The U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday to pass a $900 billion defense bill that would spend nearly $1 billion on Hawai‘i military projects.
Hawai‘i Reps. Ed Case and Jill Tokuda both joined 310 other representatives in support of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, a vast bill more than 3,000 pages long allocating billions for various projects and setting policies across all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.
The final vote was 312-112, with 94 Democrats and 18 Republicans voting against the measure.
The bill is a compromise from previous versions of the measure that left out certain provisions including a provision to expand insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization military members and their families, something that was a sticking point for Democrats.
But Case touted several projects in Hawai‘i included in the final version of the bill. These include:
• $493 million to continue development of the new drydock at Pearl Harbor, a project which began two years ago and is expected to cost around $3.4 billion in total.
• $142 million to build a new water treatment plant at Red Hill.
• $147 million to develop 460 units of private military housing at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
• $66 million for airfield improvements at the Pacific Missile Range Facility; and more.
Case announced Wednesday that the final version of the bill also included provisions he had requested, including one ordering a study on ways to expand ocean transportation capacity in the Indo-Pacific region. Another Case provision prevents the dissolution of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command Pacific at Pearl Harbor, something President Donald Trump had considered, Case claimed.
The bill also prohibits the Department of Defense from carrying out a hiring freeze among shipyard workers, requires the Navy to induct at least 100 new apprentices at each Navy shipyard (including Pearl Harbor), increases pay for members of the U.S. Armed Forces by 3.8% and much more.
Not included in the bill is a provision included in a previous version of the bill authorizing the Secretary of Defense to acquire or lease Hawai‘i land until 2031, in advance of multiple military facilities in the state nearing the ends of their leases. A Congressional statement explaining the bill’s provisions acknowledges this change, but merely encourages each respective branch of the military to “work with all concerned parties to seek an equitable solution prior to their expiring land leases.”
The primary text of the bill appears to have been added via amendment to another unrelated measure that, up until Wednesday, was less than 200 words long. That measure called for the disinterment of serial rapist, murderer and Vietnam veteran Fernando Cota from a Texas veterans’ cemetery; the final version of the bill still retains this provision at the very end.
This latest — and, seemingly, final — version of the bill now goes before the Senate.
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