Ranking Member Wasserman Schultz Statement at the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request Hearing for United States Air Force and Space Force Military Construction and Family Housing

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25), Ranking Member of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's hearing on the Fiscal Year 2025 budget request for United States Air Force and Space Force Military Construction and Family Housing:

Thank you, Chairman Carter, for yielding. And welcome back to our witnesses, Assistant Secretary Chaudhary, Brigadier General Hartless, and Mr. Hollywood.

Thank you for being here today.

The FY25 budget request for the Department of the Air Force is $4 billion to support military construction for the active and reserve components and for family housing construction and operation for the Air Force and Space Force, which is $65 million above the FY24 enacted level.

We are in an extremely tight fiscal environment this year operating under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which is leaving defense funding essentially flat. Under these circumstances, I am pleased that the Department of the Air Force has requested $368 million more in its budget request this year compared to its budget request last year.

We have been stressing for years that MILCON needs more investment, as it is critical to support the men and women of our armed forces. Considering the current budget environment, $368 million is still progress.

In an era of great power competition, this budget request addresses critical Air Force infrastructure needs in the Pacific and Europe.

The budget request also improves the Air Force’s infrastructure resiliency. In Florida, we know the importance of resiliency all too well. As the Air Force continues disaster recovery efforts at Tyndall Air Force

Base, I am pleased to see the Air Force taking steps to improve its bases’ ability to withstand future disasters.

It’s been a long time coming, but I am hopeful that this last $144 million will finally complete the recovery efforts.

However, I still have questions about the priorities of the Department of the Air Force and how it is taking care of its Airmen and Guardians. Again, I know that we are in an extremely tight fiscal environment, and this year more than ever, we need to prioritize the things that matter most. A budget is a reflection of your values.

And I have to say that while I appreciate the budget requests one CDC – and frankly that’s more than other services have requested, that is not enough, and I don’t think it meets the needs of the servicemembers and their families.  

Nowhere are these needs more obvious than at Eglin Air Force Base and Camp Bull Simons where servicemembers face an acute shortage of childcare, and solutions are delayed year over year. Being expected to drive over an hour each way to drop off your child at a child development center is not an acceptable solution.

Beyond the infrastructure necessary for adequate childcare, the Air Force must also ensure the safety of the children served at those CDCs. Last week there were deeply troubling reports about child abuse at a Navy CDC and leadership failures that resulted in unacceptable delays in families getting answers.

The safety of our children is the most important thing, and we need to ensure our troops can trust the Services to care of their family members and keep them safe from harm.  

On the housing front, the Air Force is requesting government investments in privatized housing at two bases because the privatized projects have insufficient funding to address sustainment needs.

We must take care of our servicemembers and do what we can to provide safe, livable housing, but at the same time, the Air Force, along with the other services, is considering privatization as a potential part of the solution to unaccompanied housing shortfalls.

I am skeptical of additional privatization efforts, and am interested in hearing more today how changes will be made to ensure continued financial investment throughout the duration of the contract to maintain livable housing well into the future.

The whole point of privatization is to take the refurbishment and maintenance off the books of the Air Force, and here we are with a request to rescue the private companies, who already have done an atrocious job in these areas.

Last week, the EPA announced final PFAS drinking water standards. This drinking water rule gives us a standard moving forward and will undoubtably increase the Air Force’s PFAS funding needs.

I would like to hear from our witnesses today both how the Department is working to address this new standard in the work it is doing now, and how you believe it will impact the long-term PFAS remediation funding needs.

The scale of PFAS contamination from former Air Force installations is immense, and will take years to address – another enduring requirement on the department that needs to be properly prioritized.

We must do right by our affected communities to ensure BRAC installations are not harming water quality.

So, we have a lot of ground to cover today, and I look forward to your testimonies and diving into these issues.

Thank you, I yield back.