Takai Further Improves Defense Bill for HI, Releases Wrap-Up

Press Release

Today, Congressman Mark Takai, a member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), released the following statement after completing markup of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), in which he has worked to include key priorities for Hawaii. Takai added six additional amendments to a bill already rich with inclusion of Hawaii priorities.

"While Hawaii already benefitted from a bill that included hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades, improved defense capabilities, and increased research funding, I worked to include six additional amendments during the HASC markup," Takai said. "These amendments will bring fairness and increased capability to our defense workforce, keep defense facilities operating in Hawaii, and improve our public schools and community partnerships," Takai continued.

In a marathon session that started Wednesday morning and did not end until the early morning hours the next day, the HASC debated and accepted proposals from committee members before finally passing the bill. The 2017 NDAA will go to the House floor in the coming weeks where there will be additional opportunities for Members to include provisions.

"I was happy with the initial provisions I was able to include in the bill, but there were some outstanding items for our defense workforce that had to be fixed. I am glad the committee worked with me to include the $56 million to fix the per diem reductions affecting our defense workforce on temporary duty assignment. I also included a cap on service contracting to balance the way the Department of Defense (DoD) assigns new work between using the civilian workforce and our service contractors, keeping our federal workforce strong," Takai said.

Takai passed an amendment to include $56 million to reverse per diem reductions for members of the military and civilian workforce on temporary duty assignment. Takai also included an amendment to place a cap on service contracts, to match a similar restriction on our federal workforce.

"I was happy to include an amendment in the bill today that could utilize the AN/TPY-2 radar we have at PMRF this year, to continue to strengthen our defensive capabilities in Hawaii from increasing threats in the region. Everyone agrees we should upgrade our radar capabilities on Kauai," Takai said.

The radar amendment from Takai will require the Missile Defense Agency to evaluate operationalizing radar test assets already in-state to provide Hawaii with ballistic missile protection commensurate with the rest of the U.S. homeland, including the costs associated with operationalizing in-state assets. This builds on earlier provisions Takai worked with the MDA and DoD in the bill that would bring around $10 million in planning and design funding to PMRF for a medium range discriminating radar and evaluate whether the Aegis Ashore Test Facility could be operationalized as a defensive capability.

"DoD must continue making improvements to our public schools on military installations, so I passed an amendment that would assess whether schools have had changes in condition, and would add three Hawaii public schools originally missed to be eligible for upgrades. With continued investment in our public schools, I was also happy to provide language that will strengthen our community partnerships as well," Takai said.

Takai's amendment would update the July 2011 assessment on the condition of public schools on DoD installations to evaluate changes in their condition or capacity, as well as address schools that may have been inadvertently omitted from the original assessment, of which three are in Hawaii. Takai included another provision to support the Joint Venture Education Fund, a cooperative partnership between Hawaii's military community and public schools to facilitate the educational concerns and assist military dependent children during relocation and transition to Hawaii.

"RIMPAC is the premier military exercise in the world, and I have issues with extending participation to countries that operate outside of the international norms and laws that we are seeking to promote during this cooperation. Though I originally intended to ban Chinese participation in the exercise due to their increasingly aggressive behavior, some of our senior military leaders still see value in their participation. Therefore, I included a provision which will require DoD to make its case before the exercise starts, and we will reevaluate at that time," Takai said.

A briefing requirement from DoD before July 1, 2016 was put into the NDAA by Takai to evaluate the merits of continued Chinese participation in forthcoming Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises. Takai noted that the United States has maintained its invitation to China to participate, to a limited extent, in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise for 2016, despite China's concerning actions in the South China Sea.

"I still have concerns with fundamental changes to combatant commands this bill makes, and was disappointed my amendment to strike this section was not included. There is still work to do, and we can continue to make improvements," Takai concluded.

The full House of Representatives will consider the bill next.

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