[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 21, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E649-E650]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 BASE ACCESS PRIVILEGES IMPROVEMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 21, 2022

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, today I introduce the ``Base Access 
Privileges Improvement Act,'' which would standardize and streamline 
access to military installations for designated support personnel 
across the nation. I thank my colleague Congressman Donald Norcross (D-
NJ) for his support as the bill's original cosponsor.
  Every day, civilian workers access military bases to provide 
services, transport goods, or conduct job fairs for departing service 
members or military spouses. Unfortunately, from state to state--or 
even installation to installation--there are different standards for 
unescorted civilian access set by the service

[[Page E650]]

branches or base commanders. This can be a maddening bureaucracy for 
support workers requiring routine base access to do their jobs.
  The ``Base Access Privileges Improvement Act'' would create an 
overarching set of access standards for civilians with legitimate need 
to access military installations on a recurring basis or for a 
scheduled purpose. For example, the bill would allow truckers 
delivering household goods for military families to use their 
Transportation Worker Identification Credentials, which is issued by 
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and requires passing a federal 
background check, for proving their identity to get on base. The bill 
would also require that the U.S. Department of Defense provide 
expedited, unescorted base access privileges for veterans accessing 
services at the installation, civilians working at a construction job 
site on base, State labor regulators for applicable workers' 
compensation or minimum wage laws, and members of federally recognized 
labor-management committees.
  As chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, I 
know full well that our military installations are secure for a good 
reason. However, for those civilians who are already appropriately 
vetted and cleared, we must ease the bureaucratic hurdles for base 
access so they can do their job in support of our nation's military, 
military families, and veterans. Military bases can maintain the 
highest level of scrutiny for those seeking access while still 
equalizing the requirements across the nation. The ``Base Access 
Privileges Improvement Act'' would ensure just that.

                          ____________________