Jay Obernolte: “This week, our House Armed Services Committee is continuing the critical process of crafting the National Defense…”

“This week, our House Armed Services Committee is continuing the critical process of crafting the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024. This important piece of legislation will give our servicemen and servicewomen the resources they need to protect our national security. That is particularly important to my district. I represent five major military installations: the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake, Edwards Air Force Base, the Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, the Army's National Training Center at Fort Irwin, and the Marine Corps Logistics Base at Barstow. These five bases are unique because they are classified by the Department of Defense as remote or isolated. Service for our servicemen and servicewomen in uniform is particularly difficult at remote or isolated bases because they are located so far away from urban centers of population. That is why we rely on an army of civilian contractors to provide the services that we need to house our men and women in uniform at these bases. These civilian contractors provide services such as teaching their children, preparing their food, cleaning their barracks, and providing them with the medical care that they need. Unfortunately, reports by the Department of Defense indicate that all 43 of the remote or isolated bases in the United States suffer from severe shortages of the civilian contractors needed to provide these services.…”