Kiggans Demands Accountability From DoD on Military Housing

Oct 11, 2023
Armed Forces
National Security
Press

WASHINGTON, DC: Today, Congresswoman Jen Kiggans (VA-02) announced that she, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are demanding answers from the Department of Defense (DoD) following a shocking Government Accountability Office (GAO) report which details poor living conditions on ten unspecified military bases across the United States. Virginia’s Second District is home to five military bases, as well as many servicemembers stationed at Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval base. 

The lawmakers’ letter calls on Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III to swiftly adopt the recommendations of the GAO report and to submit updated DOD habitability guidelines before the FY25 budget request to ensure improved living standards. The GAO report found that junior servicemembers are living in rooms overrun with mold, with doors that do not lock, without air conditioning or heat, without access to clean drinking water, and a lack of functioning plumbing.

“We write to express our profound concern and disappointment regarding the conditions that thousands of junior enlisted Service members are experiencing in barracks across the country,” the lawmakers wrote. “This is a failure of leadership that cannot be ignored.”

The full letter is available here.

Following the release of their report, GAO and DoD officials testified before the House Armed Services Committee’s Recruitment, Retention, and Quality of Life Task Force, on which Congresswoman Kiggans serves. You can watch her question Elizabeth Field, the GAO Director of Defense Capabilities and Management, by clicking on the image below.

After the hearing, Congresswoman Kiggans joined local news station WTKR News 3 to discuss the report’s findings. That interview is available here.

###

Recent Posts


Sep 25, 2024
Press

House Passes Kiggans’ Legislation to Preserve U.S. Coastlines

WASHINGTON, DC: Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed Congresswoman Jen Kiggans’ (VA-02) bill, H.R. 5490, the Bolstering Ecosystems Against Coastal Harm (BEACH) Act. This bipartisan legislation, which Congresswoman Kiggans introduced with Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-AL), aims to protect Virginia’s coastline by approving new, expanded maps under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA).  Signed into law by […]



Sep 24, 2024
Press

What They’re Saying: 30+ Legislators Sign on to Kiggans’ Pay Our Troops Act

WASHINGTON, DC: Last week, Congresswoman Jen Kiggans (VA-02) announced the reintroduction of the Pay Our Troops Act, which would ensure members of the military are paid in the event of a government shutdown. The bill will protect members of the military, including the Coast Guard, as well as certain U.S. Department of Defense civilian employees and contractors.  […]



Sep 23, 2024
Economy

Kiggans’ Effort to Bring Microchip Manufacturing Back to U.S. Passes House

WASHINGTON, DC: Today, the House passed S. 2228, the Senate version of Congresswoman Jen Kiggans’ (VA-02) Building Chips in America Act (H.R. 4549). This bipartisan, bicameral legislation will help bring microchip manufacturing back to America while maintaining critical environmental protections in the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.  Following the passage of the CHIPS Act, companies throughout the semiconductor supply […]