Issues of the Day

Floor Speech

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Mr. OBERNOLTE. Mr. Speaker, this week, our House Armed Services Committee is continuing the critical process of crafting the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024.

This important piece of legislation will give our servicemen and servicewomen the resources they need to protect our national security. That is particularly important to my district.

I represent five major military installations: the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake, Edwards Air Force Base, the Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, the Army's National Training Center at Fort Irwin, and the Marine Corps Logistics Base at Barstow. These five bases are unique because they are classified by the Department of Defense as remote or isolated.

Service for our servicemen and servicewomen in uniform is particularly difficult at remote or isolated bases because they are located so far away from urban centers of population. That is why we rely on an army of civilian contractors to provide the services that we need to house our men and women in uniform at these bases.

These civilian contractors provide services such as teaching their children, preparing their food, cleaning their barracks, and providing them with the medical care that they need.

Unfortunately, reports by the Department of Defense indicate that all 43 of the remote or isolated bases in the United States suffer from severe shortages of the civilian contractors needed to provide these services.

That is why, in committee today, I offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that requires the Comptroller General to conduct a study quantifying the scope of this problem and to make recommendations to the Department of Defense as to how to better incentivize civilian contractors to serve our military men and women at these remote bases.

I am delighted that my amendment was unanimously adopted in committee today, and I am looking forward to working with my colleagues on the House floor and my colleagues in the Senate to ensure that it is included in the NDAA this year.

I thank all of our colleagues on the House Armed Services Committee for their hard work on this issue and for their work protecting our men and women in uniform.

Mr. VAN DREW. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Obernolte for his concern and his commitment to our veterans and his concern and commitment to all those who serve our country.

Mr. VAN DREW.

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