Press Releases

(Washington, DC) – Congressman Ed Case (HI-01) has announced approval by his U.S. House Committee on Appropriations of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Defense funding bill, one of the twelve bills that will collectively fund the federal government for FY 2022 (commencing October 1, 2021).

The FY 2022 Defense Appropriations bill proposes to fund $706 billion for federal agencies and programs in the Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community, including the military branches of services, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.

“This bill ensures continued protection of our national security, preserves our domestic manufacturing base and invests heavily in research and development,” said Case.

“I especially welcome the bill’s support of my many requests to maintain and advance our defense efforts in Hawai‘i and throughout the Indo-Pacific in a time of such uncertainty in our part of the world. These include in particular support for the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, our largest industrial employer, and to continue the Homeland Defense Radar-Hawai‘i (HDR-H), which is critical to ensuring Hawaii’s own security.”

Case testified earlier this year in the House Committee on Armed Services on national security challenges and opportunities throughout the Indo-Pacific (speech here: https://case.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=561). He also specifically sought restoration of funding for the HDR-H, which has been a priority of both Congress and our Indo-Pacific military leaders but was not included in the Administration’s FY 2022 budget.

Programs and provisions requested and secured by Case include:

·        $75 million to continue development of Homeland Defense Radar – Hawai‘i. The HDR-H is a critical state-of-the-art radar system designed to protect our country and state from ballistic missile threats from countries like North Korea and was strongly supported by our Indo-Pacific military leaders. This “discriminating radar” will be capable of identifying and classifying specific missile threats and will address current and emerging threats.

·        $5 million to continue improving the safety of Underground Fuel Storage Tanks at the Red Hill Underground Fuel Facility. This funding is being applied toward evaluating secondary containment, measuring and controlling corrosion, improving testing, inspection, repair and maintenance processes, and improving groundwater monitoring and modeling. This funding ensures the safety of our precious drinking water, while mitigating any risks at Red Hill.

·        Continued funding of over $2.2 billion for the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan (SIOP). Case requested funds to ensure support for the SIOP, which is undertaking a multi-year $21 billion effort to improve the Navy’s public shipyards, including Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Hawaii’s largest industrial employer.

·        $79.5 million for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency’s Regional Centers. This funding will help expand the work of the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI-APCSS) at Fort DeRussy, a premier defense-supported research and education center in Honolulu that fosters shared understanding and networked relationships among civilian and military leaders throughout the Indo-Pacific.

·        $292.5 million for Environmental Restoration, Formerly Used Defense Sites, which is $74 million over the President’s budget request. These funds will help accelerate efforts to remove unexploded ordnance and discarded military munitions in Hawai‘i and throughout the nation.

·        The Appropriations Committee again blocked efforts to change the command and control structure of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. There have been efforts within the department to streamline control of forces under one command structure, which would limit the ability of Navy forces in Hawai‘i to respond quickly to changing threats in the Indo-Pacific region.

·        Helicopter and Tiltrotor Noise Study report language, which directs the DoD’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) to study how local communities are impacted by military helicopter and tiltrotor noise. This study will result in noise contour maps that can be incorporated in community planning through the OLDCC’s existing Noise Mitigation Community Partnership Program.  

·        Retention of the military contracting preference language for Native American tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations.

The measure also includes:

·        Support for various elements of the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI), which bolsters deterrence and maintains our competitive edge in the Indo-Pacific in recognition of threats posed by China and the need to preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific. A key component of the PDI for FY 2022 is $62.4 million for the missile defense of Guam, which faces the threats ballistic, hypersonic and cruise missiles.  

·        Full funding necessary to support the proposed 2.7 percent military pay raise.

·        $155 million for the Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative (REPI), which is $80 million over the President’s request. The DoD created the REPI Program in response to land development and loss of habitat in the vicinity of or affecting military installations, ranges and airspace that can lead to restrictions or costly and inadequate training and testing alternatives. Through REPI, DoD works with state and local governments, conservation organizations and willing private landowners to address these challenges to the military mission and the viability of DoD installations and ranges. Through FY 2020, DoD and its partners have spent over $130 million on REPI projects at four installations in Hawai‘i.

·        $14 million for the Asia Pacific Regional Initiative, a key program supporting U.S. IndoPacific Command. This program enables the military to execute Theater Security Cooperation activities, such as humanitarian assistance and paying incremental personnel costs of training and exercising with foreign security forces. The initiative is a critical tool for the U.S. military to strengthen relationship throughout the Indo-Pacific region.

·        Transport and safe passage of Afghans who have provided faithful and valuable service to the United States and who are under serious threat.

·        Efforts to confront the climate crisis with historic investments for clean energy and climate adaptation to protect facilities, readiness and global security.

The FY 2022 Defense Appropriations bill reflects a modest increase over last fiscal year’s funding measure, an increase endorsed by the Secretary of Defense, and is in line with President Biden’s budget request.

Case’s Appropriations Committee is responsible for allocating some $1.5 trillion in funding to federal government agencies, departments and organizations on an annual basis through twelve separate bills.

The Defense Appropriations funding bill now moves onto the full House of Representatives for consideration.

A summary of the bill is here

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