At Hearing on Army Budget, Senator Murray Stresses Importance of Supporting Military Families--and of Keeping Pace with Global Competitors' Investments

Hearing

"These hearings are also a reminder of why it's so important we continue our work to return to regular order and pass our nation's funding bills in a timely, bipartisan way--I'll keep saying that until we're back to regular order. Now, if we are going to stay ahead of our competitors like China and others, that means our investments have to keep up--not fall behind--or fall into uncertainty due to partisan gridlock.

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It is so important to me that this conversation also focuses on getting our military families the support they need like child care and mental health care, good housing and schools, and so much more. And we also have to make sure we are keeping our men and women in uniform safe. My heart goes out to the families of the soldiers we lost in recent helicopters crashes. I expect to hear more following the Army's review of safety procedures about how we are preventing future tragedies. Because, at the end of the day, the heart of our military isn't our weapons or our equipment, it is the brave and talented men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line to keep our country safe.

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Secretary Wormuth, in my state of Washington, we are still seeing issues with the availability of suitable and affordable housing, especially at and around Joint Base Lewis-McChord. I am hearing that as many as 250 servicemembers and their families can spend from three to 12 months in hotels, or other accommodations, while waiting for a home on base to become available. These servicemembers and their families need to have a safe, reliable, and affordable place to live, period. I want to ask you what you are doing to ensure housing needs are being met both on and off base.

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The presence of these environmental contaminants, including PFAS, on installations and their surrounding communities continues to be a massive concern of mine and I know many others here in the Senate--especially with some of the worst contamination levels at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Yakima Training Center. Are there barriers you have identified in cleaning up these contaminants on active instillations?"

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