Press Releases

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Congressman Ed Case (HI-01), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, early this morning voted against the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations funding measure.

The measure (MILCON-VA) would fund worldwide military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and various small agencies and programs supporting our nation’s some 19 million veterans, including some 112,000 throughout Hawai‘i, and their families.

The bill is the first of twelve separate bills developed by the Appropriations Committee that would fund the federal government at some $1.6 trillion for FY 2026 commencing October 1^st of this year.

“While the measure does have positive provisions including funding for essential veterans programs, I regrettably had to vote against it because it kicks critical military infrastructure projects down the road yet again, pursues the Project 2025 goal of privatizing VA medical care, shortchanges dedicated funding for Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) cleanup, eliminates climate resiliency efforts and excludes important VA infrastructure funding,” said Case, who is in his seventh year on Appropriations and previously served on the Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs for four years. He currently serves on its Subcommittees on Defense and Homeland Security. 

Case spoke to his Appropriations Committee colleagues on the serious deficiencies in the bill that fail to address critical military infrastructure needs throughout the Indo-Pacific (speech here). He stated that only one milcon project is located in the Indo-Pacific despite critical needs in meeting the challenge of the People’s Republic of China. The bill also fails to provide funding for infrastructure in Europe to support U.S. servicemembers working to bolster NATO and deter Russia.

Case further said that the funding measure specifically advances the privatization of veterans health care by proposing vastly larger increases for medical care provided in private sector compared to shorfunding the government’s VA healthcare system, a key goal of the Project 2025 plan being followed by the Trump administration. By vast margins, veterans oppose privatizing the VA and want to receive their medical care at VA clinics and hospitals with a direct mission to care for veterans and their families as opposed to the private sector.

Despite these and other significant problems with the bill, Case highlighted positive provisions he requested, including fully funding the budget request for veterans’ medical care at $131.4 billion and for veterans’ toxic exposures-related needs under the PACT Act.

It also includes $1.3 billion for specific care for women veterans, and supports the Office of Women’s Health, including its childcare initiative. These funds will allow the VA to continue hiring women primary care providers and to increase the number of peer support specialists for women veterans. These efforts have become even more critical as the number of female veterans using VA health care services has increased.  

“Women veterans often require specialized care due to unique health needs stemming from their military service and gender,” said Case. “With sustained support from my Committee over multiple years, Congress is working to ensure the VA set the standard for women veterans care, ensuring consistent, high-quality services across all facilities.” 

The measure also continues support as Case requested for the VA Center for Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and United States-affiliated Pacific Islander (NHPIUSAPI) Veterans. The center’s doctors and scientists coordinate research from all over the Pacific Islands and the United States to specifically address veterans’ healthcare in the Hawaiian Islands and throughout the Pacific. The center works with the University of Hawai‘i, and the bill encourages the VA to continue partnering with universities in the Pacific region focusing on issues unique to the NHPIUSAPI community. 

Further details follow: 

Veterans-Related Programs 

The bill provides $133.7 billion in discretionary spending for veterans-related programs, an increase of $4.7 billion above the FY 2025 enacted level 

“Our Hawai‘i veterans and their families make up one of the largest percentages of any state in our nation including in such key areas like women and minority veterans. I continued to focus especially on the often unique challenges of delivering full veterans’ health and other benefits in a diverse island state,” said Case.

Specific veterans-related programs and provisions requested and secured by Case include:

·        $12 million for the Native American Veteran Housing Loan Program, which is $6 million above the FY 2025 level. 

·        Contracting preferences for Native Hawaiian owned business that work with the VA. 

·        Directing the VA to continue supporting the VA Center for NHPIUSAPI Veterans.

·         $1.5 million for a pilot project using the most advanced technology to identify the remains of unidentified fallen servicemembers buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.  

·        Directing the VA to develop a plan for more fully providing VA benefits for veterans living in the Freely Associated States. 

·         $106 million for the American Battle Monument Commission, which manages the Honolulu Memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. 

·        $60 million for the VA Grants for the Construction of Veterans Cemeteries Program, which regularly provides fundings to support Hawaii’s state cemeteries. 

·        $233 million for substance-use disorder (SUD) efforts to ensure veterans can receive timely SUD specialty services. 

·        $3.4 billion for the Veterans’ Homelessness Program Resources Account for our nation’s veterans. This funding will enhance homeless veterans service providers ability to provide high demand care such as health services, substance use disorder programs, compensated work therapy and other supportive services.   

·        $342 million for Rural Health Initiatives, $5 million above FY 2025 level. This will improve access and quality of care for the more than 3 million enrolled veterans residing in highly rural areas.  

Military Construction 

The bill provides $453.6 billion for Department of Defense (DoD) military construction and family housing, $480 million above the FY 2025 enacted level.  

Specific military construction programs and provisions requested and secured by Case critical to Hawai‘i include:  

·          $634 million for the Energy Resiliency and Conservation Investment Program, which funds projects that save energy and water, reduce DoD energy costs and improve energy resilience. 

·         Directing the DoD to identify the Army’s investment needs in order to support the wildland firefighters located on Schofield Barracks.   

·         Directing the DoD to provide a report on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam infrastructure development plan, to address ongoing concerns of the aging water and wastewater facilities on the installation. 

·          Directing the DoD to assess the aging infrastructure that houses the headquarters of the Marine Corps, Space Force and Special Operations Commands on O‘ahu. 

·         Directing the DoD to assess the requirement for a floating drydock at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility.

·         Directing the DoD to assess the capacity for battle damage repair of all public shipyards and how to prepare these shipyards for conflict requirements under the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP). SIOP is a multi-billion multi-year effort to upgrade the Navy’s four public shipyards, including Pearl Harbor. 

·         Directing the DoD to assess the infrastructure needs and shortfalls for 3^rd Marine Littoral Regiment on Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i.  

·         Directing the DoD to study the impacts of unexploded ordnance on military construction sites in Guam. 

·         Directing the DoD to study the necessary steps and what actions would be required to begin construction on port improvements on Tinian Island. 

·         Directing the DoD to study the necessity and feasibility of establishing a biosecurity inspection facility to combat invasive species on the Northern Mariana Islands. 

·         Directing the DoD to study the impact and develop a plan to address growing solid waste management issues on Tinian Island.  

The bill now moves to the full House of Representatives for its consideration.  

A summary of the VA-MilCon funding bill is available here. The committee report explaining the full bill in detail is available here. 

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