Speeches & Testimony

I rise today to highlight the critical need to address seriously aging and increasingly failing physical infrastructure in Hawai‘i across all services. This can no longer be chalked up or explained away as deferred maintenance; it requires Congressional action considering the Department’s negligent administration and budgeting to address clear risks to personnel safety, mission readiness and ultimately our ability to deter and prevail in the Indo-Pacific.

Hawai‘i has served as a linchpin of our nation’s presence in the Indo-Pacific since 1875 when King Kalākaua granted the United States the right to enter Pearl Harbor and establish a coaling and repair station. Today, Hawai‘i is the Indo-Pacific home to every service – the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Space Force – along with a significant presence of our nation’s intelligence community. It is our nation’s Indo-Pacific headquarters, hosting U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Pacific Air Forces, U.S. Army Pacific, Marine Corps Forces Pacific, Special Operations Command Pacific, Space Force Indo-Pacific and the National Security Agency Hawai‘i. It also has many key military installations including Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i, Schofield Barracks, Fort Shafter, the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Pōhakuloa Training Area and various other locations. These installations support key operating forces based in Hawai‘i, including nuclear attack submarines, surface combatants, an Army infantry division, F-22s, MV-22s, C-17s, fuel tankers, Apaches, a Marine Corp regiment and approximately 60,000 Department of Defense (DoD) personnel plus families.

This presence requires significant physical infrastructure investments that are sometimes difficult to maintain. Hawaii’s geographic isolation makes everything from fuel to concrete significantly more expensive because they must be transported across thousands of miles of oceans. Our tropical location with buildings on or close to the ocean is also incredibly stressful on infrastructure. We face constant eposure to salt-laden air and high humidity, that can quickly cause metal to rust and lead to shorter lifespans than identical structures built on the mainland.

Despite generosity from the House Armed Services and Appropriations Committees in recent years, we must face the hard truth that the Department is not prioritizing critical repair and maintenance on its own. A 2023 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study found that Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam alone requires almost $5 billion to properly renovate and modernize – twice that of the next closest Navy base needing major upgrades. A 2022 CBO study found that U.S. Army Garrison Hawai‘i and Fort Bragg essentially tied with a $1.5 billion deferred maintenance backlog, and a 2024 CBO report noted that Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i was among the “top” three Marine Corps bases with the worst backlog of deferred maintenance. Failing to perform such maintenance will accelerate the degradation of real property and increase the cost of future renovations and repairs.

The effects of avoiding infrastructure investments for years are now having real world consequences in Hawai‘i. For example, our aging waste water treatment systems at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i have repeatedly spilled raw and insufficiently treated sewage into our oceans, and power outages and water main breaks have become all too real occurrences with potentially major impacts on service members’ safety, especially when it affects Tripler Army Medical Center – the military’s largest medical facility in the Indo-Pacific. 

For far too long we have also ignored the need for major new construction. The Marine Corps’ three-star command headquarters for the Indo-Pacific operates in the 1940s era ‘Aiea Heights Naval Hospital that lacks sufficient classified spaces and secure connections. Special Operations Command Pacific, which serves as the functional component for all special operations missions throughout the Indo-Pacific, has personnel spread across 19 locations in O‘ahu due to facility space limitations at its primary headquarters at Camp H. M. Smith. Space Forces Indo-Pacific is operating out of temporary buildings, which are little more than trailers. The 25th Infantry Division’s Headquarters lacks sufficient Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility spaces and a modern headquarters facility. Failing to invest in these headquarters units now will make command and control more difficult in a time of war.

Further, the modern equipment used by our troops is in desperate need of new modern buildings to house them. The 3^rd Marine Littoral Regiment does not have a magazine for the new weapons it needs, lacks sufficient climate-controlled facilities for its modern equipment and has insufficient classified workspaces. Army helicopters operate out of World War II era hangers without modern climate control that often lead to spare parts being rusted and unusable. The Air Force’s runways and taxiways at Hickam Field have gotten so bad that waivers are requested for all routine landings, and aircraft stationed in Hawai‘i have longer depot periods because there isn’t even an adequate aircraft wash facility. Piers throughout Pearl Harbor should have been fully replaced years ago as many cannot support the cranes needed to maintain our vessels, and most piers and wharves cannot be used to refuel our vessels.

Finally, housing remains a major concern for too many. The barracks at U.S. Army Garrison Hawai‘i and Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i do not meet modern standards, and there is a strong desire from both the military and State of Hawai‘i to move more service members back onto base to alleviate high stress on the civilian housing supply, yet military housing is essentially full and many older buildings face ongoing maintenance issues, especially related to air conditioning that leads to dangerous mold when left unaddressed.

The failure to address these infrastructure issues is placing our nation’s presence and mission in the Indo-Pacific at risk, and I ask for your help to address it. Given the depth of the problem, it will likely take many years and actions to address the challenge, but some of our first steps can include:

1. Investing in Critical Conflict-Related Infrastructure. The FY 2026 NDAA conference report mandated a study on the infrastructure investments required to support potential conflict-related needs in Hawai‘i. Congress must carefully review this forthcoming report and act on recommendations that can prepare Hawai‘i for any future contingency.
2. Funding Facilities Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization (FSRM). Congress has wisely required the military to no longer short-change FSRM accounts. We must ensure this happens over multiple years and prevent further backsliding.
3. Support Unfunded Priorities. Far too often the military has been reluctant to fund projects in Hawai‘i because they are expensive. However, many projects make the unfunded priorities list, a sign that the military needs Congressional help to address critical shortfalls. When justified and executable, we must authorize these projects.
4. Reforming Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI). Despite the need for investments to support U.S. military power in the Indo-Pacific, rarely do Hawai‘i construction projects carry a PDI “label.” The Government Accountability Office reviewed the DoD’s PDI budget and concluded that the PDI does not consistently reflect department-wide priorities or requirements and generally presents an inconsistent mix of programs and funding. We need to reform the PDI budget presentation rules so readiness projects critical to the Indo-Pacific are properly considered and funded.
5. Creating Infrastructure “Tiger Teams.” Given workforce shortages in key public works departments, we need small, specialized and cross-functional group of high-level experts assembled temporarily to investigate and develop actionable plans to address our infrastructure woes in Hawai‘i. These teams bypass standard slow-moving hierarchies and create plans for action.
6. Resolving Joint Infrastructure Issues. Much of the military’s infrastructure in Hawai‘i has a joint element especially since the services need to share installations given the limited land available in our islands. For example, Pōhakuloa Training Area is used by all the services and could use improvement to its airfield and temporary barracks. However, there are often disagreements over how to move forward in a joint manner as illustrated by ongoing disagreements over how to prioritize and fund Air Force infrastructure needs at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam that have remained unresolved for years. Given the joint nature of Hawaii’s military infrastructure, it needs leadership from a joint perspective to ensure all interests are considered and supported.

We must face the hard truth that the status quo for military infrastructure in Hawai‘i is unsustainable. We can no longer expect our service members to project 21st-century power from 20th-century infrastructure. The fiscal and operational costs of continued neglect far outweigh the investment required to modernize these aging facilities. The steps I have proposed today represent a roadmap to restoring our regional readiness, but I stand ready to work with my colleagues to ensure the FY 2027 NDAA and appropriations bills provides the necessary resources to rebuild and protect our nation’s most critical Indo-Pacific location.