House panel OKs Hawai'i military works

By Susan Roth
Advertiser Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Hawai'i companies could rake in nearly $366 million for military construction projects in fiscal 2002, including $11.8 million for housing work at the Pacific Missile Range Facility.

Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, and the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee's Military Installations and Facilities Subcommittee, requested the money for the facility at Barking Sands, Kaua'i.

Receiving the subcommittee's approval was a victory because, faced with a tight budget, the panel did not approve many projects over and above the Pentagon's budget request. The Pentagon had asked for 16 other Hawai'i projects that are included in the $10.3 billion fiscal 2002 military construction spending bill.

The missile range money would pay to revitalize 69 officer and enlisted housing units that the Navy says are nearing the end of their useful life.

"The key to the Navy's continued presence in Hawai'i is the state-of-the-art training capabilities of Barking Sands," Abercrombie said. "Adequate housing for the people who staff the facility is just as important as the high-tech equipment used for naval exercises."

Abercrombie touted the bill as an economic boon to Hawai'i, bringing jobs, contracts and the related business benefits of federal investment.

The House Armed Services Committee is expected to approve the expenditures this week and the House will act on the measure in the fall. If approved, the money would be a significant increase over fiscal 2001's $307 million for Hawai'i military construction projects.

Details of the Senate version of the spending bill are not yet available, but Hawai'i projects could get even more money with the added clout of Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, a top member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawai'i, the chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

The other Hawaii projects include:

• $23.3 million to modernize bachelor enlisted quarters at Pearl Harbor
• $23 million to continue work on the Wilson Street barracks complex at Schofield Barracks
• $50 million to continue construction on the aviation barracks complex at Wheeler Army Airfield
• $37.6 million to continue work on headquarters of the commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Camp Smith
• $24.9 million for construction of bachelor enlisted quarters at the Marine Corps base at K?ne'ohe
• $47 million to replace 172 units of family housing at the Marine Corps base
• $25 million to replace 102 units of family housing at Hickam Air Force Base
• $29.2 million to replace the hydrant fuel system at Hickam.