VETERANS & MILITARY AFFAIRS

In January 2007, Representative Neil Abercrombie was named Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces, with oversight for U.S. Army and Air Force operations, budget, and equipment and weapons systems procurement. Taking his responsibility seriously, he and his Subcommittee insisted on unprecedented levels of accountability for the Army’s multi-billion dollar Future Combat Systems. Abercrombie began questioning the program’s concept, budget and schedule, and pressing the Army for more rigorous technology testing plans and realistic cost estimates. His oversight fundamentally reshaped the program and saved the American taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars.

With thousands of U.S. troops deployed to Iraq, Chairman Abercrombie and his subcommittee kept a watchful eye on the equipment needs of our men and women in combat. When he learned that the U.S. Marine Corps was dragging its feet on building and deploying enough Mine Resistant Armor Protected vehicles (MRAPs) to better shield personnel in Iraq from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), he promptly held hearings to get the facts, and then pushed the Marine Corps and Department of Defense to fund an accelerated program to build MRAPs and get them overseas where they were needed. Those vehicles have been credited with saving thousands of American lives.

Abercrombie and his subcommittee also pushed for the establishment of better testing and evaluation for lighter weight, more effective body armor to save lives, and better combat helmets to reduce the effects of traumatic brain injury from explosions.

As the Iraq War wore on, Representative Abercrombie became one of the nation’s strongest champions for the nation’s National Guard and Reserve forces. He learned 12 that many of them, including his own Hawaii National Guard, had been forced to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan without their full complement of critical equipment. And, when the units rotated home, they were forced to leave most of their communication and transportation equipment behind for the next Guard unit being deployed. They didn’t have the proper equipment to train for combat before they went, and couldn’t bring home the equipment they would need to train for the next deployment. Abercrombie responded by retargeting more than $800-million in the Defense budget from expensive futuristic weapons programs to provide the funds to properly equip the Guard and Reserve units.

In 2007, Abercrombie introduced and passed a bi-partisan bill requiring the redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq, H.R. 3087, which required the Bush Administration to report to Congress in 60 days, and every 90 days thereafter, on the status of planning for the redeployment of our troops from Iraq. This bill passed the House on a bipartisan vote of 377-46 in October 2007.

That same year, he introduced H.R.400, the War Profiteering Prevention Act, which cracks down on U.S. contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan who have attempted to defraud the U.S. government by bid rigging, overcharging for goods and services, or other forms of contract fraud. The bill passed in the House October 9, 2007 on an overwhelming vote of 375-3. Because the bill was never passed by the Senate and at the request of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), he re- introduced the legislation in the 111th Congress as H.R.1667.

For many years, there was never enough base housing for military families, and nearly two thirds of what existed was substandard. And, due to competing priorities for annual Congressional appropriations, it would have taken 30 years to resolve the problem. Abercrombie began to work on the problem with Republican Congressman Joel Hefley, and their effort culminated in Military Housing Privatization Initiative, included in the 1996 National Defense Authorization Act. It allowed the Department of Defense to form joint ventures with private corporations to upgrade and build new housing, paid for by residents from their monthly military housing allowance, rather than depending on annual appropriations. Generations of military families — the wives, husbands and children of our active duty personnel in the U.S. Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy— can now live in high quality, secure and comfortable homes. The housing projects have been critical to keeping the Hawaii construction industry afloat during the economic downturn, and have helped reduce the competition for affordable housing between civilian and military families by providing our military families with high-quality, energy efficient, on- base units.

As more and more American men and women in uniform were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, Abercrombie understood that the nation’s responsibility to its armed forces did not end the day they left the military. He cosponsored the Post 9/11 GI Bill, to provide real education benefits for military veterans and make a college education a reality for millions of men and women. 13 Abercrombie won authorization for hundreds of millions of dollars in Hawaii military construction projects during nearly 20-year tenure including: barracks, family housing, submarine berthing wharves, aircraft fuel storage tanks, dry-dock improvements, waste treatment plants, family services centers and other infrastructure requirements.

He was the primary House advocate for the renovation of Schofield Barracks’ historic quads and the Whole Barracks Renewal project, including 11 phases spanning 20 years and infusing $779 million into the Hawaii economy. He also campaigned successfully for $23.5M for the Army’s purchase of the Kahuku Training Area, which was one of the Army’s highest priorities for training in Hawaii.

Abercrombie saw the need for developing the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) as the primary test range for the nation, and worked with the delegation to ensure its development. He convinced the highest level Naval officials to designate PMRF as the Navy’s primary Pacific test range and initiated a request for and secured $20 million to upgrade the facilities. He continues to advocate for maintaining and upgrading this critical national security asset.

Abercrombie has long been a strong advocate for naval shipyard readiness needs. He continually sought to ensure that all available funding was directed toward critical ship repair requirements nationwide. In Hawaii, he helped protect Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard from closure in the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process in 2005, using his personal relations with BRAC Commission members to educate them on the shipyard’s vital importance.

He also served as a liaison between the Navy, labor unions, and shipyard management, encouraging open communication among all parties and the development of a cooperative and more productive working relationship to ensure the future success and survival of the shipyard.

Abercrombie played a critical role in retaining the National Guard's Youth ChalleNGe program, because he saw that the Hawaii program adds immeasurably toward national defense by building strong working relationships between the National Guard and local communities. The Challenge Program helps Guard members develop their leadership skills in a real-life environment, and guides at- risk youth toward productive, healthy lives.

Abercrombie won approval for more than $234 million in Congressional funding to expand opportunities for the defense technology industry in Hawaii. He’s been a strong supporter of dual-use technology research and development, encouraging the House Armed Services Committee to elevate the priority of this effort.

With the vision of creating a world-class historic area, Abercrombie secured funding to remediate the land, and assisted in the establishment of the Pacific Aviation 14 Museum on Ford Island. He recently secured $3.4 million to save the Aviation Control Tower, a significant piece of the historic Pearl Harbor view.

He took on his colleagues in the House and fought for a vision of establishing the alpha and omega of World War II, making Pearl Harbor the homeport for the USS Missouri, immediately aft of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. He pushed to ease the burden of paying for the dry-docking and maintenance of the Mighty Mo through the elimination of lease payments to the Navy, which resulted in a recent compromise with the Secretary of the Navy to value military use of the ship as in-kind payment for the ongoing lease of Pier Foxtrot Five. He also helped to secure the authorization for the U.S.S. Oklahoma memorial on Ford Island.

Abercrombie single-handedly championed the renovations and building of the second tower of the Hale Koa Hotel, allowing more armed forces members and their families to have a place for R & R.

Neil Abercrombie authored the Hawaiian Waters Chemical Munitions Safety Act of 2006, requiring the Secretary of the Army to conduct a survey and monitor off-shore sites in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands where chemical munitions were dumped by the U.S. military at the close of WWII. The legislation also supported research into the public and environmental health impact of chemical munitions disposal in the ocean, and required a detailed report on remediation plans for such disposal sites. It has also resulted in the first plan to demonstrate technologies in Hawaii to retrieve underwater munitions for on-site demilitarization.

It was Abercrombie’s legislation that accelerated and completed the transfer of the former Naval Air Station (NAS) Barber’s Point land to help facilitate the continued development of West Oahu. Years earlier when the base closed, he fought successfully to keep the Barber’s Point base commissary open.

In 1993, Abercrombie sponsored legislation authorizing award of the Purple Heart Medal to those injured or killed from ‘friendly fire.’

TRICARE for Life, which allows TRICARE healthcare to provide secondary coverage for military retirees eligible for Medicare, was championed by Abercrombie. The measure became public law in the 2001 National Defense bill.

Earlier, he had pushed for a Medicare Subvention pilot program to allow Medicare- eligible military retirees to continue receiving treatment at Military Treatment Facilities. The legislation allowed Medicare to pay the Department of Defense for all Medicare-eligible retirees, just as it would pay civilian health care providers. This program was the first step in ensuring lifetime medical coverage for all military retirees.

Realizing that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were creating a new generation of military veterans who had sacrificed for the country, Abercrombie co-sponsored the 15 New GI Bill of Rights for the 21st Century, a package of education benefits based simply on months of active duty. For the first time ever, National Guardsmen and Reservists were eligible for VA education benefits and had access to TRICARE, the military’s healthcare program. The GI Bill of Rights also included protection for the incomes of those who had experienced pay cuts when they were called up.

Abercrombie introduced a House bill to revise eligibility requirements that have prevented hundreds of thousands of veterans from getting medical treatment for illnesses caused by radiation exposure during their military service. These veterans were exposed to radiation during atmospheric nuclear testing at numerous sites from 1945 to 1962 and the occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after World War II.

And, he lead a long-standing effort to pass House to provide promised compensation for Filipino military veterans who served as part of U.S. forces during World War II.

Over the years, Rep. Neil Abercrombie has been honored for his steadfast support for the men and women in the United States armed forces, for their families, and for the nation’s veterans and military retired:

• The 2009 Harry S. Truman Award and the 2007 Charles Dick Award from the National Guard Association of the United States for contributions to the Guard and the military;
• The U.S. Army Reserve 9th Regional Support Command Appreciation Award;
• The Senior Army Reserve Commanders Association Legislator of the Year Award; and
• The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Silver de Fleury Medal