Source: United States Senator for Oklahoma James Inhofe
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today questioned key Department of Defense nominees about China and military housing challenges at a nomination hearing.
Witnesses included: Caroline Krass, nominated to be General Counsel of the Department of Defense; Gina Ortiz Jones, nominated to be Under Secretary of the Air Force; Dr. Ely Ratner, nominated to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs; Shawn Skelly, nominated to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness; and Meredith Berger, nominated to be Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment.
Inhofe: Dr. Ratner, Admiral Davidson, the previous commander of INDOPACOM, testified, “The greatest danger the United States and our allies face in the region is the erosion of conventional deterrence of China.” The current commander Aquilino also agreed with that. Do you agree with that?
Ratner: Yes, Senator.
Inhofe: Is there anything that comes to your mind that you want to do to correct that problem?
Ratner: Senator, I think it’s imperative that the department move with greater focus and urgency to bolster deterrence in the western Pacific.
Inhofe: Very good. Now, Ms. Berger, I want to devote most of the time to you because of the unique situation that is taking place right now. Last week, the Department of Justice announced that two former Balfour Beatty employees pled guilty to major fraud against the United States and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to the latest charging documents, which have also been reported in the press, the Balfour Beatty regional vice president is also involved. So at this time we don’t know how far this problem is, this conspiracy actually goes. This committee led the charge with the reforms, back in the fiscal year 2020 NDAA. We were busy, all of us busy, during that time and concerned about it. Quite frankly, confession is good for the soul, and I remember when I first heard about this, that first finding of inadequate housing and the problems that we had started with Tinker Air Force Base. And so I assumed it was a problem unique to my state of Oklahoma only to find this was widespread…A correction is still underway, but this is something that is actually very, very significant — it affects, you know, thousands, not hundreds but thousands of our people that were in inadequate housing, and we’ve jumped on it right away. We’ve had several meetings and it’s still ongoing. So Ms. Berger, given the recent criminal charges showing that not all privatization housing companies have the best interests in our service members and their families. With that in mind, how do you intend for this not to happen again under your watch, not only for privatized housing, but for barracks and dorms, as well — keeping in mind, we have a lot of good privatized housing successes that are out there. We know who they are now. We know where the deficiencies are. So what was your first thought on that issue?
Berger: Senator Inhofe, thank you for the attention that you’ve put towards our military families and their housing. First, our people are our greatest asset, and we are entrusting our people to these housing structures, through the agreements that we have with the privatized housing companies. In addition, those families, excuse me, those people’s greatest assets are their families, and so this is a big amount of trust that we are putting in the housing structures that we have. And as you’ve noted, there are some good examples where this has been successful, but more importantly and more urgently, there are instances where this has failed. It has failed our military members. And so, first I’d wait to see and continue to see the judicial process play out and see what final determinations are made there, but additionally use the surveys, the housing on-installation advisors and advocates who are there, and then also take the opportunity, if confirmed, myself, to be able to go meet with families, meet face-to-face with the housing company representatives and ensure that we are holding them to a higher standard. If confirmed, we need to — I need to make sure that we are doing the best that we can for our military families, and that would be what I would do first and foremost.
Inhofe: OK, that’s very good. I can’t remember any particular issue that has drawn more attention or had more hearings that we’ve had on that, and we make great progress and great testimonials, and I’d suggest that before you start in, that you get the transcripts of those meetings, and in fact, I’m going to ask you that you’ll do that before taking your duty. Can you handle that one?
Berger: Yes, I’d be very glad to review all of those.
Inhofe: Very good. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your help.