Senate approves $772M for Hawai'i's military
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
The Senate yesterday gave final approval to $772.3 million in defense spending for Hawai'i — about $89 million more than the total approved last year.
The total includes $339.2 million for 22 construction projects. The fiscal 2004 military construction plan cleared its last legislative hurdle when the Senate voted 98-0 to approve a final version of the bill.
The money for Hawai'i was approved by the Senate as part of a $401.3 billion defense authorization bill that gives the Pentagon greater control over its civilian work force and eases environmental restrictions on the military.
The House previously approved the bills, which now head to the White House for the president's signature.
Included for Hawai'i is $80.5 million for projects directly tied to having an Army Stryker brigade of about 300 armored vehicles at Schofield Barracks, and $78.3 million for Hickam Air Force Base and the anticipated arrival of eight C-17 jet transports there in 2005.
The latest-generation cargo carriers would be used in part to transport the planned fast-strike brigade to hot spots in Asia and the Pacific.
"I am very pleased funding is in place to ensure that one of the six Stryker brigades will be based in Hawai'i," said U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawai'i, the ranking member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.
An Inouye representative said the Stryker and C-17 money accounts for some of the biggest increases from last year. The bill also includes $98 million for barracks projects at Schofield Barracks.
The $401.3 billion authorization bill for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 is $1.5 billion more than the amount requested by President Bush and about 2.2 percent more than Congress approved last year.
It raises salaries for soldiers by an average of 4.15 percent and extends increases in combat and family separation pay. The bill also authorizes $9.1 billion for ballistic missile defense, $6.6 billion for the construction of seven new ships, and $4.4 billion for developing the Joint Strike Fighter.
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, one of three senators to vote against the authorization bill, cited an erosion of federal civilian employees' jobs and rights, and said he was concerned about new environmental exemptions and cuts in money the military uses to ensure adequate supplies of spare parts.
The Pentagon will have greater flexibility in hiring, firing and promoting employees in what it says is an attempt to improve efficiency and lower costs.
"I am deeply concerned that the administration's agenda of taking away employees' rights, giving away their jobs, and cutting their pay could have a real demoralizing effect on the DOD workforce that has done so much for our national security for so long," Akaka said on the Senate floor.
Akaka also said the administration forced through a series of provisions exempting federal land from critical habitat designations of the Endangered Species Act, and authorizing the Defense Department to "conduct activities that that have a significant potential to harm large numbers of marine mammals" without applying for a permit.
Akaka said military service chiefs have testified that the armed forces are more ready than ever.
"That is because the military services have gone the extra mile to find constructive ways to comply with applicable laws and regulations with a minimum impact on training and readiness," Akaka said.
Military officials say the rules inhibit vital training, and that the services will remain good stewards of the land.
U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, said the defense authorization bill partially rolls back a "tax" on disabled veterans, who are not allowed to receive both military pensions and Veterans' Affairs disability benefits. An estimated 4,150 Hawai'i retirees are subject to the provision.
Abercrombie called the penalty "illogical, counterproductive and unfair."
The bill also lifts a decade-old ban on research into low-yield nuclear weapons and authorizes $15 million for continued research into the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, capable of destroying deep underground bunkers.
The bill adds 2,400 soldiers to the Army. The Pentagon has not sought additional troops, but lawmakers are concerned that the military is being stretched thin by demands in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach William Cole at 525-5459 or wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.
