State could get $344M in projects
By Frank Oliveri
Advertiser Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Hawai'i military facilities could get at least $344 million in military construction money, following a vote in the House yesterday.
The House passed a $422.2 billion defense bill and an additional $25 billion to bolster troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The vote was 391-34.
The Senate is considering a similar defense bill, which would designate $366 million for Hawai'i military construction. A final vote on the measure is expected after the Memorial Day recess, and the two chambers will have to reach a compromise sometime this summer.
The defense authorization bill is a blueprint for Pentagon spending for fiscal year 2005, which begins Oct. 1. Money for military construction won't be allocated until Congress completes a separate appropriations bill sometime this fall.
"I expect in the end we are going to be approaching an even higher (military construction) number," said Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. "It will have a positive effect on Hawai'i's economy, jobs and small businesses."
Abercrombie said the vast amount of construction ongoing in Hawai'i is close to tapping out the state's ability to meet the demand.
"I don't think we can do much more," he said.
Overall, the House bill suggests $9.9 billion should be spent on military construction next year.
Significant upgrades would be made to Schofield Barracks in support of the Stryker Brigade, which should be operating from the barracks by 2006.
Hickam Air Force Base also would get significant upgrades, including maintenance, storage and other support facilities for the C-17 air transport. Helemano Military Reservation would get some road upgrades. The C-17s would support the new Stryker brigade.
Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard would receive improvements to Drydock 4.
"The strategic interests of the country are forwarded by this bill," Abercrombie said.
The House bill would delay a base realignment and closure decision until 2007. This provision triggered a veto threat from President Bush, who wants to close little or unused bases to save money.
The bill also includes several initiatives that are an outgrowth of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan:
• A 3.5 percent across the board pay increase for military people.
• $705 million to provide full armor to military Humvees.
• $332 million for ballistic armor for Humvees.
• $420 million for additional body armor for troops.
• $523 million for equipment lost in combat.
The bill requires payment to reservists for lost civilian wages while serving overseas, and increases the size of the military by 30,000 over the next three years.
