The continued use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) by private military housing providers must end, said U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) during a Dec. 3 U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
“If you have a non-disclosure agreement that says you can’t even speak even about the existence of the agreement and you can’t speak disparagingly about the housing provider, then how does the answer to that question go? Which is why these damn things have to be eliminated,” said Sen. Tillis, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel.
Sen. Tillis continues to lead congressional efforts to reform the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) and has worked to secure several provisions that address the MHPI in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, H.R. 2500/S. 1790, which is being reconciled in Congress.
For instance, Sen. Tillis helped secure a provision that would create a Tenant Bill of Rights, establish a dispute resolution process, and increase oversight, according to a statement released by the lawmaker’s staff.
During the hearing, Sen. Tillis called on private military housing providers to immediately rescind NDAs and if they think they have a legitimate reason for one that they want to pursue, then they should call him directly to discuss it.
“I’d love to hear about the basis for that,” he said. “I don’t think there can be one.”
Earlier this year, according to his staff, Sen. Tillis also toured homes at Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune and held two town halls with military families to discuss on-base housing issues.
“I have literally met with hundreds of military families down on those two bases,” Sen. Tillis said during the committee hearing. “We’re making progress, but we’re not making it nearly as quickly as we should. And I really do believe it’s time to draw a line with some of these vendors, some of these contracts, and say enough is enough.”