Hearing of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee-Defense Spending

Statement

Hearing of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee-Defense Spending

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REP. SANFORD BISHOP (D-GA): Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I welcome our witnesses today.

Last year we provided $500 million in BRAC money for Ft. Benning. Can you talk about what projects those funds have -- the projects for which those funds were spent, and whether or not all of the funding is (permitted ?) through various projects under that BRAC appropriation from last year?

MR. ARNY: Sir, I am brand new. If it were a naval air station, then it would -- (laughter) -- I might be able to answer your question.

I suspect -- (inaudible) -- we'll have to get back to you. But I know the Army is better than the Navy on executing their budget, so I suspect everything we put in is obligated, but I will get back to you on those -- (inaudible).

REP. BISHOP: All right, and --

MR. ARNY: And you do need a coastline. (Laughter.)

REP. BISHOP: Can you also get back to us with the BRAC offsets? What, in fact, is BRAC planning -- what is the BRAC plan providing for the cost savings with regard to BRAC? In other words, have you been able to determine if the -- (inaudible) -- savings is a result of the process so far in the BRAC? And do you have a priority -- (inaudible) -- for the BRAC?

MR. ARNY: Sir, the savings, we can give you specifics on the savings -- (inaudible) -- BRAC programs, but those savings are rolled back into our general budget to offset -- (inaudible). So we aren't putting them against specific projects.

REP. BISHOP: Okay. I guess overall, looking forward, just for the committee's sake, we'd like to have some sense of how BRAC is going to be cost-effective in the long run, as we spend -- (inaudible) --

MR. ARNY: (Inaudible.

)

REP. BISHOP: Yeah, and the other thing, we've had a couple of raids from ICE, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Fort Benning for illegal workers. I just wondered whether or not other installations have experienced those kinds of raids from ICE also.

MR. ARNY: I have not -- (inaudible) -- pops on my radar screen, but I -- (inaudible).

REP. BISHOP: No, I was just wondering. We were a little bit surprised and concerned -- (inaudible) -- we didn't want any delays, and of course I'm sure that -- (inaudible) -- wouldn't want delays either, but we did have some unexpected visitors and raids.

REP. PATRICK KENNEDY (D-RI): If I could -- Mr. Chairman?

REP. EDWARDS: Yes, Mr. Kennedy?

REP. KENNEDY: It's really important that we get better credentialing on this basis for those who are doing contracting, because the subcontractors of the contractors on these bases are often hiring those who are undocumented workers to do the work on these bases. We have found that up in my state, and we identified undocumented workers who were working on our base. I'm not surprised to hear that.

REP. BISHOP: Right, and I was just wondering if you could perhaps look and see whether or not --

MR. ARNY: We'll do so.

REP. BISHOP: -- that is a frequent occurrence across the construction projects.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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