Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2019
Floor Speech
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Mr. DUNN. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Chair, my amendment increases military construction funding in the bill for the Air Force and the United States Marine Corps.
Last year, Hurricanes Florence and Michael destroyed two of our Nation's premier combat and training bases.
Camp Lejeune in North Carolina sustained $3.6 billion in damages due to Hurricane Florence. Lejeune is critical to our Nation's defenses not only for the Marine Corps, but it is also home to a major Navy command and a Coast Guard command.
The base's unique access to two deepwater ports allows for rapid seaborne deployments. It also has vast amounts of land and deep training resources. This is what makes Camp Lejeune the home of ``Expeditionary Forces in Readiness.''
Tyndall Air Force Base, in my district in Florida, took a direct hit from a Category 5 storm, Hurricane Michael. Tyndall is home to the largest F-22 base in the world. It is one of only two Air Force bases that has immediate access to the Eglin Gulf Test and Training Range, a range that is like no other in the world. Our airmen are able to train and test on the next generation of supersonic and hypersonic aircraft and weapons systems in a live-fire environment.
A few months ago, President Trump came, and he ordered the Air Force to make Tyndall a fifth-generation Air Force base outfitted with three squadrons of F-35s and a squadron of MQ-9s. This rebuild will cost $2.7 billion in military construction alone, and it will make Tyndall the base of the future.
My amendment will raise MILCON funding in fiscal year 2019 up to $500 million for the Marine Corps and up to $1 billion for the Air Force. This is only a downpayment to help these services continue on their rebuilds.
This funding is crucial for our military. Our Nation's defense is in crisis, and our readiness will continue to deteriorate if we do not provide the necessary funds to our armed services immediately.
I would like to make a couple of other points that sometimes seem to get lost in our discussions.
The Federal Government knows that it self-insures the military. From the moment the storms occurred, it was 100 percent certain that we were going to need a disaster supplemental. By law, the funds cannot come from FEMA, and they cannot come from HUD. They must be directly appropriated by this Congress.
Hurricane Michael was a unique storm. It was more like a tornado than a hurricane, but it was a tornado that was 80 miles wide and 120 miles deep. In my district, we have 3 million acres of land that is crushed.
By way of comparison, in 2017, three hurricanes affected Florida: Hermine, Maria, and Irma. Fifty counties were affected.
Just the county that Tyndall Air Force base sits in has already cleaned up 30 million cubic yards of debris, compared with less than 3 million in those 50 counties in 2017. Nobody in the history of America has ever seen this much debris. We estimate that we are 20 percent of the way through our debris cleanup, and we have done more than anybody has ever seen in history.
What are we going to do with these bases? Well, we are going to rebuild them. Of course, we are going to rebuild them. We love our military, and we need our military.
I have never been prouder of any group than I have been of the airmen at Tyndall and the job that they have done to stand that base back up. They already have the first Air Force headquarters up and running, and that is air defense for all of North America. And we are ready to take back the F-22 training mission.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment, although I am not opposed to it.
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Mr. DUNN. Madam Chair, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger), my friend and colleague.
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Mr. DUNN. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Madam Chair, I am a strong supporter of our armed forces. I fully support the rebuilding of Tyndall Air Force Base and the North Carolina Marine Corps Bases and urge Members to support the Dunn amendment. I commend the gentleman for his advocacy for his community and for our home State, as well as the underlying legislation so we can make sure that we can finally help these military communities rebuild.
Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. DUNN. Madam Chair, I rise today because the United States Air Force is in desperate need of our help.
I am proud to cosponsor this amendment that raises the Air Force funding levels for fiscal year 2019.
Our amendment brings the operations and maintenance account up to $670 million, which is the minimum the Air Force needs to continue to rebuild Offutt and Tyndall Air Force Bases.
On October 10th, Tyndall--in my district--took a direct hit from Category 5 Hurricane Michael.
Now, 7 months later, no supplemental funding has been provided. That is irresponsible.
On May 1, Secretary Wilson was forced to halt all work rebuilding Tyndall due to lack of funds. This is a severe blow to our Nation's military readiness.
These bases are critical to our Nation's defense for both combat and training missions, and some of the missions literally cannot be duplicated anywhere else in the world.
Madam Chair, our ability to defend America is suffering. My district and many other districts across our Nation are suffering from hurricanes, fires, and floods.
Madam Chair, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the amendment.
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