
Secretary Collins. You got the airplanes, so there we go.
But anyway, yes, we'll be much willing to look into it with
you.
Senator Collins. Thank you. The next issue I want to turn
to are our state veterans homes. They are critical to ensuring
that our nation's veterans have access to long-term care that
they earned in service to our country. My own father spent the
last part of his life at the veteran's home in Caribou. And the
care was absolutely wonderful. In 2022, however, due to
financial constraints, Maine actually considered closing two of
its state's veterans' homes. One in my hometown of Caribou, the
other in Machias, Maine.
Although the VA has raised its per diem rates in 2023, this
increase has not begun to keep pace with rising costs. The VA's
per diem for skilled nursing care in a state veteran's home is
$262, while the rate for a private sector nursing home is $424.
What can the VA do to provide more financial support to state
veterans homes that are having real difficulties in meeting
costs and even staying open?
Secretary Collins. Senator, this is becoming a reoccurring
theme, I think with a lot of these questions, especially with
our elder care from across the states as we look forward. I met
with the state Veterans homes folks yesterday. As a matter of
fact, they were in my office. And we were discussing these
issues.
There's a lot of things out there that we're looking to
cut. Some of the they're a partner with us, and I think
sometimes they've not been treated probably as the partnership
that they are. And I want to see that get better, as we look at
it. They also bring a lot of things to the table on ideas for
that they can do that actually enhance the veteran experience,
that enhance the aging experience as well.
So, we're willing to look at the per diem rates. We're
looking at the issues. These are all, again, budgetary
constrictions that we have to look at. But how can we maybe
remove some of the constrictions that have bound them in
certain ways? Might be also another way to look at it. Maybe
not the direct financial, but it could free up funds if they
weren't having to do other things.
So that's something we're willing to look at. But I've met
with them and continue to meet with them on an ongoing basis,
because I think they're just a vital cog in the system of what
we have between our private-public and then our state homes as
well.
Senator Collins. Thank you. I'm delighted to learn that
you're meeting with them personally. I think that it's really
important, they play such a critical role. And what I noticed
at the Veteran's Home was the devotion of the staff to serving
veterans and the programming that they had on special days,
like Veterans Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July. It truly made me
feel so good about the care that was being provided.
Secretary Collins. Well, it was great. The state home folks
from New York we actually had, and we were all over, had New
York there yesterday, had Vermont, we had Tennessee and Idaho
was all there representing. I know they were up here probably
on the Hill as well. But look, it's just a mosaic of how we
need to take care of those in our--especially our elderly
veterans from my perspective, and how we provide that service
working in partnerships. And we're re-strengthening our state
partnerships, our local partnerships across the board. And I
think that's going to pay off well.
Senator Collins. I'm almost out of time, but I do want to
mention that the Elizabeth Dole Act authorized a pilot program
to look at providing VA funded assisted living services to
veterans. And this is supposed to be located in two
geographically diverse service networks to include facilities
that are serving rural or highly rural veterans and state
veterans homes.
This is small in scope, but it's created a great deal of
excitement among veterans who rely on long-term care
facilities. What are your thoughts on expanding VA funded long-
term care initiatives, and when will the VA initiate the pilot
programs created in the Elizabeth Dole Act?
Secretary Collins. Thanks, Senator. As far as an actual
date on initiating, I'll have to get back on that specific
program. But just in general, on the Elizabeth Dole Act, which
was brought in at the start, we're looking at that is 51 of the
implementations on track, 10 have been fully implemented, 9 are
behind schedule. There are some funding challenges we're having
to look at that. A couple not started, so 72 total.
So, we're moving down the road on getting that implemented.
We believe it is a good thing. And we've worked with the former
Senator as well--she is, the Dole Foundation has been great.
And continue to probably look to you for help as far as funding
issues on this as well.
Senator Collins. Thank You.
Senator Boozman. Senator Gillibrand.
Senator Gillibrand. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Secretary Collins, in March, I wrote you a letter about the
impact that the Trump Administration's return-to-office policy,
which makes it harder for veterans to receive mental
healthcare. Because of this policy, many VA psychiatrists and
therapists were forced to conduct sensitive telehealth
appointments from crowded offices, violating ethics regulations
and standards of care.
Do you agree that veterans in need of mental health care
deserve easily accessible treatment, from qualified
professionals with a guarantee of confidentiality?
Secretary Collins. Every veteran, no matter what their care
is, deserves the best treatment they can. But any of our
telehealth workers or anybody that was treating or even talking
to someone in a facility like that, was going against our
policy and shouldn't have been in that position to start with.
And if you have specifics, we would love to address that
because the supervisors know that should have not been done.
That was against our policy.
Senator Gillibrand. Okay. I will give you more details and
facts to see how to remedy that.
Secretary Collins. Thank you.
Senator Gillibrand. Are you hearing anything about harms
related to the return to office policy, with regard to space,
specifically for mental health practitioners?
Secretary Collins. No, we've actually--what we're doing is
there's a lot--just because of space in some of the buildings/
facilities over the past few years has been gone. So, there's a
lot that we still have not brought back in, and we're exempting
certain areas. If they can't come back in, we're exempting
those, because again, if it's in the policy we're going to make
sure the policy's followed, and if it's not, I want to know
that. So right now, it's working.
There's still a lot out there left to be done. But we we're
making this adjustment because we want the best healthcare. We
also want the employees to have the best workplace.
Senator Gillibrand. Well, I would urge you to look
specifically for the mental health providers because when they
can do offer their counseling services from home, it's entirely
confidential. There's no one in the cubicle next to them.
There's no one overhearing the problems.
Secretary Collins. Yes. And I agree with that. And as
someone who is a chaplain in the military, who's
confidentiality issues I've known a lot before look, we believe
that it's best served in a facility such as a hospital, which
is secure. I'm not going to question anyone's home environment,
but also, there is a possibility there at home if it's not
secure, you have anybody walking in, family or others coming
into that as well.
So, we believe that the best places for them is in a VA
facility working in tandem. So, I agree with you, we want to do
that. But we also need to make sure it's not just in an
employee convenience, but it's also best for the veteran as
well.
Senator Gillibrand. Right. So, then you should do a full
analysis of your space allotments for mental health. Because as
a chaplain, you wouldn't expect to be giving people faith
advice, when someone can overhear your whole conversation.
Secretary Collins. And that's why in fact, we've done that.
I'll be happy to have our staff come and show you what we have
done on our office space environment, what has been done across
the country, or what space are available and not available. And
like I said, any place you have Senator and I want you to know
this, right?
Senator Gillibrand. We've heard many, many reports.
Secretary Collins. If there's a--someone brings forth
something that is, well--then, please bring it to us because
that's against policy and I can't go against that.
Senator Gillibrand. So, in addition to us getting you
facts, I would like you to prepare a letter for this committee,
about what is the staffing that you have allotted for mental
health and what is the office construction for mental health
providers in your major facilities. I can't ask you to do for
every facility across the United States, but if you could pick
a few that would be helpful, so that we as a committee can
understand why this is an impediment to the health that our
veterans need.
Secretary Collins. Okay. We'll definitely do that. I'll
tell you what would be great to have, I'll have someone back
from my office come by in your office to just tell exactly what
you're looking for. We'll make sure we can see if we can----
Senator Gillibrand. But I'd like it for the whole
committee, a letter for the committee.
Secretary Collins. And we'll do it for everybody, but if
you can just sort of clarify that. Because like I said, and let
me just emphasize here, just for clarity, there should be no
area, even if you've gotten these complaints. I think the
problem is this hearing complaint that could be rectified the
day you get the complaint.
I mean, if there's actually something to be said about
this, not just, I don't like it, or there's just a convenience
issue, but if there's actual real issues with a
confidentiality, there's an issue with this space, then we need
to know about that because it's not what's been reported up.
And everyone is supposed to be reporting issues that they have.
And believe me, we've had a ton of issues that we've had to
work through. That's why not everybody has come back in, and
we're taking it case by case, and we are providing exemptions
where need be.
Senator Gillibrand. Okay. In the VA's fiscal year 2026
Budget Highlights submitted to Congress, you provide a broad
outline for how $52.7 billion requested by the VA for the Toxic
Exposure Fund would be used if fully appropriated. Could you
please go into greater detail about how the VA intends to use
this funding for the Toxic Exposure Fund?
Secretary Collins. We will be providing the committee much
more in depth on that. That is, as you know, the delay in the
year, and we talked about this with the Chairman and the
Ranking Member earlier. We'll be providing more of that to come
after this and be happy to discuss it further.
Senator Gillibrand. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. Senator Murkowski.
Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And Secretary
Collins, welcome.
To follow on Senator Collins' comments about our rural
veterans, you kind of pointed out that Alaska's in that same
bucket. I'm just going to say we're bigger, we're better, we're
just more complicated, as you know. And we're very proud to
host more veterans per capita in Alaska than anywhere else out
there.
And so, how we do outreach to our rural veterans has long
been a challenge. You and I have had an opportunity to talk
about that. But it's everything from traveling the long
distances, we're not going to be able to put that veteran in a
car. More likely than not, it's going to be travel that
requires flying. It may be trying to access them through
telehealth. But when you have limited broadband, that's a
problem.
Then, we have shortages of local healthcare providers. So,
it's complicated in many ways. But all of our veterans deserve
this care, and I think we recognize that. So, know that I along
with Senator Collins, am very interested in any strategies that
you are looking to advance, to maintain and expand services in
our rural communities.
I have talked about establishing an outreach program that
would send teams to rural areas that are off the road system,
to just kind of let them know about their benefits, about the
services that are made available. We can't necessarily do
everything, but we can at least let you know, this is what your
VA can do for you. And I would hope that you'd work with us to
support that kind of an event.
Secretary Collins. I definitely would and, if you'd allow
me to expand just a minute on that. I think this is one of the
issues that--I want us to break out of the model in many ways.
And I say this in a very generic fashion. I want us to break
out the model that everything has to be the way we've always
done it.
Senator Murkowski. Right.
Secretary Collins. We have to go to a brick and mortar. We
have to go to this, where there's a clinic.
One of the things, and it just highlighted recently, we had
to close our ambulatory clinic. And this is not a rural issue,
but it sort of applies to the issue. We had to close our
ambulatory clinic in LA, because of the riots and other things
going on in LA. We had interrupted almost 1800 appointments.
And some were telehealth, some we were able to move to others.
But for the most part, we had folks who aren't getting
care. Very familiar if you were in the middle of a rural state
or Alaska or anywhere else, you're not getting it. So, we were
already beginning to see how we could bring in mobile clinics
and others, even in that area, in a safe area, where our
appointments could be kept.
So, for me, if we have those kinds of resources, can we do
those in states such as Alaska and others, instead of always
just defaulting to something, as you said, like a telehealth
model or a visiting doctor. Maybe have regular roundabouts like
we have, that have our health teams go out with these mobile
vehicles that could actually do and provide primary care and
others.
And of course, if they need to go elsewhere, we could do
that. I'm willing to think outside the box to do that. It could
work in a very rural state. It could work in a state like, you
know, New York, Georgia, anywhere else. The other thing----
Senator Murkowski. If I can interrupt on that. Just you've
kind of picked my brain. We provide, or there are some non-
profits and some for-profits that provide, mobile mammography
units that go out, you put them on a barge, you go up the
river. It has provided access to women in rural parts of the
state that would never be able to get this kind of screening.
You can do that kind of teaming. But you do have to be willing
to think outside the box a little bit. And I appreciate that
you're looking into that. Let me ask you here about the tribal
health side.
Secretary Collins. Ok.
Senator Murkowski. I'm pleased that IHS and VA have entered
into a reimbursement agreement as we're trying to figure out
how we access some of the unique challenges in VA services.
Office of Tribal Government Relations. This is an office
that has proven to be important. I would like to know if you
think that that government relations office will continue. And
then the VA Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs,
this is another VA advisory body. This is under review.
Know that the committee really does play a vital role in
ensuring that Native voices are represented when VA policies
are developed. We think that it's good, it helps to advance
culturally competent care, strengthens tribal consultation, and
helps the VA fulfill its commitment.
So, I don't know if you can give me an update on the
current status of this committee, and whether its work will
continue uninterrupted. And then if you can share with me
whether or not you think the Office of Tribal Government
Relations will continue.
Secretary Collins. Yes. That's a yes to both. They're both
going to be continuing and also, we're continuing to outreach
as well through--and as I said earlier, we're making sure our
intergovernmental offices, working with different organizations
is strengthening. We brought in our caseload to make sure that
we're reaching out to states, tribes, and others to--that is
being a part of what we do. So, they're both increasing.
And also, I'm looking forward to being, I think, if my
schedule if they've told me correctly, I'll be up there in
October, I think around some of these issues that'll be going
on with the tribes.
Senator Murkowski. Great. Hopefully you're coinciding or
you're scheduling that trip to coincide with the Alaska
Federation of Natives conference in October.
Secretary Collins. I believe it is, yes.
Senator Murkowski. That's great. Mr. Chairman, I've got a
couple questions that I'm going to submit for the record. One
is on the roof of the Palmer Pioneer Home. I can't let a
hearing go by without mentioning that, as well as the
Electronic Health Record roll out. As you know, the Alaska VA
system is going to get the rollout of this technology in 2026.
There's a lot of people anxious about that because previous
rollouts have not exactly been fun. So, you will see those
questions submitted for the record.
Secretary Collins. I look forward to that and maybe later
on we'll discuss that and I look forward. Electronic Health
Record is very important.
Senator Murkowski. That'd be excellent. Yes, it sure is.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. Senator Baldwin.
Senator Baldwin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good to have you
here, Secretary Collins.
Secretary Collins. It's good to see you, Senator.
Senator Baldwin. I want you to be aware that in 2014, Jason
Simcakoski of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, tragically died at a VA
hospital due to a physician prescribing deadly amounts of
opioids to treat his pain. Jason's loss led to the passage of
the Jason Simcakoski Memorial and Promise Act, a law to put in
place standards and safeguards for providers who manage
veterans chronic or acute pain.
So, Mr. Secretary, do you agree that veterans deserve to
have access to safe and comprehensive pain management?
Secretary Collins. Yes, Senator.
Senator Baldwin. I'm glad you agree.
Secretary Collins. Yeah, I do. And that's an easy one
because, and also as we talked in your office, that Jason's
Law, and also being specifically named in the budget, is
important to us as well and we'll continue to do that.
Senator Baldwin. Yes, indeed. So, do you agree that
ensuring this access for veterans is a critical part of the
VA's mission to care for those who have served our nation?
Secretary Collins. Of course. In any activity--can I say
something on this, because I think, and you brought this up,
and it means a lot to you, and it means a lot to me as well. As
part of the question that was asked earlier, we were discussing
the death by suicide issue. And my concern, and I've heard this
from----
Senator Baldwin. I have questions on that too.
Secretary Collins. Yes. And maybe I can help here. Because
one of the questions that comes, and we're hearing this a lot
from veterans, because I do go to town halls. I also do work
and take questions from the field on this. And there is a large
concern of medication and unfortunately going straight to
medication and unfortunately, in some of these cases, instead
of maybe other things that work such as counseling or non-
opioid kind of issues. So, this is something important to me.
It's something I want to continue to see us get away from.
Senator Baldwin. But that was the power of Jason's Law, was
that there was a retraining of all prescribers in the VA, about
the addictive nature of opiates. Lots of people go through
their training, their medical training, and others, with very
little emphasis on this. And that's beginning to change and the
VA took a lead. And I want to make sure that commitment is
still there.
In fact, Mr. Secretary, Jason's Law has saved lives. The VA
has seen a 67 percent decline in prescription rates of opioids
over the last decade due to the diligent efforts to implement
both Jason's Law and the broader Comprehensive Addiction and
Recovery Act of 2016.
But I want to talk about the focus at the same time that
we're seeing staff reductions. So, the law requires each VA
medical facility to have a pain management team. A recent
Inspector General report identifies the need for additional
oversight and coordination from the office that manages this
program, and also describes obstacles to hiring pain management
staff, including delays in the hiring process.
So, Mr. Secretary, I want to ask for your commitment to
work with me and this committee to improve veterans access to
safe and effective pain management. But I'm struggling to see
how that will be possible given your request to reduce staff by
over 2,000 in the fiscal year 2026 budget, and your earlier
comments that total staff at the VA may be reduced by 15
percent.
You've insisted that clinicians will not be impacted by
your staffing cuts at the VA. But the 83,000 staff you plan to
eliminate will have to be drawn from program staff, oversight
staff, administrative staff, and other support personnel.
So, Mr. Secretary, how do you plan to continue to make
progress on the implementations of programs such as Jason's
Law, and how do you plan to protect veterans' rights to safe
and effective pain management, if you intend to reduce the
administrative staff who run these programs?
Secretary Collins. Well, Senator, I appreciate the concern.
I think it's about who we do--and I think this is the issue
here, and I've said this all along, not in this committee
because I haven't had a chance to be here before. The 83,000
number is if you put out anything from an administrative
perspective was a total look, by the way which right now, there
is nothing going on in RIF as far as this goes. It has been--
the courts have held that up and we're fulfilling our--we're
not doing anything in regard to RIF, and no one has been let
go.
The issue here is you've brought up several issues that I
have. This is direct care and oversight and management of our
patients. This is something we've always said it's not a part
of anything that we're looking at to get rid of, because it
actually makes a difference in the lives of veterans. You've
made that very clear and I've made that very clear as well.
So, again, part of the issue here is when you look at a
restructuring, and I'm not sure, and I've listened to this, to
the bodies up here, and I've been a part of it, I don't think
anybody would say, because I have both sides of the aisle
saying we need to be more efficient at the VA, there needs to
be you know, better use of our money. All of that has been true
in all the things we're saying.
But I've also made the commitment, because we've exempted
350,000 positions at this point that are not even discussed in
any of the things that we're actually looking at for direct
patient care. So, you have my commitment that we're going to
continue to make sure these jobs are protected.
And I do want to, I know we we're out of time here, but I
just wanted to take one last thing. I'm also struggling with
the issue of hiring. Not in the sense of hiring freezes or
anything else, because doctors and all these can be hired right
now, we can get that done. Part of our issue is twofold. Number
one, we have a very onerous process of bringing people on as
compared to private and public medical centers. We've got to
get better at that. I've talked to our VHA folks about that.
That is one of the things that we've got to do.
The other issue, and from the Chairman, Ranking Member, and
anybody else here, we have a real issue on our caps for doctor
and nurse and other pay. This is something I need--I'm bringing
as a secretary, but also someone who served, I need us to look
at that, because it is very much affecting in markets such as
growing markets of Georgia, Florida, Texas, others.
I mean, I have professionals who can go down the street
basically and have $3-$400,000 starting salaries. It's hard to
compete in those kinds of environments. So, I'm very
sympathetic to what we're having here and what we're having to
do and get this. So, I would love to partner with you to
continue this process because I do believe we're--opioid hit
very hard in my state and very much in my Congressional
district at the time. And so, it's something that's very much I
want to continue to work with you on.
Senator Baldwin. I would just add one comment about the
recruitment and retention of physicians and nurses. You know,
I've heard from a lot of the VA practitioners in my state, that
when they begin to be doing the jobs of several others who have
been dismissed, nurses doing the work of CNAs, and if they want
to start an IV, having to also do the logistics of getting the
IV pole and the IV. They're doing the work of several people
beyond the additional overtime implications of their job. And
so, working conditions as well as salaries need to be looked
at. You don't have to comment. I just wanted you to hear that
from me.
Secretary Collins. No, I need to and I appreciate that,
Senator, but I need to comment because it's not been let go.
We're not firing anyone. So, for them to say that----
Senator Baldwin. You're firing the people underneath who
support them.
Secretary Collins. No, we're not firing anybody. I mean,
it's not from RIF, it's not from any--if they're being fired,
they're being fired for a cause issue in the facility they're
at. We're not----
Senator Baldwin. They're let go, and I'm talking to the
nurses----
Secretary Collins. But they're not from things we've done.
Senator Baldwin. Since you started.
Secretary Collins. No, I mean, tell me where they were, but
it's not happening. I mean, the RIF was, this RIF has been
stopped----
Senator Baldwin. I'd be happy to follow-up with you with
the examples.
Secretary Collins. If they've taken early retirement,
that's not firing.
Senator Baldwin. They're not there. And so, you have to
face that in order to keep your nurses and doctors who aren't
being supported.
Secretary Collins. Ok. I apprediate that. Senator, I'll be
happy to work with you, but there's no one being fired. They
may have left for other reasons, but they're not being fired.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. Senator Peters.
Senator Peters. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary,
welcome to the committee.
I want to follow-up on Senator Murkowski. She brought up an
issue concern in Alaska, that was at the end of her time. But I
want to bring up the beginning of my time.
In December of last year, the VA announced that it was
beginning work to deploy the Electronic Health Record or EHR
system to four Michigan facilities, Ann Arbor, Battle Creek,
Detroit, and Saginaw, in mid-2026. That announcement came, as
you know, after an 18-month pause in EHR deployments, during
which the VA made some critical improvements to the system.
During that period, veteran trust in the VA healthcare
facilities where EHR had already been deployed increased,
outages in the ER system dramatically decreased. And the number
of interruptions for clinicians also decreased.
I reacted with some nervousness then when the VA announced
in March that it would complete deployment of EHR at an
additional 9 facilities next year, bringing the total to 13.
The announcement came just after it was reported that VA plans
to cut 80,000 employees in the coming months, as well. Mr.
Secretary, EHR deployment has been a complex endeavor. You now
plan to deploy it across 13 facilities next year, including
four in Michigan. And all this will happen during a planned
downsizing of VA's workforce.
How will you ensure that outages, slowdowns, and
disruptions to veterans' care will not occur once again under
this new EHR deployment plan?
Secretary Collins. Thank you, Senator. And I'm glad to have
your state being the tip of the spear on this reorganization.
If you would allow me, and I'll try to do this very quickly.
I've been told that I talk fast, but let me talk real fast
here.
What happened when I got there was, I took a complete
shutdown of this program. The previous Administration, for
whatever reason, I'll leave it with them, it just shut down the
system, and they were not moving forward. When I came in, I
promised the committee when I was confirmed that this will be
something we're going to look at.
So, really what I did was my first week I took our staff
that were working on this, Dr. Neil Evans, had been the head of
it for a long time. We sat them down and I said, okay, what's
the problems? The next day, I brought in Oracle, who is
handling the implementation here. And I sat down, okay, so
what's the problems, where we can do this? There were
differences of opinion.
The next week, I set them both down, basically had a match,
in which they went at each other complaining because they never
were talking directly to each other. After that meeting, I
said, we're going to start standardization. We're going to look
at other things to make this clear.
We had, I believe it was eight committees on our side that
everybody had to go through to get approval to do a
standardization or something, dealing with the health records,
which caused delays, caused cost overruns, and caused what we
saw in Washington State, in which we have six facilities that
are basically not functional.
They then got in a room, and this is our professionals, our
careers, and their and Oracle's folks, and they got in a room
for two days and they spent nothing but how do we do this? And
how do we plan?
And what happened was, is we come back from our position
and say like, standardization, we're going to take the Oracle
standardization for coding and those kinds of things, and we
had about a 10 percent gap to where VA would have our
uniqueness, which we have that other hospitals don't.
What they came up with, not I, or anybody else, but that
committee and this group of high level from Oracle and from us
said, here's what we can add. That's how this is going to go
about.
That's why the funding for this is so vitally important
because I can't emphasize enough if we do not transform this
system, it hurts our community care process, because our
doctors cannot communicate with the community, our doctors
internally--if we go back to what Senator Baldwin and I were
talking about, retention, you're using a system that's costing
us literally hundreds of millions of dollars that's used
nowhere else in the world except the VA.
So, we need to move forward on this. I do believe we have a
fact that is safe, that is effective and will be cost effective
because Oracle understands that they've got to provide this.
They're now in the position of a vendor again and not anything
else. So, I apologize for the longer answer, but I needed you
to hear it.
Senator Peters. That's good. But we do want to have more
efficiency, but you have to make sure we don't have undue
disruptions. Last month in my role as a Ranking Member of the
Senate, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, I
released a report showing that the 19 Inspector Generals fired
earlier this year by President Trump identified billions of
dollars more in potential savings to taxpayers than the
Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. They did a much
better job of what DOGE did, and yet they were fired.
The report found that the VA IG, Michael Missal, before
being fired, had over six and a half billion dollars in
monetary impact and the potential for nearly 1.7 billion more
in savings if the VA were to implement all open recommendations
from the VA OIG. That's a 28 to 1 return on investment, one of
the highest ROIs of IGs all across government.
VA OIG successes are widespread. And just as one example,
along with the Michigan Attorney General, the VA OIG
investigated an individual who was ordered to pay back nearly a
half a million dollars for posing as the spouse of multiple
deceased veterans and fraudulently attained benefits. So, Mr.
Secretary, I think we can agree that this is in the taxpayer's
interest to continue to implement these recommendations.
Will you commit today to doing all in your power to
continue to implement the remaining open recommendations from
the VA OIG, and encourage the IG'S office to continue each of
the investigations that were ongoing when the IG was fired by
President Trump?
And turning to the fiscal year 2026 budget proposal, I'm
certainly disappointed to see you're going to cut the IGs by 10
percent. And I would hope that you understand how important
that office is to reducing fraud, waste, and abuse. So, if you
could address both of those issues.
Secretary Collins. Yeah, we look forward to working with
them and they'll have the adequate resources to do what they
need. And I look forward to continue working with them, I made
that clear in the Acting. We have a regular meeting with the
IG, and we're going to implement the proposals, because again,
to be efficient and to be a part of this system, we need to be
it. So, you have my commitment to continue.
Senator Peters. Great. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. Senator Hagerty.
Senator Hagerty. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Ranking
Member Ossoff. And Secretary Collins, welcome. Let's turn the
mic on, that might help a little bit.
Secretary, as Members of Congress, we've had an obligation
to uphold promises made to America's service members, the men
and women who have protected our nation and defended our
freedoms through their courageous service and tremendous
sacrifice. While many issues demand our intention, few of them
are as important as the responsibility that we owe to our
veterans.
I hear regularly from veterans in Tennessee and their
families, and I suspect you're hearing the same thing
nationally, that the transition to civilian life is still too
often plagued by inadequate support, bureaucratic delays, and
frankly, a failure to deliver high quality care. This
committees has consistently increased the funding for the VA,
demonstrating our deep commitment to veterans.
However, and despite years of increased funding for the VA,
the investment often fails to meet expectations. Wait times are
too long, care quality varies and bureaucratic hurdles have
only gotten worse, not better.
Secretary Collins, I appreciate your acknowledgement that
reform is necessary. You and I would agree that making
targeted, pragmatic cuts to wasteful and non-critical VA
services, without compromising direct benefits or quality of
care, is both necessary and achievable.
And let me be clear, these goals are not mutually
exclusive. Supporting our veterans requires more than just
throwing funding at the Department year after year. It requires
accountability, effective leadership, and real results. Every
dollar appropriated should translate into real improvements for
those who are served.
For far too long, veterans have asked for the VA that's
more efficient, more accountable, and more transparent. And I
think it's past time that we deliver on that promise. We must
build a system that works for veterans, not against them. I
want to thank you for your leadership and your commitment to
the critical mission of strengthening the VA.
Mr. Secretary, you've been in position now several months,
but could you just walk me through what you saw your first day
on the job, in terms of how veterans were being treated?
Secretary Collins. I think at the core, the veterans.
Senator, I appreciate you and our relationship, that of working
together----I think what we've seen is a veterans' employees
that want to do a good job. I think that's the overwhelming
sentiment. I think over time though, any organization that
becomes a little more focused on its own organization loses
track of its mission. And that's why I say we put veterans
first, not the organization.
Senator Hagerty. Yes.
Secretary Collins. And you made it clear in your statement
right there, that just oftentimes funds and people are not the
solutions to the problem. It's the organizational processes.
Just to show you, and Chairman, this is something I've
mentioned before, about a little over a week into the job, I
asked for a headcount of our employees. Our HR person couldn't
give me one.
Senator Hagerty. You've got to be kidding me.
Secretary Collins. It took a week and a half to get a head
count. And we didn't have it.
Senator Hagerty. That's amazing.
Secretary Collins. About a week or so later, we were trying
to double check this, and we went to payroll and said, okay,
well, we at least can find out from payroll how many we're
paying. They came back with a number of 230,000. Well,
obviously right off the top of the head, that's not the number
we have.
And so, come to find out, is when it was supposed to all be
consolidated, and I think this committee and SVAC committee and
others would've known this, when it's supposed to be
consolidated, there was a permissive attitude that if you don't
want to consolidate, that's okay. And we had about 60
facilities that were still doing their own payroll, which
accounted for almost half of our employees.
Senator Hagerty. Wow.
Secretary Collins. So when we discuss issues like this, and
I know it's been a lot of discussion today about employees and
reorganization, the question is, we have hundreds of employees
doing jobs in our individual hospitals and other areas like for
payroll, for contracting, for HR services, stuff that are
important, but do not have to be done, as you know, from your
business experience, are probably wasted in the sense of how
we're doing that in an individualized, siloed setup.
So, this is what we found when we came in. I want to use
every dollar that this committee and this Congress gives us to
help our veterans. But what we don't need to do is continue to
propagate a system in which we've not seen the results that we
need.
Senator Hagerty. You've been to my home state of Tennessee.
Secretary Collins. Yes.
Senator Hagerty. And even within my home state, we have a
huge disparity, in terms of the way our VA facilities are run
and operated and the efficiency with which they're operated.
And that disparity manifests itself in one of the lowest
performing, maybe the lowest performing system in your lowest
performing VA hospital in your system, versus one of the
highest performing.
And I can see that you're working on finding opportunities
to standardize on best observed practices, to utilize basic
business principles to bring up the standard of care across the
nation. I'd love to hear you comment just a little bit more
about your operational focus and your priorities as you address
that.
Secretary Collins. Well, the operational focus is doing
whatever it takes to take care of veterans and cutting down the
bureaucracy. And I was saying earlier, I've been to almost 50
of our facilities, probably over close to 15 or 16 of our
VAMCs, our hospitals, or more there. And what we're finding is
everybody gets in a rut. It's just like in Senate; it's just
like in the House. It's like in any job you get into a rut of
doing the same thing the same way all the time.
And so, I'm encouraging them to find new ways. I've told
all of our senior leadership teams, when I go in the directors
and others, I say, look, you are senior leaders. I need you 5
percent of the time or 10 percent of your time thinking about
ways to improve your facilities. That's a whole different way
of thinking. They've just sort of been isolated on their own.
I think now, if we're able to give them that encouragement
to be leaders and if we're calling them senior leaders, and
paying them to be senior leaders, and putting them in charge,
they need to be senior leaders. And which means that they hold
accountable their employees, they hold accountable to their
budgets.
And it's why you see in your state that you have different
discrepancies in facilities. You're not the only state that has
that. I can name at least one to two more states, just off the
top of my head, that within relatively a hundred miles, you
have two facilities that are operated completely different.
I'm trying to bring a VA mindset that says all of our 170-
plus VAMCs, our hospitals are VA hospitals, they're not
individual hospitals. They're VA, they can combine the power of
the VA, combine our resources, combine our greatness, and be
better for our veterans.
Senator Hagerty. Well, you used the word leadership and I
applaud that. I applaud your leadership. You mentioned the
employees, the vast majority of them wanting to do the best
possible job they can. And by empowering your local leadership
to do just that, to focus on the right things. I very much
applaud that focus and effort, and thank you for making certain
that our veterans are treated with the respect that they
deserve. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Boozman. Thank you. I just want to follow-up on one
thing, and then Senator Ossoff has a few things he'd like to
ask. But in regard to the EHRM, which I know is so important to
you and something you're really focusing on, which we all
appreciate. You've been a battle of that for many years, like
the rest of us. But I understand that your budget request is
going to be about three and a half billion dollars.
Secretary Collins. Yes.
Senator Boozman. The House is marking up to $2.5 billion.
So, there's a pretty good delta there. If you wind up with a
billion dollars less, what's that going to do as far as
implementation, site selection, potential cost overrun in the
future, if we don't go forward and get this thing done?
Secretary Collins. It could slow it down as it has now.
We've already wasted billions of dollars on this project to
start with. Anything going further would just exasperate that
problem.
Senator Boozman. Good to know. I just wanted an official,
from the Secretary.
Secretary Collins. Again, we've been very blessed with the
budget, the President's increase. But this is an issue and I
understand the hesitancy here. I get it. Ok, this started when
I was still in Congress. It's been here for as long as you
have, and we've wasted billions of dollars and we've had six
sites opened.
So again, we want to continue to make it happen, but to do
that, we need to finish the job because there's not an easy fix
to just say, okay, we're not going to do this. We're going to
do that. There's no easy fix here at this point, but I think
we've got a good path moving forward.
Senator Boozman. Very good. Senator Ossoff.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Secretary, first of all, Dublin. You and I discussed
Dublin yesterday.
Secretary Collins. Yes.
Senator Ossoff. And as you're aware, predating your tenure,
very significant sterilization failures that led to the
potential exposure of thousands of Georgia veterans to
bloodborne diseases. And indeed, some of those who may have
been exposed later tested positive for HIV and Hepatitis. In
March of this year, the Inspector General conducted an
additional inspection of facilities at Dublin and found
continued egregious failures.
Can you assure the subcommittee and Georgia veterans that
these issues at Dublin have been resolved?
Secretary Collins. Yes. I've actually been to Dublin. I was
there about 2 months ago, and we've gotten a report since then,
this was about the time, and Dr. Lieberman, who is our chief
doctor who is over VHA, has confirmed this as well, that those
have been replaced. The problem there was, and it's a
conversation we just had a few minutes ago about leadership,
and that's what we're trying to correct.
Right now, we're trying to get permanent leadership into
the Dublin facility. And for those who may not know the Dublin
facility, this is a facility, it's a great part of the state of
Georgia. That's my sort of--I got a lot of friends and family
down there, but it's harder to recruit down there. It's harder
to get folks to come into that facility and want to be there
long-term. So, we're trying to work that out because I think
this is a leadership problem that----
Senator Ossoff. And forgive me, Mr. Secretary, I want to
get to the leadership at Dublin. But just to be clear, in order
to ensure that we're informing the public, your testimony is
that these issues have resolved at Dublin?
Secretary Collins. Yes.
Senator Ossoff. And does that include all of the
outstanding Inspector General recommendations that were found
in March? The March 6th report says that there were significant
failures to resolve previous OIG-identified deficiencies,
failure to fully implement CensiTrac (which is an electronic
surgical instrument tracking system), failure to address
concerns of the CensiTrac coordinator's performance on
implementation, failures to resolve concerns related to
sterilization facilities.
Have all of the Inspector General recommendations with
respect to Dublin sterilization, which were not yet implemented
in March, now been implemented?
Secretary Collins. One moment.
Senator Ossoff. No problem.
Secretary Collins. To my understanding, yes. You and I both
in Georgia, I'll be happy to go back and look at that again. My
understanding is yes, Dr. Lieberman said it has. But I'll be
happy to go back and look at that and make sure.
Senator Ossoff. And that same March inspection, in addition
to the not yet completed or implemented recommendations from
the past OIG report, again at Dublin, this is March, the OIG
determined that sterilization and operating room staff failed
to remove non-conforming surgical instruments from the rectal
tray. OIG found additional surgical instruments in non-
conforming condition.
And that contrary to policy, staff reprocessed and used
nonconforming instruments at the facility, a range of other
failures. That was in March. So, your assurance that the
Inspector General's recommendations have been implemented is
appreciated. And I would welcome any follow up you can provide
as soon as possible so that we can reassure folks who are
served by this Dublin facility that they're safe getting care
there.
Secretary Collins. I will definitely do that. And not to
give away, there's some issues that Dublin, especially with
this, as you well know probably before your tenure as well, and
mine as well. Dublin has had this--there's been some issues
down there before. We're going to make sure we're staying on
top of it. But I will again correct you. I'll get you some
information.
Senator Ossoff. I think and you mentioned that at Dublin
leadership is a major issue.
Secretary Collins. Yes.
Senator Ossoff. And as of--we got this report in May. So as
of May 9th, we received a report that the recruitment of a new
medical director at Dublin was on hold due to the hiring
freeze. Now, I know you have faced substantial pushback on the
effects of that hiring freeze. Can you confirm that you've
changed course and you've exempted that position now from the
hiring freeze so we can get somebody into Dublin?
Secretary Collins. Those are exempted, yes. As I shared
yesterday on the phone, those are exempted, yes.
Senator Ossoff. Okay. And when was that exemption made?
Because we got this on May 9th, said that recruitment of a new
Dublin Director----
Secretary Collins. May 15th.
Senator Ossoff. May 15th. Okay. Thank you very much.
Secretary Collins. So that would've been after.
Senator Ossoff. Atlanta. Recent Inspector General report
focused on Atlanta. This is a June 12th report on staffing
shortages among other issues. Now, and I think you know this
Mr. Secretary, for years, the wait times at the VA Medical
Center in Atlanta have been driven in large part by staffing
shortages. I've heard it from the leadership there year after
year.
This Inspector General report found, as of June 12th, 208
vacancies at the Atlanta VA, including 67 provider, 42
registered nurse, 32 licensed practical nurse, 49 medical
support assistant, and 18 pharmacist positions short at the
Atlanta VA. What is your goal, the date that you'd like to
bring the Atlanta VA up to full staffing, please?
Secretary Collins. To hire them all. And, if you've got
any----
Senator Ossoff. And by when, is my question?
Secretary Collins. As soon as possible. I mean there's no
delay here, in this. And I think if we would also look at the
Atlanta market as well in healthcare, we'd also see other at
Piedmont, also at Northside, also at the St. Joe's and others
having similar shortages in their staffing. Atlanta is a market
like a lot of other markets, in which healthcare, especially
CNAs, LPNs, or RNs, are in great demand. They're the ones that
are controlling the market, so are doctors as well.
Senator Ossoff. And the wait times, as you know, in Atlanta
are a particular issue. Of course, there are wait times at
other facilities as well.
Secretary Collins. But there is nothing stopping us hiring.
Senator Ossoff.But I appreciate the ambition of ``as soon
as possible,'' but I'd like to know, I mean, we'd like to work
toward a deadline. So, can you give me a date by which you'd
like to ensure the Atlanta VA is fully staffed?
Secretary Collins. Well, Senator, I think you know that
that's not something I can give you, but I'd be happy to do a
health fair with you. And I'd come down and you and I could
recruit these workers.
Senator Ossoff. Well, I'll tell you what, why don't you.
Secretary Collins. I'd be happy--we'd be happy to work with
you, I'm not trying to be funny here. I want to do this, I
really want to.
Senator Ossoff. No, no, that's fine. I'd love to work with
you to make sure we recruit those healthcare workers. What I'd
also like you to do is to get with your staff, get with the
VISN, get with the leadership at the Atlanta VA, and come back
to me and the subcommittee with a date by which you believe you
can fill those open positions. Can you do that?
Secretary Collins. We'll, I would definitely get the
information to see what their goals and targets are.
Senator Ossoff. Well, we got to have a goal.
Secretary Collins. Yeah. And I agree with you. So, we'll
get with that, and we'll see what we can.
Senator Ossoff. So, you'll come back with a date?
Secretary Collins. I'm not sure we'll get a date. I'll have
to talk to Atlanta. I mean, we'll see what their actual
recruitment is. Because I mean, again----
Senator Ossoff. That's what I'm saying. I want you to talk
to the leadership in Atlanta, I want you to talk to VISN. I
want to talk to your staff, and I want you to present me and
the subcommittee with a date by which you think it's feasible
to fill those spots.
Secretary Collins. I'll be happy to present you a plan, but
also, you're also setting up a date, in which I understand
you're trying to do, to set up a date that may or may not be
capable, because you couldn't get the same answer from
Northside CEO, or Piedmont CEO, or anyone else to fill theirs.
Senator Ossoff. I just know that deadline-driven work is
often the most efficient and determined work.
Secretary Collins. I agree with you completely. I agree.
Senator Ossoff. And I want something that's fair to hold
you accountable to. So, will you get a target date?
Secretary Collins. We'll work together to see where it's
at.
Senator Ossoff. Mr. Secretary, it's not a----
Secretary Collins. Look, I'm not going to play the game.
Ok?
Senator Ossoff. What game?
Secretary Collins. Because it is not a game, because
there's no other health--there's no other facility in the world
that will say, ``By X date we're going to definitely have
people hired.''
Senator Ossoff. I didn't say you'd definitely. I'm looking
for a goal. You don't think leadership at other healthcare
facilities set goals when they're going to fill open medical
slots and other personnel?
Secretary Collins. I think they fill them as quickly as
they possibly can. We hire over 1,000 people a month.
Senator Ossoff. So, you will not present a target date?
Secretary Collins. I would like to have them filled by the
end of the fiscal year, that'd be great.
Senator Ossoff. By the end of the Fiscal Year.
Secretary Collins. Now, will it be filled? I'm not going to
say they'll be filled because there's a lot of other factors in
there that I can't control.
Senator Ossoff. Mr. Secretary, and I know we're belaboring
this, Mr. Chairman, but this isn't a gotcha. What I'm saying--
this is just good management practice.
Secretary Collins. I get you.
Senator Ossoff. I just want to know when you believe it can
be done. I tell you what? Let's put it that way.
Secretary Collins. Hopeful.
Senator Ossoff. No, you don't need to tell me right now.
I'm not even trying to put you--why don't you talk to the VISN,
talk to the facility, talk to your staff, and come back and let
me know by when you think it can be done. Will you do that?
Secretary Collins. I look forward to the conversation.
Senator Ossoff. Yes.
Secretary Collins. I mean, I look forward to the
conversation.
Senator Ossoff. Will you let me know?
Secretary Collins. You're asking for me an answer that I
can't give you because I've not talked to the other people you
just asked me to talk to.
Senator Ossoff. I'm not asking for the date, I'm asking if
you can give me a target date.
Secretary Collins. Yes. We can look toward giving you a
target, yes.
Senator Ossoff. Ok. That's all I needed on Atlanta, Mr.
Secretary. Thank you.
Secretary Collins. Alright. Thank you
Senator Ossoff. I just got some additional questions about
a letter that I sent you at the beginning of this Congress, but
first, Augusta. WRDW, WJBF Augusta reported this month, an IG
report that says VA Augusta leaders fostered a, ``culture of
fear,'' with a, ``threatening and abusive communication
style,'' and allegedly retaliated against employees who shared
concerns.
I know the acting director was put on leave pending an
investigation, and I think that's a positive step. We spoke
yesterday, Mr. Secretary, you confirmed you were recruiting for
leadership at both of these facilities. Can you confirm that
it's among your highest priorities to get a permanent new
leadership staff in at Augusta?
Secretary Collins. Yes, and I'm--to further elaborate
without trying to belabor this because I know where we're at,
but there's actually two incidents here that I'm going to
report. The one that you just mentioned was done earlier, if
not right before I came in. And that was the workplace issue.
The leadership issue, that person actually was, I called,
``failed up,'' and was put in the VISN and administrative role.
I made the call that we needed to put that person on
administrative leave because if the reports had already shown
that there was a toxic workplace, putting our veteran employees
and our VA employees in a bad place in a workplace. So that one
was out. That was the issue we did then.
So, then there's another that we tried to replace that one
with that. Unfortunately, I can't speak in open setting for
personnel issues and reasons here, but has been removed as
well. And that's when, as I told you yesterday on the phone, we
now have another acting. I think he is in now, correct? There's
another acting in Augusta. And we are looking--to finish your
question, I just wanted to give you the total picture--we are
looking for permanent. That should be one of our flagship
hospitals in our system. And so yes, we're looking for someone
to take that permanently.
Senator Ossoff. Okay. Final issue, and thank you Mr.
Chairman for indulging the questions. I sent you a letter
February 13th, a number of members of the appropriations
committee, asking some basic questions about DOGE engagement
with the VA. It had 13 specific oversight questions.
You and I then spoke on May 6th. So, we hadn't gotten any
kind of meaningful response. You committed to get me meaningful
responses, still have not gotten responses to these questions.
And I think this is an opportunity to bring transparency to an
issue about which there's been a lot of public controversy and
concern.
So, I haven't gotten answers to these questions that I
asked and a number of members asked in February. So, I want to
ask you now, which DOGE personnel have visited VA facilities?
Secretary Collins. I don't understand the question.
Senator Ossoff. Ok. Which DOGE personnel, so personnel who
are acting under the auspices or authority of the Department of
Government Efficiency, have visited, let's start with VA
headquarters?
Secretary Collins. We have are you talking about our
liaisons who actually work for the VA? We have three.
Senator Ossoff. I'm asking which DOGE personnel have
visited VA headquarters?
Secretary Collins. The ones that work for us.
Senator Ossoff. Okay. What are their positions?
Secretary Collins. They are advisors. They're looking
through our contracts and stuff like that.
Senator Ossoff. Okay. Are they still doing that?
Secretary Collins. Yes.
Senator Ossoff. Okay. Have they accessed VA patient medical
records?
Secretary Collins. They are acting in their role as a
normal VA employee would do and are authorized to do anything
that they're currently doing. So, and I'll be happy to take
these further for the record if you like.
Senator Ossoff. Well, Mr. Secretary, I asked you these
questions on February 13th in a letter.
Secretary Collins. Ok.
Senator Ossoff. It's the end of June. I mean, you were a
member of Congress, would that be satisfactory to you?
Secretary Collins. If I'm offering you a solution, yes.
Senator Ossoff. Well, we spoke in May----
Secretary Collins. And I'm offering you a solution.
Senator Ossoff. No, come on, Mr. Secretary. I asked you
these questions in February. We spoke in May. You said you'd
get me the answers. And here you're saying you'll take it for
the record.
Secretary Collins. And in all fairness, you just asked me a
question about who DOGE employees walked into my facility.
Senator Ossoff. A question I first asked you in February.
Secretary Collins. Don't tell me you're trying to be
serious about this. I mean, what DOGE employees? I mean, again,
Mr. Chairman----
Senator Ossoff. No, what I just asked you was, have DOGE
personnel accessed the medical records of veterans in the VA
database.
Secretary Collins. I'll be happy--and I have told you that
they are acting in the roles under everything that they're
supposed to be doing at the VA.
Senator Ossoff. There would be a lot less concern about
this if the answers weren't so cagey on it all.
Secretary Collins. There's no cageyness to it. Any VA
employee who has access to anything and work at the VA is
totally responsible and trained to do what they do.
Senator Ossoff. Let's work together, Mr. Chairman, to get
some clarity on this because I'm not satisfied. It's been
months. I don't know why there is such a lack of willingness to
engage on this topic. We will follow up. Mr. Secretary.
Secretary Collins. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Boozman. One thing that's really important, you
mentioned the--I'm an optometrist and eye doctor, and practiced
with nine other doctors with the surgery center. And I really
am very familiar with the medical aspect as far as how
difficult it is to get people right now. But it all goes back
to your caps.
And as far as filling positions, these critical positions,
leadership positions, they simply aren't going to do that
because they work for a fraction of the pay you know, doing
very important things at the VA. The similar roles in private
sector, they'd probably make twice the money. That's just a
number, but significantly more.
Secretary Collins. Yes.
Senator Boozman. So, if you would work with our staffs
regarding a proposal with the caps, I think that would be
really helpful.
Secretary Collins. Would love to.
Senator Boozman. And that's something that--we talk about
deadlines and we talk about all this other stuff. This is a
very doable thing.
Secretary Collins. Yes. I agree.
Senator Boozman. This is something that we can work
together, and I know you're really interested in solving the
problem, but that's the way to solve it. It's as you pointed
out; it's a huge problem throughout not only the VA but just in
medicine in general as we look at our major facilities
throughout the country.
Secretary Collins. Yes, Chairman. I see, I hear it
everywhere I go. And you and the ranking member, that's one of
those that, and I've worked bipartisan in this place, I think
that's something we could definitely work on. It would at least
help get us to the point where we can hire better. So, I thank
you for that, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Boozman. So, give us some ideas and then we'll move
forward. Thank you so much for being here. We appreciate your
service and dedication. And again, it's so important we work
together to provide the care for those who defended us in
uniform, as you are in that case also.
ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS
So, for members of the subcommittee, any questions for the
record should be turned into the subcommittee staff no later
than the close of business on Tuesday, July 1st. And as always,
we appreciate the staffs on both sides that work so hard to
make these things possible. With that we're adjourned.
Questions Submitted to Hon. Douglas A. Collins
Questions Submitted by Senator Jack Reed
Question. Rates of mental health conditions and suicide are much
higher among Veterans than the general population. Yet, Veteran-
specific assistance through the 988 Suicide Prevention Lifeline could
be severely impacted as the Department's Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget
request proposes a 17.4 percent cut to VA medical services, which
includes the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL). Is the VCL fully staffed? If
not, how many staff positions are open and what are you doing to
actively fill those positions?
Question. The VCL Presidential Budget line-item funding increased
by 2% in FY 2026. There are currently 564 vacancies and the VCL is
actively recruiting all vacant positions. The VCL continues to provide
exceptional services, including an industry leading average call
response time of less than 9 seconds and a Veteran call satisfaction
rate of 97% (as of October 2025).
Question. What is the average wait time for callers to the VCL? How
has that wait time changed since January 2025?
Answer. The VCL average speed of answer (ASA) for FY 2025 was 8.63
seconds. The ASA for January 2025 was 8.52 seconds. In FY 2025, VCL
maintained an ASA of under 9 seconds.
Question. What is the current rate of hang-ups to VCL callers,
before they are connected to a responder? How has the hang-up rate
changed since January 2025?
Answer. The VCL abandonment rate for FY 2025 was 1.02%. The
abandonment rate from January to September 2025 was 1.03%, with the
lowest abandonment rate in January 2025 of 0.98% and the highest
abandonment rate in August 2025 of 1.12%.
Question. About 800,000 non-elderly Veterans get care through
Medicaid and that may be at risk with the bill Republicans are putting
up for a vote this week in the Senate under the so-called ``One Big
Beautiful Bill Act.'' That's to say nothing of the three million
children of Veterans and servicemembers who are covered by Medicaid. In
addition, I expect many caregivers of Veterans may need to go back to
work and be unable to serve as caregiver due to the Medicaid work
requirements or other Medicaid cuts. How does your budget request
account for the many Veterans who may lose access to health care
because of the massive cuts to Medicaid that President Trump and
Congressional Republicans are proposing?
Answer. The 2026 President's Budget requests sufficient funding to
meet the estimated health care needs of enrolled Veterans as of May
2025 when the FY 2026 budget was released.
Question. Has the VA analyzed how many caregivers of Veterans and
family members may no longer be able to care for their loved ones?
Answer. Based on the information in Question 2a, VA interprets this
question as asking about the number of caregivers of Veterans and
family members who may no longer be able to care for their Veteran
loved one due to returning to the workforce pursuant to changes to
Medicaid eligibility. VA has not analyzed this and is unable to do so.
VA does not track Medicaid eligibility of caregivers and family members
of Veterans. VA reviews Medicaid eligibility only when such information
is necessary for determination of eligibility for a VA program or
service.
Question. Is the VA prepared to take on those Veterans in Veteran
Homes?
Answer. States own, operate, manage, and finance State Veterans
Homes (SVH). Each SVH has its own admission criteria and the autonomy
to choose which admissions they accept. As of September 10, 2025, there
were over 30,000 recognized beds with an average daily census of
21,345. VA provides financial support to SVHs through per diem grants,
nurse retention grants, and State Home Construction grants. Per diem
grants are provided to SVHs that comply with VA's policies, procedures,
standards, and regulations and that provide nursing home care,
domiciliary care, or adult day health care to eligible Veterans. Nurse
retention grants provide the mechanism for a State to obtain payments
to assist a SVH in the hiring and retention of nurses (Registered
Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse, Licensed Vocational Nurse, and
Certified Nursing Assistant) to reduce nursing shortages at that SVH.
The State Home Construction Grant Program sets forth the mechanism for
a State to obtain a grant to construct State home facilities for
furnishing domiciliary or nursing care to Veterans, and to expand,
remodel, or alter existing buildings for furnishing domiciliary,
nursing home, adult day health, or hospital care to Veterans in SVHs.
VA owns and operates 133 Community Living Centers (CLCs) in every
State except Alaska, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont. CLCs serve as
homes for Veterans who may need either short- or long-term facility-
based rehabilitation services, restorative care, continuing care,
mental health recovery, skilled nursing care, spinal cord injury and
disorder care, dementia care, and hospice and palliative care. As of
October 3, 2025, there were over 10,000 operational beds in CLCs, with
an average daily census of 7,654 Veterans. The most frequently used
services in CLCs across the country include short-stay rehabilitation,
hospice care, and short-stay skilled nursing care.
Question. Community care plays an important role in ensuring
Veterans receive timely and appropriate services when care is
unavailable within the VA. However, the Administration's proposed 50
percent increase in community care funding--paired with reductions in
VA staffing and services--raises concerns about a broader shift toward
privatization of the VA health system. Is the Department pursuing or
planning any form of VA health care privatization, either partial or
full? If not, what specific actions is VA taking to preserve and
strengthen its internal capacity?
Answer. VA is implementing President Donald J. Trump's executive
order entitled ``Keeping Promises to Veterans and Establishing a
National Center for Warrior Independence.'' As part of this work, VA is
focusing on improving access to care with more streamlined clinic
operations to ensure efficiencies and expanding access to care with
extended-hours clinics and Veteran self-scheduling.
VA has multiple safeguards in place to maintain Veteran care and
benefits despite staff reductions. All VA mission-critical positions
are exempt from the Deferred Resignation Program and the Voluntary
Early Retirement Authority, and more than 350,000 positions are exempt
from the Federal hiring freeze.
VA is exploring reforms to improve operational efficiency and
service to Veterans, including:
--Centralizing or restructuring administrative functions of the
Veterans Health Administration, Veterans Benefits
Administration, and National Cemetery Administration that are
duplicative and costly so each Administration can focus on
their core missions of health care, benefits, and burial
services, respectively. To that end, VA is reviewing the
centralization of support functions to streamline operations
and improve support to Veterans, including areas such as
police, procurement, construction, IT, and financial
management.
--Consolidating the payroll processing for approximately 50 VA
medical centers (VAMCs) into VA's proven payroll system that
processes paychecks for more than 200,000 VA employees.
Continuing consolidation of payroll for all employees into VA's
Financial Services Center will save time, money, and other
resources.
Question. The 2024 GAO report on Veterans health care identified
serious weaknesses in the Department's oversight of community care
contracts, issuing 27 recommendations, of which only 9 have been
implemented. What is the Department's plan and timeline to address the
remaining recommendations?
Answer. The 2024 Government Accountability Office (GAO) summary
report titled ``Veterans Health Care: Opportunities to Improve Access
to Care Through the Veterans Community Care Program'' (GAO-25-108101)
includes insights and recommendations from several prior GAO reports,
specifically:
--GAO-18-281 at http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-281 (10
recommendations),
--GAO-20-643 at http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-20-643 (3
recommendations),
--GAO-23-105290 at http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-23-105290 (2
recommendations),
--GAO-23-105617 at http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-23-105617 (3
recommendations) only 2 of the 3 were included in GAO-25-
108101),
--GAO-24-106410 at http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-24-106410 (2
recommendations),
--GAO-24-106390 at http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-24-106390 (3
recommendations), and
--GAO-25-106678 at http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-25-106678 (5
recommendations).
As of August 21, 2025, VA successfully implemented 14
recommendations. GAO closed one recommendation as not implemented
because it was no longer valid given changes in VA. Out of the 13
recommendations remaining open, VA is awaiting GAO's acceptance of
closure requests for 6 recommendations.
VA's Plan and Timeline to Address Remaining Recommendations:
--GAO-18-281: VA is actively advocating for closure due to challenges
such as the lack of standardized wait time metrics in community
health care. VA will continue using network adequacy standards
through Third Party Administrators and evaluating these
metrics. Recommendation 10 is contingent upon the finalization
of the Veteran Community Care Program Directive. VA expects to
finalize this directive soon; however, the specific timeline is
to be determined.
--GAO-20-643: Similar to the GAO-18-281 recommendations, VA is
pushing for closure, emphasizing the complexities associated
with non-standardized wait time metrics and individual provider
reporting. VA partially addressed Recommendation 3 and is
pursuing a way forward by incorporating a reporting tool into
the Community Care Staffing tool to document facilities risks
related to community care scheduling.
--GAO-23-105290: VA implemented both recommendations included in the
report.
--GAO-23-105617: Only two of three recommendations were included in
the GAO-25-108101 report, but VA implemented all three of the
original recommendations.
--GAO-24-106410: VA partially addressed Recommendation 1 and plans to
request full closure by the end of 2025. Recommendation 2 is
pending GAO acceptance for closure.
--GAO-24-106390: VA implemented Recommendations 1 and 2. VA completed
evidence of implementation for Recommendation 3, and it is
pending submission to GAO.
Question. How is VA ensuring that expanded use of community care
does not undermine the quality or continuity of care for Veterans--
particularly in States like Rhode Island where the Providence VA
Medical Center is a vital hub for regional care and specialized
services?
Answer. For each Veteran referral, VA reviews the available health
care options with the Veteran based on standards of the John S. McCain
III, Daniel K. Akaka, and Samuel R. Johnson VA Maintaining Internal
Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks Act of 2018, or
the VA MISSION Act of 2018. This review includes discussing where
health care can be provided (such as at the Veteran's home, VA
facility, or nearby in-network community provider), when it can be
provided (including wait times for various options), and how the care
can be delivered (for example, in-person or via telehealth). VA
addresses any questions Veterans may have to help them choose the most
appropriate care option for their specific needs.
Due to Rhode Island's small size, there are relatively fewer
patients eligible for community care based on drive time compared to
larger States. The Providence VAMC and surrounding Community Based
Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) offer a wide range of services within the
designated access standards to include drive times of 30 minutes for
Primary Care and 60 minutes for Specialty Care. VA ensures that
community care providers work closely with VA providers to maintain
seamless communication and coordination of care.
______
Questions Submitted by Senator Brian Schatz
Question. Under Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2024
(Public Law 118-42), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is
permitted to provide care to Veterans residing in the Freely Associated
States (FAS). The FAS consists of three sovereign nations--the Republic
of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the
Marshall Islands--which have unique Compacts of Free Association (COFA)
with the United States. The COFA agreements and our relationship with
the FAS are critical to our National security. The U.S. military
actively recruits in the FAS and FAS citizens serve in our Nation's
armed forces at some of the highest volunteer rates per capita. Public
Law 118-42 specifically authorized the VA to provide health and medical
services to Veterans living in the FAS, and directed the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs to coordinate with the Secretary of State to enter
into agreements to carry out these services. According to a memo dated
April 11, Secretary Collins decided to maintain the status quo and not
expand care to Veterans in the FAS. What analysis did the VA conduct in
deciding not to expand additional VA services to Veterans living in the
FAS?
Answer. Courses of action were reviewed following the completion of
a comprehensive environmental scan done during the previous
Administration that identified the medical and health care services
available in the Freely Associated States (FAS) and the costs
associated with providing these services to Veterans. This led to the
decision outlined in the memo of April 11, 2025, and VA will continue
to monitor and engage as necessary.
Question. Did the VA consult with other agencies, including the
Department of State, Department of Interior, Department of Defense, and
the National Security Council ahead of making this decision?
Answer. Representatives from the identified agencies, with the
exception of the National Security Council, were involved in meetings
with representatives from the FAS when the environmental scans were
conducted during the prior Administration.
Question. What outreach activities has the VA conducted in the FAS
since January 2025?
Answer. VA organized two in-person outreach events in the FAS. The
first event took place in Yap State within the Federated States of
Micronesia (FSM) in June 2025, and the second was held on Kwajalein
Atoll in the Marshall Islands in July 2025. In addition, since January
2025, VA Manila conducted six virtual outreach events aimed at Palau
and other locations within the FSM.
Question. Have senior VA officials met with the presidents or
ambassadors from the FAS to discuss the challenges that Veterans in
their nations face in accessing care through the Foreign Medical
Program since January 2025?
Answer. VA senior leaders, ambassadors from the FAS, and other
senior leaders participated in calls discussing and reviewing the
results of the environmental scans during the previous Administration.
Question. Do you commit to working with Congress to implement the
bipartisan intent of the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of
2024?
Answer. VA is deeply committed to collaborating with Congress to
ensure Veterans receive the highest quality health care possible. VA
seeks to align efforts and policies with Congressional support to meet
the evolving needs of the Veteran community.
Question. The VA Pacific Islands Health Care System (VAPIHCS)
serves an estimated 50,000 Veterans throughout Hawaii and U.S.-
Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI), which includes the U.S. Pacific
Island territories and the Freely Associated States. How many positions
are currently open across VAPIHCS?
Answer. The VA Pacific Islands Health Care System (VAPIHCS) has a
total of 493 vacant positions in the HR Smart position inventory for a
vacancy rate of 20.66%. This rate is likely inflated by positions
created over the last several years but never filled (150) and
positions vacated without active recruitment actions or intention to
fill (122 vacated prior to 2024). As of October 21, 2025, VAPIHCS had
77 active recruitment actions in progress, and 43 of those made a
candidate selection.
Question. Is the VA currently offering hiring incentives to fill
open positions in VAPIHCS? If so, which incentives are being offered
and for which positions?
Answer. Yes, VAPIHCS uses relocation and recruitment incentives for
hard-to-fill occupations. For highly experienced candidates, VA also
uses incentives based on external and previous experience to place
candidates in higher pay groups. General positions for which VA uses
these incentives include physicians, nurse managers, housekeeping
aides, and psychologists.
Question. Has the VA cut any contracts with companies based in
Hawaii?
Answer. VA has not cut any Hawaii-based company contracts. There
were no contracts terminated for Hawaii or Station 459 (VAPIHCS).
Question. What VA programs are currently targeted to help Veterans
living in rural communities in Hawaii and what resources would be
necessary to expands the scale of said programs?
Answer. The following VAPIHCS programs provide resources for
Veterans to access care throughout the Pacific Islands:
--VAPIHCS has six active Accessing Telehealth through Local Area
Stations sites and one Access Care station each strategically
placed in rural locations in Guam, Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.
These stations are equipped with the necessary technology to
conduct secure, virtual appointments with VA health care
providers, which helps to reduce travel time and increase
access to health care services for Veterans who may otherwise
face difficulties attending appointments in-person due to
distance or mobility challenges.
--VAPIHCS sends VA specialists to the islands of Guam, the
Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and American
Samoa on a rotating basis to provide direct patient care where
it otherwise may be limited or unavailable.
--VAPIHCS installed a Melody Robotic Ultrasound System at the Hilo
CBOC, which provides real-time diagnostic ultrasound imaging to
remote communities without requiring the patient to travel to
Oahu. This system can perform cardiac, abdominal, and prenatal
ultrasound studies.
In addition, VA has the following Office of Rural Health-funded
active projects:
--Social Work Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACT). The goal of this
initiative is to increase access to social work services in
PACT for Veterans living in rural communities. This project
augments social work employees to sites where access, care
coordination, case management, and other social work services
are needed and not staffed appropriately according to the PACT
Social Work Case Management Model.
--Physical Therapy (PT) in Rural PACT. By embedding PT in PACT,
Veterans can access same day care for both musculoskeletal and
mobility complaints, thereby reducing sequelae of delayed care.
Earlier access to PT reduces primary care provider visits and
referrals to specialty providers, improving access.
Resources needed to ensure the expansion and sustainment of these
programs include secured ongoing funding for these positions to ensure
retention in challenging localities, as well as exemption from hiring
caps to enable successful growth and expansion of these pilot programs.
The Veteran Integrated Service Network (VISN) 21 Clinical Resource
Hub (CRH) program provides contingency staffing and sustained clinical
services in Primary Care, Mental Health, Surgery, and Medical
Specialties to VAPIHCS, including Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Tinian,
Rota, and Saipan. While the CRH model is telehealth-forward, leveraging
platforms such as VA Video Connect and Clinical Video Telehealth to
reach Veterans in their homes and local clinics, it also includes in-
person care through clinician travel. CRH providers travel to remote
sites when hands-on care, direct coordination, or community engagement
requires physical presence, thus offering a flexible hybrid care model.
CRHs represent a vital, adaptive solution to delivering high-
quality VA care in geographically complex environments. With targeted
investment and technological innovation, the program is well-positioned
to close access gaps and enhance Veteran care across the Pacific
Islands.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VHA VISN 21 Site Project Fiscal
Program Fiscal Year Title Served Year Title
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2025 Veterans Rural Health 459 Spark M. 2025 VRHRC-Iowa
Resources Center (VRHRC)-Iowa Matsunaga VAMC City: Telehealth
City Collaborative
Care for Rural
Veterans with HIV
Infection (HIV-
TCC)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2025 CRH 459 Spark M. 2025 CRH-VISN 21
Matsunaga VAMC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2026 CRH 459GB Hilo VA 2025 CRH-VISN 21
Clinic
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2027 CRH 459GD Lihue VA 2025 CRH-VISN 21
Clinic
------------------------------------------------------------------------
028 CRH 459GE Guam VA 2025 CRH-VISN 21
Clinic
------------------------------------------------------------------------
029 CRH 459GF American 2025 CRH-VISN 21
Samoa VA Clinic
------------------------------------------------------------------------
030 CRH 459QB Molokai VA 2025 CRH-VISN 21
Clinic
------------------------------------------------------------------------
025 Social Work in PACT 459 Spark M. 2025 Social Work
Matsunaga VAMC PACT-459
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2025 Rural Interprofessional 459 Spark M. 2025 RIFDI-459
Faculty Development Initiative Matsunaga VAMC
(RIFDI)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2025 Rural Suicide Prevention 459GE Guam VA 2025 Rural Suicide
Clinic Prevention-459GE-
(96912) Guam-Guam
Together with
Veterans
------------------------------------------------------------------------
025 Rural Suicide Prevention 459GB Hilo VA 2025 Rural Suicide
Clinic Prevention-459GB-
(96720)
Southeast, Hawaii-
Mental
Restorations
Foundation (Big
Island)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
025 VRHRC-Salt Lake City 459 Spark M. 2025 VRHRC-SLC: An
Matsunaga VAMC Exploration of a
Competency-Based
Framework to
Provide Clinical
Supervision via
the Video
Telehealth
Modality across
Rural Psychology
Training Programs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
025 PT Embedded into Rural 459 Spark M. 2025 PT in Rural
Primary Care PACT Matsunaga VAMC PACT-459
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question. How is the VA partnering with local colleges and
universities to provide training opportunities in Hawaii?
Answer. VA's Office of Academic Affiliations manages the largest
health professions education program in the United States. During the
2023-2024 academic year, more than 120,000 health professions trainees
from more than 60 professions participated in VA training nationwide.
VA and its academic partners are at the forefront of fulfilling VA's
statutory mission of preparing and training new health care
professionals to deliver exceptional care to Veterans and the Nation.
This includes the VAPIHCS and instrumental local academic institutions.
VAPIHCS partnered with at least 45 academic institutions in the
past 5 years. This partnership includes local academic institutions and
others from across the country. Local partners include the Tripler Army
Medical Center, the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of
Medicine, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the University of Hawaii
at Hilo, and Hawaii Pacific University.
VAPIHCS partners with local colleges and universities through VHA
Affiliation Agreements with multiple local health care professions
training programs at universities, community colleges, and other
educational programs across Hawaii to offer clinical opportunities at
VA clinics in the state. During the 2023-2024 academic year, local
academic institutions and others partnered with VAPIHCS to train a
total of 242 persons as health care professionals across multiple
specialties.
Recently, VAPIHCS celebrated the 1-year anniversary of the Center
for Pacific Islander Veterans Health (CPIVH) that serves Native
Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islander
Veterans in the Continental United States, Hawaii, and U.S.
Territories. The CPIVH partners with the University of Hawaii and the
University of Arkansas to manage and coordinate research to improve
health outcomes for the Veteran population.
VA also partners with the Hawai'i State Approving Agency (https://
dod.hawaii.gov/hawai%CA%BBi-state-approving-agency/), which is
responsible for the approval of education and training programs in
Hawaii. VA conducts routine compliance surveys on approved educational
and training programs in Hawaii to ensure programs operate in
accordance with the applicable GI Bill regulations.
VA's Veteran Readiness and Employment program, specifically the
VetSuccess on Campus (VSOC) initiative, is active at several colleges
and universities in Hawaii. In addition, the Personalized Career
Planning and Guidance program increased engagements and outreach to
colleges without VSOCs to spread awareness and utilization of this
program. This coordinated effort provides comprehensive support and
resources for student Veterans throughout Hawaii's higher education
system.
Question. Who are the best points of contact for benefits
enrollment for Veterans within the USAPI?
Answer. Veterans within the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI)
who want additional information regarding using GI Bill benefits may
contact VA representatives at the Education Call Center by telephone at
1-888-442-4551 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central Time, Monday-Friday, or
electronically through Ask VA at https://ask.va.gov/.
Question. What is the process for Veterans in the USAPI to travel
to Hawaii or elsewhere for care if they are unable to receive the
medical care they need locally?
Answer. For health care benefits, Veterans in Guam, American Samoa,
and the CNMI must be eligible for health care through VA. If
specialized medical care is not available within their catchment area,
their Primary Care provider places a consult for that medical care that
needs to occur outside their catchment area. VA will coordinate the
necessary travel arrangements to the closest location where the care is
available, thus ensuring that Veterans have access to the required
medical services.
In the FSM, Marshall Islands, or Palau, Veterans must have a
service-connected disability to use the Foreign Medical Program. Under
this program, eligible Veterans can receive reimbursement for medical
services abroad for conditions related to their service-connected
disabilities. In addition, these FAS-based Veterans, if enrolled in VA
health care, have the option to pay out-of-pocket for travel to a VA
location (such as in Guam) without reimbursement and then follow the
same process for health care coordination as Veterans from Guam,
America Samoa, and the CNMI.
To ensure that the process aligns with VA regulations and guidance,
VA reviews the Veteran's eligibility for travel assistance in
accordance with 38 C.F.R. part 70. This review includes ensuring that
the Veteran meets all necessary criteria for travel benefits, such as
the nature of the medical appointment and service-connected status. It
is important to note that travel and associated support are only
authorized for VA-directed appointments. VA will aid with travel
logistics and cover allowable expenses only for scheduled medical care
that VA providers have approved. VA authorizes Veterans to use their
beneficiary travel benefits once they are in Guam or Hawaii, but they
must pay for their travel to Guam or Hawaii on their own.
Question. Does the VA have any priority scheduling of medical
appointments for Veterans traveling from part of the USAPI with none or
limited VA services taking into account expensive and difficult travel
logistics?
Answer. Veterans are scheduled for health care once the need is
identified and according to the availability of clinic appointments.
Medical appointment scheduling is initially predicated on the date the
provider indicates due to acuity of clinical need.
VHA Directive 1230, Outpatient Scheduling, does not mention
priority scheduling for Veterans traveling from parts of the USAPI with
limited or no VA services. However, VHA Directive 1230 emphasizes the
importance of managing outpatient health care appointment requests
safely, timely, and accurately based on clinical need and Veterans'
preferences.
Specifically related to Veterans in the FAS, registered Veterans
are eligible to receive health care at their closest VA facility (for
example, the Guam CBOC). Should a Veteran require a higher level of
care and be eligible for beneficiary travel, VAPIHCS staff would assist
with coordinating their travel and care from their established VA
facility within the catchment area (for example, Guam) to the closest
facility with the required care available. Please note that Veterans
are responsible for travel costs to their closest VA facility from a
FAS.
Question. What is the procedure for a Veteran living in the FAS to
log into VA.gov or ID.me, considering the multifactor authentication
system that allows Veterans to sign into these accounts does not send
security codes to international phone numbers or addresses?
Answer. Whether a Veteran can create a Login.gov or ID.me account
to sign in to VA.gov and other VA online services depends on the
location of their permanent address, if they have a U.S. Social
Security Number, and which identity documents they possess.
--If a Veteran has a valid, unexpired U.S. driver's license or state-
issued identification, a U.S. Social Security Number, and a
U.S. address, they should be able to create an account and
verify their identity through either Login.gov or ID.me.
--Veterans can get more information, including step-by-step
instructions and answers to questions about common support
issues on these publicly available VA.gov webpages:
--Creating an account for VA.gov at https://www.va.gov/resources/
creating-an-account-for-vagov/.
--Verifying your identity on VA.gov at https://www.va.gov/
resources/verifying-your-identity-on-vagov/.
--How to verify your identity your your Login.gov account at
https://www.va.gov/resources/how-to-verify-your-identity-
for-your-logingov-account/#content.
--How to verify your identity for your ID.me account at https://
www.va.gov/resources/how-to-verify-your-identity-for-your-
idme-account/#content.
--Support for common Login.gov and ID.me issues at https://
www.va.gov/resources/support-for-common-logingov-and-idme-
issues/.
--If a Veteran does not have a valid, unexpired U.S. driver's license
or state identification, a U.S. Social Security Number, or a
U.S address, they will need to verify through ID.me. VA also
encourages Veterans to choose an ID.me account in certain other
cases, including if the address on their driver's license or
state identification is a P.O. box or if their phone is on a
plan that is not in their name and they want to verify their
identity online.
--Veterans can get more information and instructions on these
publicly available webpages:
--Learn more about verifying your identity if you live outside the
United States on the ID.me website at https://help.id.me/
hc/en-us/articles/4415907236375-What-if-I-don-t-live-in-
the-United-States-.
--Play a video on how to verify your identity while living outside
the United States (YouTube) at https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=LC9jkD1Dclo.
--Learn about primary and secondary identification documents on the
ID.me website at https://help.id.me/hc/en-us/articles/
360017833054-What-is-a-Primary-or-Secondary-Identification-
Document-Login.gov and ID.me accounts offer several
multifactor authentication (MFA) methods from which
Veterans can choose. For example, Veterans who do not have
access to text messages, whether because they are living
abroad or because they do not have a cell phone, can use a
security key or backup codes for MFA.
Veterans can learn more about their MFA options on these publicly
available pages on the ID.me and Login.gov websites:
--ID.me: Getting started with MFA at https://help.id.me/hc/en-us/
articles/360018113053-Getting-started-with-multi-factor-
authentication-MFA.
--Login.gov authentication methods at https://www.login.gov/help/get-
started/authentication-methods/.
Question. Does the VA have an active Indo-Pacific Working Group
focused on the needs of Veterans throughout the region?
Answer. The Executive Director, Indo Pacific Veterans Affairs,
focuses on all Veteran issues in the region to include working with
senior leaders within the Department of State, Department of the
Interior, Department of War, and with the leaders of the countries in
the region.
Question. American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans do not pay
copays when they receive health care and urgent care through VA. What
barriers exist to expanding this policy to cover Native Hawaiian
Veterans?
Answer. Current law at 38 U.S.C. Sec. 1730A prohibits the
collection of copayments under sections 1710 and 1722A from Veterans
who are catastrophically disabled and Veterans who are Indian or urban
Indian, as those terms are defined in section 4 of the Indian Health
Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. Sec. 1603), but does not include Native
Hawaiians as defined in the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act
(42 U.S.C. Sec. 11701). Because of the lack of statutory authority, VA
cannot exempt copayments for Native Hawaiian Veterans.
Question. The VA Indian Health Services/Tribal Health Programs/
Urban Indian Organization Reimbursement Agreements Program provides VA
reimbursement to Indian Health Services, Tribal Health Programs and
Urban Indian Organization health facilities for services provided to
eligible American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans. What barriers
exist to expanding this program to cover the Native Hawaiian Health
Care Systems?
Answer. Under 25 U.S.C. Sec. 1645(a), the Department of Health and
Human Services ``may enter into (or expand) arrangements for the
sharing of medical facilities and services between the Service, Indian
Tribes, urban Indian organizations, and Tribal organizations and the
Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense.'' Native
Hawaiian Veterans do not appear to be covered under this statute, which
is part of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. The Native Hawaiian
Health Care Improvement Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 11701, which governs Native
Hawaiian Health Care Systems, also does not contain such authorization.
Question. In December 2024, the VA announced that it will fund a
study on Methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted, or MDMA-assisted,
therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorder
among veterans. Is the VA moving forward with funding this study? If
so, please provide additional information of the status of this study.
Answer. VA is moving forward with funding this study. VA
researchers at the Providence VAMC will be conducting this clinical
trial to evaluate the potential of methylenedioxymethamphetamine-
assisted therapy as a treatment option for Veterans with posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder. The study is in the
clearance process for required compliance and oversight involving
review and clearance by the local Institutional Review Board. VA
anticipates the study will begin in January 2026.
Question. What additional research opportunities is the VA pursuing
related to psychedelics?
Answer. VA is engaged in additional research opportunities related
to psychedelics that fall into two broad categories: studies the VHA
Office of Research and Development (ORD) funds and studies external
entities fund (for example, pharmaceutical companies and private or
community foundations).
With regards to the studies ORD funds, ORD issued a funding
announcement (known as a Request for Applications) for psychedelic
research in January 2024. More information is available at https://
news.va.gov/press-room/to-improve-care-for-veterans-va-to-fund-studies-
on-new-therapies-for-treating-mental-health-conditions/. ORD received
the first round of study proposals in May 2024. As additional proposals
come in, ORD is providing a scientific review on a rolling basis. From
this first round of study proposals, ORD selected one clinical trial
for funding through this mechanism (see response to Question 5a herein
for additional details). ORD is considering other trials for funding.
ORD also selected a pre-clinical study for funding. VA researchers
at the Baltimore VAMC are leading this study. The study examines how
psilocybin affects the brain's mitochondrial dynamics, with the goal of
understanding how this psychedelic could potentially help Veterans with
PTSD by making the brain more responsive to therapy.
Question. What challenges would the VA face in conducting clinical
research studies into psychedelic-assisted therapy with Schedule 1
substances?
Answer. Psychedelic research presents complex regulatory issues
given that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) generally
classifies them as Schedule I substances. Currently, medical research
with Schedule I substances takes place legally through a process that
involves the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviewing the study
protocol and the researchers obtaining a research registration from the
DEA. ORD provides a Researcher Toolkit on ORD's website to provide
guidance to researchers on navigating this process at https://
vaww.research.va.gov/psychedelics-toolkit.cfm.
VA researchers conducting clinical trials in VAMCs successfully
navigated this process without significant challenges.
Question. If FDA approves a psychedelic as medicine, has the VA
considered potential care delivery models to deliver psychedelic-
assisted therapy for eligible Veterans at scale?
Answer. VA has been preparing potential care delivery models to
deliver psychedelic-assisted therapy, if and when the FDA approves
these agents. Care delivery models would include care delivered in VA
facilities and through contracted community care providers.
Question. Researchers from the Ann Arbor VA Healthcare System
collaborated to lead a VA Office of Research & Development-funded study
titled, ``Cannabis Use and Health among VHA Primary Care Patients,''
the final outcomes of which have not yet been published. How is the VA
using initial concerns raised in the study about the lack of data
tracking Veterans' cannabis use to inform VA screenings and services?
Answer. VA used the concerns raised in this initial study to prompt
investments in follow-up work that is gathering information that will
be foundational for guiding interventions for addressing gaps in health
care. These include the follow-up study detailed in response to
Question 6b, as well as the work detailed in Pravosud V., Lum E., Vali
M., et al. ``Cannabis Use Among Older Adults.'' JAMA Network Open.
2025;8(5): e2510173. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.10173.
In addition, VA researchers developed the Cannabis Use Disorder
Identification Test-Revised (CUDIT-R), which is a simple 8-question
survey that can be completed in less than 2 minutes, to accurately
screen Veterans for general and pathological cannabis use. A score of
=10 out of 32 is optimal for differentiating problematic from non-
problematic cannabis use and is published in Myers M.G. et al.
``Assessing the diagnostic utility of the Cannabis Use Disorder
Identification Test-Revised (CUDIT-R) among veterans with medical and
non-medical cannabis use.'' Drug Alcohol Depend. 2023, 247:109876. DOI:
10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.109876.
This screening tool can be implemented widely in VA primary care
settings to enhance the health care services provided to Veterans
Nationwide.
Question. What is the timeline for a potential follow-up study with
a broader national sample of Veterans?
Answer. Researchers from the San Francisco VA Health Care System
are conducting a follow-up study with a broader national sample of
Veterans. Results are expected in 2028.
Question. What additional research opportunities is the VA pursuing
related to medicinal and non-medicinal cannabis use?
Answer. VA offers research opportunities related to the use of
medicinal cannabis to better understand the potential risks and
benefits of cannabis, cannabinoids, or substances enhancing
endocannabinoid signaling.
SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS
Senator Boozman. [Whereupon, at 12:25 p.m., Tuesday, June
24, the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the
call of the Chair.]
LIST OF WITNESSES, COMMUNICATIONS, AND PREPARED STATEMENTS
----------
Page
Boozman, Senator John, U.S. Senator from Arkansas, Opening
Statement of
Collins, Hon. Douglas A., Secretary of Veterans Affairs:
Prepared Statement of........................................
60.........................................................
Questions Submitted to.......................................
96.........................................................
Statement of.................................................
55.........................................................
Summary Statement of.........................................
58.........................................................
Fischer, Senator Deb, U.S. Senator from Nebraska, Questions
Submitted by...................................................
51-52..........................................................
Jablon,Vice Admiral Jeffrey T., Deputy Chief of Naval Operations
for Installations and Logistics, United States Navy:
Prepared Statement of........................................
19.........................................................
Statement of.................................................
18.........................................................
Marks, Hon. Dale, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy,
Installations, and Environment:
Prepared Statement of........................................
7..........................................................
Questions Submitted to.......................................
51.........................................................
Statement of.................................................
1..........................................................
Summary Statement of.........................................
5..........................................................
Miller, Lieutenant General Tom D., Deputy Chief of Staff for
Logistics, Engineering, and Force Protection, United States Air
Force:
Prepared Statement of........................................
29.........................................................
Statement of.................................................
27.........................................................
Ossoff, Senator Jon, U.S. Senator from Georgia:
Questions Submitted by
Statement of
Reed, Senator Jack, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, Questions
Submitted by...................................................
96.............................................................
Schatz, Senator Brian, U.S. Senator from Hawaii, Questions
Submitted by...................................................
99.............................................................
Sklenka, Lieutenant General Stephen D., Deputy Commandant for
Installations and Logistics, United States Marine Corps:
Prepared Statement of........................................
23.........................................................
Statement of.................................................
22.........................................................
Warakomski, Brigadier General Zachary S., Assistant Deputy Chief
of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear, United
States Space Force:............................................
Prepared Statement of........................................
29.........................................................
Statement of.................................................
36.........................................................
Wilson, Lieutenant General David, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-9,
United States Army:
Prepared Statement of........................................
15.........................................................
Questions Submitted to.......................................
52.........................................................
Statement of.................................................
14.........................................................
SUBJECT INDEX
----------
Page
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Military Construction and Family Housing
Additional Committee Questions...................................
51.............................................................
Advanced Manufacturing and the Organic Industrial Base...........
26.............................................................
Army Family Housing..............................................
16.............................................................
Background.......................................................
24.............................................................
Barracks 2030, Service Quality of Life, and Operational Readiness
Imperatives....................................................
24.............................................................
Base Operating Support and Facilities Sustainment Restoration and
Modernization..................................................
19.............................................................
Child Development Centers........................................
25.............................................................
Combatant Commander Infrastructure...............................
31.............................................................
Construction on Guam.............................................
13.............................................................
Current Threats..................................................
23.............................................................
Defense Environmental Restoration................................
12.............................................................
Design...........................................................
32.............................................................
Dormitories/Unaccompanied Housing................................
33.............................................................
Existing Mission Recapitalization................................
32.............................................................
Facility:
Investments..................................................
15.........................................................
Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization..................
35.........................................................
Family Housing
Fiscal Year 2025 Air Force Milcon CR Spend Plan..................
31.............................................................
FY 2025 Milcon Update............................................
26.............................................................
Hawaii...........................................................
13.............................................................
Housing..........................................................
11.............................................................
Construction, Operation and Maintenance......................
33.........................................................
Improving Efficiency.............................................
10.............................................................
Indo-Pacific Priorities..........................................
13.............................................................
Infrastructure: Long-Term Readiness..............................
29.............................................................
Installation Resilience
Installations....................................................
30.............................................................
Milcon and FSRM Review...........................................
10.............................................................
Military:
Construction
Housing Privatization Initiative.............................
11.........................................................
Natural Disaster Recovery Efforts................................
30.............................................................
Navy Child and Youth Programs....................................
21.............................................................
New Mission Bed Downs............................................
32.............................................................
Quality of Life
Overarching Objectives...........................................
7..............................................................
Privatized Housing...............................................
33.............................................................
Real Property Efficiencies.......................................
10.............................................................
Reviewing Processes for Complying with Environmental Regulations.
11.............................................................
Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program.....................
20.............................................................
Special Interest Items...........................................
30.............................................................
Strengthening Our Force from the Shore...........................
19.............................................................
Supporting:
Defense Communities and Promoting Compatible Development.....
9..........................................................
Lethality....................................................
7..........................................................
Taking Care of People: Child Development Centers and Dormitories.
30.............................................................
Unaccompanied Housing............................................
20.............................................................
Barracks.....................................................
16.........................................................
United States Space Force........................................
34.............................................................
Weapon System Sustainment........................................
35.............................................................
__________
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Additional Committee Questions...................................
96.............................................................
[all]