U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, this week promised America’s service members and their families that housing issues at military installations across the country would be addressed under the proposed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020.
“I want to tell the families at Camp Lejeune and Fort Bragg and make it very clear to everyone involved, whether it be the private housing providers, garrison commanders, the Department of Defense, or Congress that we want to know what their problems are and we are going to make progress on the military housing issue through the FY2020 NDAA,” Sen. Tillis said June 25 on the Senate floor.
The FY 2020 NDAA, S. 1790/H.R. 2500, which is being considered by the U.S. Senate this week, would authorize FY 2020 appropriations and set policies regarding the military activities of the U.S. Department of Defense, military construction, and the national security programs of the U.S. Department of Energy, according to the congressional record. The bill does not provide budget authority, which is provided in subsequent appropriations legislation.
Sen. Tillis on Monday secured several provisions in the FY 2020 NDAA to improve the military housing issue, including reforms to the Military Housing Privatization Initiative, among others.
He reached out saying that anyone with an outstanding service request with any vendor who thinks he or she isn’t getting a proper response should contact his office.
“We will treat every housing request as casework and my office will track it until it’s complete,” said Sen. Tillis. “Any service member who has this problem who thinks someone won’t follow up on it, give me a chance. We have solved many cases and we are not going to finish until I believe the men and women at Fort Bragg, Camp Lejeune, and bases across the country have the safe and comfortable housing they deserve.”
Earlier this year, Sen. Tillis said his office heard about “absolutely unacceptable conditions in military housing” in his home state and others around the nation.
“These reports across the country of mold, mildew, damage from storms, and all kinds of conditions that I think are objectionable,” he said. “It’s particularly objectionable when you’re talking about families of service members who serve this country.”