Letter to Chuck Hagel, Secretary of Defense - Maintain Availability of Produce at Overseas Commissaries

Letter

The Honorable Chuck Hagel
Secretary
U.S. Department of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000

Dear Secretary Hagel:

We write to express our concerns regarding conflicting proposals from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) regarding the funding of transportation for fresh fruits and vegetables shipped to our commissaries in the Pacific Area.

As you know, on February 3, 2014, the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) released a request for proposal (RFP) that would eliminate all funding for shipping of fresh fruits and vegetables to be delivered to commissary stores in South Korea, Japan and Guam. However, according to DoD's overview of the President's budget proposal released on March 4, 2014, DoD states its plan to continue subsidies to fund transporting goods to commissaries overseas and subsidizing commissaries in remote and isolated locations in the United States. We seek immediate clarification from the DoD on these conflicting proposals.

The men and women of our Armed Forces rely on the services of our military commissaries to provide food for their families at a low cost. The proposed changes in the RFP will result in increased costs for our service members according to DeCA, which states that it "is aware that the cost of the products will increase" under this proposal.

Under 10 USC 2484(e), items are required to be sold in commissary stores at the actual product cost. That cost can only be adjusted by adding the cost of first destination commercial transportation in the United States and shrinkage, not second destination transportation costs to overseas commissaries as proposed in the RFP. Current law seeks to protect military families stationed overseas from paying increased prices for produce received overseas, while DeCA's proposal seeks to eliminate this essential protection.

According to the RFP, the proposal's due date is scheduled for April 4, 2014. We request that you provide our offices with a response before that date, and, further, we urge you to withdraw this RFP and work with Congress to ensure the protection of our military commissary benefits for our men and women, and their families, serving overseas. Thank you for your consideration.

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