{"id":32782,"date":"2019-05-10T20:02:40","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T20:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/10\/storm-ravaged-bases-wait-on-washington-for-repair-money\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:00:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:00:19","slug":"storm-ravaged-bases-wait-on-washington-for-repair-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/budget\/2019\/05\/10\/storm-ravaged-bases-wait-on-washington-for-repair-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Storm-ravaged bases wait on Washington for repair money"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 When President Donald Trump toured the storm-ravaged Tyndall Air Force Base<\/a> in Florida on Wednesday, he vowed it would be rebuilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We\u2019ll have many more people working at Tyndall than you had before the hurricane, so get ready for that,\u201d Trump later said at a rally a few miles from the military base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But months after natural disasters wrought havoc on the site and several other military posts, the White House has yet to formally ask Congress for the funding, and talks have stalled<\/a> between the two branches of government on a disaster aid package to address the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of millions of repair dollars are at stake for Tyndall, Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska and Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Negotiations over an aid package for those repairs have snagged on the amount of aid Puerto Rico should get, causing gridlock that is frustrating military leaders, lawmakers and residents of affected areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The delay has also caused a domino effect for military construction projects outside these three devastated communities stateside. As funding ran out for recovery efforts last month, the Air Force halted and moved funding from 61 critical infrastructure projects across 18 states and five overseas locations, while the Marine Corps did likewise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without a direct request from the White House budget office, the military has gone to Congress with its needs. The services have assessed $4.7 billion in damage at Tyndall, $3.7 billion at Lejeune and other East Coast facilities, and at least $700 million at Offutt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike the White House, Congress hasn\u2019t waited to act. The House Appropriations Committee on Thursday passed its military construction and Department of Veterans Affairs spending bill with $300 million for Offutt rebuilding, though that bill, too, has yet to become law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to have relief for all the damage to our bases. It\u2019s very serious,\u201d said the panel\u2019s top Republican, Rep. Kay Granger of Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers have reprogrammed $400 million for the Marine Corps to address its most pressing infrastructure needs, and both the GOP-led Senate Appropriations Committee and Democratic-led House Appropriations Committee drafted disaster aid packages with $1.1 billion for the Air Force and $315 million for the Marine Corps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, the House passed its bill, a $17.2 billion package for states hit by flooding and other disasters, despite opposition from Trump, who urged Republicans to vote against it over what he saw as excessive funding for Puerto Rico. The measure passed 257-150, with 34 Republican \u201cyes\u201d votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHouse Republicans should not vote for the BAD DEMOCRAT Disaster Supplemental Bill,\u201d the President tweeted on Thursday evening. He has claimed Puerto Rico mismanaged aid in the wake of damage from Hurricane Maria in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senate is still hashing out its own disaster relief package. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called on the Senate earlier this week to pass its own package before the Memorial Day recess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen Wilson said at a hearing Thursday that if the money doesn\u2019t come through, the service will have to cancel some major exercises in June, stop new work at Offutt in July and cancel up to 18,000 flying hours in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday we are just now moving people out of tents at Tyndall Air Force Base from a storm that happened in early October,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cIf you go there, it looks like a war zone. Ninety-five percent of the facilities have been damaged or destroyed. We want to bring Tyndall back<\/a> as quickly as we can, and to do that we need additional disaster relief.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Marine Corps\u2019 No. 2 uniformed officer, Gen. Gary Thomas, said 800 buildings were damaged<\/a> at Lejeune and the conditions remain \u201ca little expeditionary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI saw a young Marine sitting at a desk, the wall was exposed to the outside air. We had an air crew doing their mission planning in the hangar, a place where they can guarantee it\u2019s dry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This aircraft hangar at Camp Lejeune is one of roughly 800 buildings damaged by Hurricane Florence in October 2018 between Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station New River and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. (Allie Erenbaum\/U.S. Marine Corps)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican on the House Armed Services Committee who once commanded Offutt and now represents an adjacent community, said floodwaters destroyed a vital simulator for the mission crew of the Boeing RC-135 spy plane, as well as intelligence exploitation equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post hosts the 55th Wing, which operates 46 aircraft, including 13 models of seven different types for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, electronic attack, and command and control \u2014 and Bacon is warning colleagues that training and readiness are in jeopardy if Congress doesn\u2019t approve more money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the past day or two, we\u2019re getting clarity on their equipment inside the buildings and what a terrible toll \u2014 it\u2019s not just desks,\u201d Bacon said. \u201cNow the Air Force is coming forward and saying we need a new mission simulator, training equipment, and we are looking at another $300-400 million (above a previous estimate of $300 million).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bacon was critical of both a White House move to roll $4.5 million in emergency funding for the U.S.-Mexico border into the package and of Democrats seeking block grants for Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n\n\n\t