Case Secures Key Funding For The Indo-Pacific Including $2.1 Billion For The U.S. Government's Indo-Pacific Strategy And $60 Million Toward Another Coast Guard Vessel For HonoluluCase Also Secures $1 Million Toward A Comprehensive Disaster Preparedness Program For Hawai‘i
Washington, DC,
June 12, 2024
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Congressman Ed Case’s (HI-01) U.S. House Committee on Appropriations today approved two key measures funding federal homeland security and foreign affairs programs with important ties to Hawai‘i for the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 (commencing October 1, 2024). Both the homeland security and foreign affairs funding measures included Case’s requests for critical funding for American priorities in the Indo-Pacific, including $2.1 billion for the U.S. government’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, $175 million for assistance specifically for Pacific Island countries, $60 million to allow the Coast Guard to base another Medium Endurance Cutter with District 14 in Honolulu and other funds set aside for the Coast Guard’s expanded presence in the Pacific Islands region. Among the other projects for which Case advocated and that were included in the measures are:
Through his assignment on the Committee, Case also secured $1.1 million in partial funding for the Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) to develop a Community Disaster Preparedness Information Platform for Hawai‘i. This is one of Case’s Member-designated Community Project Funding (CPF) projects that specifically focuses on local needs in Hawai‘i. The project would work to establish an information sharing platform that enables direct collaboration between HI-EMA and local companies, nonprofit organizations and anchor institutions during normal times and in events in disasters. "This new tool for HI-EMA will ensure accurate, timely and unified messaging in the event of a disaster response,” explained Case. “In the wake of the 2023 Maui wildfires, our Hawai‘i is in need of a statewide unified messaging system to improve coordination with local and county emergency response agencies more than ever.” The House’s CPF rules require that each project must have demonstrated community support, must be fully disclosed by the requesting Member and be subject to audit by the independent Government Accountability Office. Case’s disclosures are here: https://case.house.gov/services/funding-disclosures.htm. “For me, these bills are a mixed result,” said Case. “While the measures fund many critical national, Indo-Pacific and Hawai‘i priorities which I support, I regrettably had to vote against them overall because it reduces funding far below what is needed, including massive cuts to and prohibitions against funding to key United Nations agencies, and includes harmful partisan policy riders.” “The deep and unfortunate policy differences in Congress on foreign affairs and homeland security can clearly been seen in the drastic cuts to these funding measures,” said Case, who is in his sixth year on Appropriations and currently serves on the Subcommittees on Defense and Homeland Security. “These cuts will further erode our standing with our friends and partners around the world who relied on the United States for global leadership when it comes to the defense of freedom, democracy and human rights and for assistance on critical human needs. They also fail to take a balanced and comprehensive approach to securing our homeland including our borders.” In his remarks during the debate in the Appropriations Committee this morning, Case strongly criticized the funding cuts to foreign aid programs saying in part, “We cannot and will not prevail in the geopolitical challenge we face by military might alone. Authoritarianism is based on might and democracy on values. We stand a far better chance with both might and values.” (See video clip of his extended remarks in Committee here). “I am committed to fixing these problems as we work through the legislative process toward final versions of these bills that can correct these deficiencies, secure bipartisan support and be signed into law.” Further details follow: Homeland Security The FY 2025 Homeland Security bill, one of twelve total bills funding the federal government annually, proposes to spend $65 billion for all programs under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security, an increase of $800 million over the FY 2024 enacted level. When combined with the $22.7 billion in additional funding for major disaster response and recovery, and $6.1 billion for programs offset by fee collections, the bill as a whole provides $93.8 billion to the Department of Homeland Security for FY 2025. The bill supports the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Coast Guard, the U.S. Secret Service and more. Case is a member of the Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Homeland Security which is responsible for this bill. The bill provides a critical increase in funding for the Coast Guard, whose 14th District is headquartered in Honolulu and represents the Coast Guard’s largest geographic area of responsibility. “Unfortunately, even with these proposed resources for Hawai‘i and the Indo-Pacific, I could not support the overall measure in its current form because of the areas in which it underfunds critical operations,” said Case. “The proposal generally supports a one-sided approach to immigration policy and does not secure the border by failing to invest in sustainable and critical immigration reform that would both strengthen border security and benefit American families and businesses.” Case was able to secure a number of key programs and provisions for Hawai‘i, including: · $355 million for Emergency Management Performance Grants, which support state and local emergency management agencies like HI‑EMA.
The measure also provides the following priorities requested by Case:
State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs The Appropriations Committee approved an overall funding level of $51.7 billion, a cut of $7.6 billion from the FY 2024 level, for the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations. This measure funds (or should fund) U.S. foreign policy programs and agencies, including the Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S. contributions to the United Nations and its agencies and more. The bill provides for international diplomatic presence and outreach as well as foreign assistance in public health, basic education, educational and cultural exchanges, climate change and more. “I strongly disagreed with the funding cuts to various important international assistance efforts,” said Case, who spoke on his opposition in Committee. “But the bill also advanced many importance priorities for the Indo-Pacific,” explained Case. “As we continue to focus on the growing influence of China in the Indo-Pacific, our national security interests must also include diplomatic engagement and assistance to promote peace and diplomacy in the region,” said Case. “Continued funding for our East-West Center and other institutions in Hawai‘i helps to support our country’s standing in an area widely seen as the most dynamic and fastest-growing region on earth.” Programs and provisions in the measure secured by Case and related to Hawai‘i and the Indo-Pacific include:
The bill also includes funding for several foreign policy programs supported by Case, although some at unacceptable low levels. Among them are:
These two measures are part of the twelve bills to be taken up by the House Appropriations Committee that will collectively fund the federal government for FY 2025 (commencing October 1, 2024). The proposed discretionary funding level is $147.5 billion, a decrease of almost $6.4 billion over the FY 2024 enacted level. The bills now move onto the full House of Representatives for consideration. Attachments:
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