{"id":2016354,"date":"2023-08-30T03:31:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T07:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/freshman-gop-lawmaker-sounds-alarm-about-dilapidated-military-housing-in-district\/"},"modified":"2023-08-30T03:33:42","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T07:33:42","slug":"freshman-gop-lawmaker-sounds-alarm-about-dilapidated-military-housing-in-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/freshman-gop-lawmaker-sounds-alarm-about-dilapidated-military-housing-in-district\/","title":{"rendered":"New GOP lawmaker raises concerns over rundown military housing in district."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffreshman-gop-lawmaker-sounds-alarm-about-dilapidated-military-housing-in-district%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2016354&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia \u2014 Freshman Rep. \u200dJen Kiggans \u200c(R-VA) Fights for Military Housing<\/h2>\n<p>When Freshman Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) discovered that\u200d the\u2063 House&#8217;s \u2063version of\u200b the\u200b Military Construction and\u2062 Veteran\u200d Affairs Appropriations bill would drastically \u2062reduce funding to fiscal\u2062 2022 levels, she was devastated. As a former\u200c Navy \u2062helicopter pilot and representative of a\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-elaine-luria-advisor-trashes-her-tone-deaf-political-judgement\/\" title=\"Former Elaine Luria Advisor Trashes Her 'Tone-Deaf' Political Judgement\">military-heavy district<\/a> \u200dwith \u200dfive bases, Kiggans understood the urgent need for \u2063adequate housing. \u2064Unfortunately, her pleas for additional \u200bfunding to address \u2064the deplorable\u2064 living conditions\u2063 at \u200dNaval Station Oceana were ignored.<\/p>\n<h3>A Call for Action<\/h3>\n<p>Kiggans described the \u200chousing\u200d situation at Oceana as &#8220;pitiful,&#8221; with only 49% of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/freshman-gop-lawmaker-sounds-alarm-about-dilapidated-military-housing-in-district\/\" title=\"New GOP lawmaker raises concerns over rundown military housing in district.\">unaccompanied\u2063 sailor\u2063 housing deemed livable<\/a>. Mold\u200d problems\u2062 and shoddy construction have rendered many\u200d homes \u200duninhabitable. \u200bDespite her efforts to include funding for necessary repairs in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-overcomes-first-hurdle-for-military-spending-bill-despite-threats-from-hard-line-conservatives\/\" title=\"House passes military spending bill despite conservative threats.\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-terminates-military-border-wall-construction-cancels-contracts\/\" title=\"Biden Terminates Military Border Wall Construction, Cancels Contracts\">military construction<\/a> appropriations bill<\/a>, conservative members of the conference prioritized spending cuts over the well-being of servicemembers.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was kicking and screaming and pretty much yelling\u200b at people like, &#8216;Is there anything we can do? Is there an \u200bamendment? Is \u2064there \u200ca floor amendment?&#8217; I&#8217;m \u2062trying to understand\u2064 the process of Congress, how to get things done,\u2063 and we had missed that,&#8221; Kiggans expressed her frustration.<\/p>\n<h3>A Plea for Prioritization<\/h3>\n<p>Kiggans \u2064firmly believes\u200b that Congress must prioritize spending and\u2062 allocate funds where they are most\u2064 needed. While she acknowledges the overall spending problem, she argues that cuts\u200b should \u2062not\u2063 come at the expense of the\u2063 defense budget and servicemember well-being.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think we need\u2062 to reprioritize,&#8221; she emphasized. &#8220;I \u2064mean, for me, the defense budget is not \u200denough. It was a 3% increase is what the president \u2062asked for from last year, and inflation hovers about 6%. \u200cSo\u200c that&#8217;s really a decrease\u200d when you do the math.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>A \u200dVoice for Servicemembers<\/h3>\n<p>Kiggans\u2063 has established herself\u2064 as a defense hawk in the House, advocating for a strong military and the well-being of its personnel. However, she feels that the needs of servicemembers are often overlooked, with\u200c other topics taking precedence.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I \u2064just want to beat my\u2064 head \u2063on a\u2064 wall \u2063about housing. It just\u200c frustrates me \u2062to no end,&#8221; Kiggans expressed her exasperation. &#8220;At least \u200bdemolish the buildings when we\u2063 see these condemned buildings. And \u2063they&#8217;re bad.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>More Than Just Housing<\/h3>\n<p>The issues\u200d extend beyond housing; amenities\u200b have also fallen into disrepair. The base pool\u2062 is closed, the gas station doesn&#8217;t work, and the baseball field is off-limits. Kiggans believes that these amenities are crucial for service members\u200d and their families, providing them with a better quality \u200dof life.<\/p>\n<p>Looking towards the future, \u200cKiggans envisions her children, all\u200b of whom are entering the military, including her \u200dson in flight school, stationed\u200c at Oceana.\u2064 She wants them\u2064 to\u2062 have the necessary resources and luxuries to prepare\u2064 for potential conflicts.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;To\u200d think \u2063of my son who&#8217;s in flight school\u200d and \u2064his friends who are in flight school, they&#8217;re going\u200b to one day be here at Oceana, they&#8217;re going to be training\u200b to \u2063go\u200c to war, and I want them to have all \u200cthe \u2063luxuries that they need\u2064 to be able \u2064to \u200cprepare \u200cfor that mentally \u2064prepare their families for that\u200d because there&#8217;s a real possibility \u200bwe may have a conflict \u200don our\u2062 hands in the not too far away future,&#8221; \u200bshe explained.<\/p>\n<h3>A \u2063Plea\u2063 for Change<\/h3>\n<p>For Kiggans, making these improvements\u2063 requires \u2064a shift in priorities\u2062 within\u200c the House. It&#8217;s not just\u2062 about Oceana;\u2063 it&#8217;s about ensuring that servicemembers across the \u2064country receive \u2062the\u2064 support they\u200b deserve.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We can do\u2062 better than this. But \u200bit&#8217;s going to take some funding,&#8221; she asserted. &#8220;We need \u200bour service members to \u200bbe proud of the job they do. A lot of the decision whether to stay in and get out is going to be \u200dbecause \u2062of the wife. How was their local \u2062living conditions? Do they have good housing? Do they have good schools? Are they able\u200c to get healthcare for \u2062their families? So those are \u2063the issues that I am extra focused on because I \u200dfeel \u2062like we&#8217;ve neglected\u2063 that the most.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Freshman Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) felt disheartened as she discovered that the House&#8217;s Military Construction and Veteran Affairs Appropriations bill would significantly reduce funding to fiscal 2022 levels. Her district, which houses five military bases, is grappling with dilapidated housing in several of these bases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2016355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2016354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2016354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2016354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2016354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2016355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2016354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2016354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2016354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}