Latest news with #EdCase
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Military bill neglects Hawaii's needs, Case says
U.S. Rep. Ed Case is blasting military appropriation legislation that is moving through the House of Representatives as 'shortchanging ' priorities critical to Hawaii, including environmental cleanup and military infrastructure. On Wednesday, members of the House Appropriations Committee voted to advance legislation that calls for over $450 billion to fund military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs and other programs for fiscal 2026. The bill is the first of the 12 annual funding measures House GOP appropriators are hoping to move out of committee before Congress leaves for its August recess. But the bill advanced along party lines, with Republican lawmakers touting it as a major win and Democrats lambasting what they say are major shortcomings and omissions from the bill. Case, a Hawaii Democrat, said in a statement after the vote that 'while the measure does have positive provisions including funding for essential veterans programs, I regrettably had to vote against it because it kicks critical military infrastructure projects down the road yet again, pursues the Project 2025 goal of privatizing VA medical care, shortchanges dedicated funding for Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS ) cleanup, eliminates climate resiliency efforts and excludes important VA infrastructure funding.' Last year's version of the bill allocated $1.55 billion, roughly 8 %, of the worldwide military construction budget to Hawaii, but this year, no money was allocated for Hawaii. The islands are home to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, which oversees all U.S. military operations across the Pacific and much of Asia. Pentagon leaders say the region is their top priority theater of operations amid tensions with China. 'We have an obligation to ensure our veterans get the benefits and care that they have earned, ' said U.S. Rep. John Carter, the Republican chair of the subcommittee on military construction and VA funding. 'This bill does that while also addressing other critical issues affecting veterans including homelessness, mental health services, and taking care of our women veterans. The bill also makes critical investments totaling nearly $18 billion in the infrastructure our service members need to work and live. The Committee will continue to prioritize INDOPACOM and quality of life investments in Fiscal Year 2026.' In response to Carter's remarks, Case told lawmakers, 'with great respect, I have to disagree with that because I do not see the evidence that the Indo-Pacific is in any way, shape or form, prioritized in this particular bill, ' noting that the bill only included funding for a single military construction project in the region—$50 million for a military access road in Guam. Case argued that would leave upgrades to strategic naval yards, airfields and other facilities unfunded across the Pacific as the U.S. and Chinese militaries eye each other's capabilities. When it comes to projects in Hawaii, Case told lawmakers, 'I hope and believe we would all agree that Hawaii has a place to play in all of this at this point, and yet, there's no (military construction funds ) on for Hawaii.' He emphasized that no money was put aside under the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program to make upgrades to the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, a critical maintenance point for warships and submarines. Lately, the Navy had been pouring money into the construction of a new dry dock there to support new nuclear submarines. The project is considered the most expensive single construction in the service's history. Dry Dock 5 is expected to be complete in 2028 and cost a total of at least $3.4 billion. 'There's no funding to make sure that our shipyards can continue to serve us in this capacity, ' Case told fellow lawmakers. 'There is a (Congressional Budget Office ) report that calls for billions and billions and billions of deferred maintenance and other construction right in Hawaii, including, for example, of Kaneohe Bay Marine Base at $1.1 billion, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam at $1 billion, and I could go on down the list.' Case also accused the GOP of ignoring the threat of climate change. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has declared that the military is done with 'climate crap, ' which he insists is a political fairy tale that has distracted commanders and troops from training for war and obtaining new weapons, and promised during his confirmation hearing that he would fire senior Pentagon officials if they began talking about climate change. Military planners have been worried about the effects of sea level rise and intensifying storms on its bases, especially in the Pacific. A Pentagon study in 2018, during President Donald Trump's first term, found that nearly half of all U.S. military sites were threatened by weather linked to climate change. But following the resignation of then-Defense Secretary James Mattis, the administration dismantled the Navy's climate change task force, which had started under the Obama administration and which Mattis had kept running. When Joe Biden entered the White House in 2021, the program restarted. But the second Trump administration has taken an even harder line on climate programs. In April, Navy Secretary John Phelan announced on social media platform X, 'I'm focusing on warfighters first and I'm rescinding the Biden administration's climate action program.' Case told fellow lawmakers that 'there is the problem of a continued reluctance, a continued closing of their eyes by the Defense Department, of anything that smacks of any kind of base resilience, because they don't want to talk about the effects of the weather on our basing. Therefore things get zeroed out that the military knows that we need, and this is simply the wrong way to take a look at this. We are shortchanging this critical strategy in our (military construction ), and we've got to correct this before it is literally too late.' However, though ultimately voting against the bill, Case managed to secure $634 million for the Energy Resiliency and Conservation Investment Program, which funds projects that save energy and water use in support of military operations to cut costs and improve efficiency in the long term. The bill also called for several reviews and reports on military infrastructure needs at bases in Hawaii and around the Pacific that Case pushed for, including aging water infrastructure around Pearl Harbor. VA provisions expansive The portions of the bill dedicated to the VA included provisions that maintain contracting preferences for Native Hawaiian-owned businesses that work with the VA ; $1.5 million for a pilot project to use new technology to help identify the remains of unknown service members buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific ; $342 million for rural health initiatives ; $233 million for substance-use disorder treatment plans for veterans and a hefty $3.4 billion to address veteran homelessness. It also includes $1.3 billion to support female veterans and support the VA's Office of Women's Health, including its child care initiative. As more women have served in the military in recent decades, record numbers are now claiming the benefits they've earned and presenting new challenges to the VA. 'Women veterans often require specialized care due to unique health needs stemming from their military service and gender, ' said Case. 'With sustained support from my Committee over multiple years, Congress is working to ensure the VA set the standard for women veterans care, ensuring consistent, high-quality services across all facilities.' In Hawaii veterans are served by the VA's Pacific Island Health Care System, which also serves vets in the U.S. territories of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa—giving it an area of responsibility of approximately 2.6 million square miles. The system has few dedicated facilities of its own, with some of its operations at Tripler Army Medical Center. It largely relies on partnerships and contracts with other hospitals and clinics across the Pacific's far-flung islands to provide for patients. The bill includes language calling on formal plans to expand coverage to veterans living in the 'freely associated ' Pacific island nations of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and Marshall Islands—all of which have traditionally high enlistment rates. The measure also includes language calling for continued support and operations for the VA Center for Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and United States-affiliated Pacific Islander Veterans. The center's doctors and scientists do research across the U.S. and Pacific islands and regularly work with the University of Hawaii. The bill calls on the VA to continue partnering with universities in Hawaii and across the Pacific to support island veterans. The current version of the bill includes funding for the VA on paper, but Case's office in a statement charged that it also 'specifically advances the privatization of veterans health care by proposing vastly larger increases for medical care provided in private sector compared to short-funding the government's VA health care system, a key goal of the Project 2025 plan being followed by the Trump administration.'
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House Republicans pass bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote
House Republicans for a second time passed a stand-alone bill that would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections and impose voter roll purge requirements on states. The legislation — formally titled the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act — passed in a 220-208 vote. Four Democrats — Reps. Ed Case (Hawaii), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Jared Golden (Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) — voted with all Republicans in favor. It's already illegal for those who are not U.S. citizens to vote in federal elections, and has been since 1996. But proponents of the bill have argued it is necessary to prevent migrants from voting in elections — a claim contradicted by data showing only a handful of documented cases. 'There is nothing more sacred under the Constitution than ensuring that the people are able to have the voice in the election of the people that represent them in Washington, and throughout the country,' Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), one of the sponsors of the bill, said, thanking Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who helped President Trump challenge his 2020 election loss, for her work on the bill. 'Once that is undermined, then people lose faith in the very institutions upon which this is built. This legislation is designed to restore that faith, to save our elections, to save election integrity.' Democrats argue the bill is a misguided effort to ban an already illegal practice and will just make it tougher for Americans to vote, including scores of people who don't readily have proof of citizenship. Rep. Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.) noted that senior citizens are especially unlikely to have needed documents and that even a military ID would not qualify as acceptable documentation under the act. 'Republicans would force Americans into a paperwork nightmare, burying voter registration under a mountain of bureaucracy and red tape,' he said. 'Under the SAVE Act, most Americans would be unable to register to vote using their Real ID. Further, under the SAVE Act, almost 70 million American women will be unable to register to vote using their birth certificate simply because they changed their name upon marriage,' he added. 'And the SAVE Act will also have a steep financial cost to American citizens, because, yes, the SAVE Act does allow Americans to use their passports to register to vote. But half of all Americans do not have a passport, and a passport costs $130.' When Republicans first introduced the legislation last year, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said while it's tough to prove migrants are voting in U.S. elections, it's something the party 'intuitively' knows is happening. 'We all know, intuitively, that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections. But it's not been something that is easily provable. We don't have that number. This legislation will allow us to do exactly that — it will prevent that from happening. And if someone tries to do it, it will now be unlawful within the states,' Johnson said last May. But that intuition clashes with the data. One study by the Brennan Center for Justice found 30 suspected — not confirmed — cases of noncitizen voting out of 23.5 million votes cast, or roughly 0.0001 percent of the votes reviewed. It's a conclusion that's also been reached by the libertarian Cato Institute, with one of its experts calling the claims one of the 'most frequent and less serious criticisms' relating to migration. Because voting illegally is a crime, migrants would also face stiff penalties for doing so, including deportation. States that have passed proof of citizenship laws to vote in state and local elections have had difficulties in implementing them. A Kansas law on the books for three years resulted in more than 22,000 people suspended from voter rolls after failure to submit proof of citizenship. And Arizona has had its own issues in updating its voter rolls with proof of citizenship, with some 200,000 residents caught in limbo due to state error tracking their citizenship. Last year the bill was ignored by the Democratic-led Senate. This year, however, the bill could be received more favorably under a GOP majority and has been championed by President Trump, though it would likely need to overcome a Democratic filibuster. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
10-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
House Republicans pass bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote
House Republicans for a second time passed a standalone bill that would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections and impose voter roll purge requirements on states. The legislation – formally titled the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act – passed in a 220-208 vote. Four Democrats — Reps. Ed Case (Hawaii), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Jared Golden (Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) — voted with all Republicans in favor. It's already illegal for those who are not U.S. citizens to vote in federal elections and has been since 1996. But proponents of the bill have argued it is necessary to prevent migrants from voting in elections — a claim contradicted by data showing only a handful of documented cases. 'There is nothing more sacred under the constitution than ensuring that the people are able to have the voice in the election of the people that represent them in Washington, and throughout the country,' said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), one of the sponsors of the bill, who thanked Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who helped President Trump challenge the 2020 election, for her work on the bill. 'Once that is undermined, then people lose faith in the very institutions upon which this is built. This legislation is designed to restore that faith, to save our elections, to save election integrity.' Democrats argue that the bill is a misguided effort to ban an already illegal practice and will just make it tougher for Americans to vote, including scores of people who don't readily have proof of citizenship. Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) noted that senior citizens are especially unlikely to have needed documents and that even a military ID would not qualify as acceptable documentation under the act. 'Republicans would force Americans into a paperwork nightmare, burying voter registration under a mountain of bureaucracy and red tape,' he said. 'Under the SAVE Act, most Americans would be unable to register to vote using their Real ID. Further, under the SAVE Act, almost 70 million American women will be unable to register to vote using their birth certificate simply because they changed their name upon marriage,' he added. 'And the SAVE Act will also have a steep financial cost to American citizens, because, yes, the SAVE Act does allow Americans to use their passports to register to vote. But half of all Americans do not have a passport, and a passport costs $130.' When Republicans first introduced the legislation last year, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said while it's tough to prove migrants are voting in U.S. elections, it's something the party 'intuitively' knows is happening. 'We all know, intuitively, that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections. But it's not been something that is easily provable. We don't have that number. This legislation will allow us to do exactly that — it will prevent that from happening. And if someone tries to do it, it will now be unlawful within the states,' Johnson said last May. But that intuition clashes with the data. One study by the Brennan Center for Justice found 30 suspected — not confirmed — cases of noncitizen voting out of 23.5 million, or roughly 0.0001 percent of the votes reviewed. It's a conclusion that's also been reached by the libertarian Cato Institute, with one of its experts calling the claims one of the 'most frequent and less serious criticisms' relating to migration. Because voting illegally is a crime, migrants would also face stiff penalties for doing so, including deportation. States that have passed proof of citizenship laws to vote in state and local elections have also had their own difficulties in implementing them. A Kansas law on the books for three years resulted in more than 22,000 people suspended from voter rolls after failure to submit proof of citizenship. And Arizona has had its own issues in updating its voter rolls with proof of citizenship, with some 200,000 residents caught in limbo due to state error tracking their citizenship. Last year the bill was ignored by the Democrat-led Senate. This year, however, the bill could be received more favorably under a GOP majority and has been championed by President Trump, though it would likely need to overcome a Democratic filibuster.
Associated Press
09-04-2025
- Associated Press
Pilot in 2019 Oʻahu helicopter crash wasn't properly certified, FAA Says
The pilot of an air tour helicopter that disintegrated in midair over Kailua in April 2019, killing him and two passengers, should not have been in the cockpit that day because the boss who cleared him to fly wasn't qualified to make that call. That allegation, made by a Federal Aviation Administration whistleblower more than five years ago, was one of two substantiated by FAA investigators in a report published without fanfare in 2022 and recently disclosed to Civil Beat in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. But investigators did not substantiate the whistleblower's broader allegations that the FAA's office in Honolulu failed to enforce safety regulations for air tour companies. Nor does their report say anything about that office's role in granting the operator of the air tour company the authority to certify the pilot working for her. U.S. Rep. Ed Case, who has made air tour safety a signature issue, hadn't seen the report until Civil Beat asked him to comment on it. He called on the FAA to do a 'more thorough and transparent investigation' of the whistleblower's allegations. 'Without a comprehensive review, there is little chance that those responsible for the agency's failures will be held accountable, leaving public safety at continued risk,' he said in a written statement provided to Civil Beat. The investigation followed a deadly period for the companies that fly sightseers and adventurers around the islands. Between April and December of 2019, three crashes left 21 people dead: the Kailua accident, a skydiving plane crash in June that killed 11 and a Safari Aviation helicopter disaster on Kauaʻi that December that killed seven. In the case of the Kailua wreck, a local FAA manager had improperly granted the head of Novictor Aviation the authority to certify her own pilots to fly, according to the whistleblower and the FAA report. Just 10 days before the accident, the head of Novictor determined that the 28-year-old pilot was qualified to carry passengers on air tours. The wreck occurred on the pilot's fourth day of flying tours around Oʻahu. The FAA's Office of Audit and Evaluation found that no corrective action was required, however. Days after the wreck, an FAA inspector had revoked the owner's authority to certify pilots, and agency staff later verified that the company's pilots were qualified. That FAA inspector went public several months later with his allegations. Investigative staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation deemed his allegations credible, documenting them in a fact sheet released in January 2020. U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, then chair of the committee, asked the Department of Transportation's Inspector General to investigate. But that never happened, Civil Beat has learned. Instead, the Inspector General 're-referred' the case to the FAA's Office of Audit and Evaluation in February 2022 – effectively allowing the FAA to investigate itself. Case questioned how that happened. 'The lack of serious review and the failure to fully probe the causes at the heart of these concerns raises troubling concerns about the accuracy of the investigation's findings,' Case told Civil Beat. The fact that the agency's internal investigation substantiated two of the whistleblower's four allegations 'highlights a fundamental failure on the part of the FAA to properly oversee an industry that is clearly operating without sufficient oversight,' Case said. The FAA did not agree to an interview with an FAA official in Hawaiʻi and did not respond to a request for comment on Case's criticism. The DOT's Office of Inspector General didn't respond to a question asking why it referred the matter to the FAA. Air tours are the only way to see some of Hawaiʻi's most breathtaking features. But weather conditions can change rapidly as pilots navigate the mountainous terrain. There have been 95 accidents and other air safety incidents in the state over the past decade, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Just last year, the NTSB, which investigates those incidents, pressed the FAA to increase its oversight of air tour operators in Hawaiʻi, particularly in light of what the NTSB says is pilots' tendency to continue flying when conditions deteriorate. A week later, three people were killed when a helicopter broke up while flying off Kauaʻi's Napali Coast in circumstances similar to those in Kailua. A Known Problem; A Pilot New To Hawaiʻi In the Kailua crash, the helicopter broke apart in midair and nose-dived onto a residential street in Coconut Grove, where it burst into flames. Surveillance video showed fragments of the helicopter landing in the neighborhood. The NTSB determined that the crash occurred after the helicopter hit severe turbulence and the pilot exceeded its recommended airspeed. That speed caused the helicopter's main rotor to oscillate and strike the cabin, quickly destroying it. The manufacturer has warned pilots that the R44's main rotor can flap dangerously during turbulence. It's a particular risk for aviators in Hawaiʻi, where weather conditions change quickly. Among the team of investigators at the scene in April 2019 was Joe Monfort, an aviation safety inspector from the FAA's Flight Standards District Office in Honolulu. Monfort, a 20-year Army veteran who retired as a warrant officer helicopter pilot, had been with the FAA since 2009. The FAA's 2022 report details what Monfort and the other investigators learned about how the pilot, Joseph Berridge, had ended up in control of the Robinson R44 helicopter that day. Berridge had been hired in New Mexico by Novictor Aviation, which operates as Rainbow Helicopters on Oʻahu and the Big Island, about two weeks before the accident. And Novictor's owner, Nicole Vandelaar — now Nicole Battjes — had just recently certified Berridge to fly in Hawaiʻi. But Monfort found that Battjes lacked the requisite experience to certify Berridge or anyone else, and that no one had observed her certifying pilots in the 24 months before, as required. Monfort concluded that an FAA official in the Honolulu office had improperly granted her this authority in November 2018. Monfort revoked it. All the other pilots Battjes had evaluated were re-evaluated by a qualified aviation safety inspector. The FAA never took any action against Novictor over that issue. In their report, FAA investigators wrote that those corrective actions were sufficient and that other issues were addressed through administrative action. Among those other issues: Novictor had hired Berridge without checking a national database regarding his driving record. The FAA sent the company a 'Letter of Correction' for that oversight. John Cox, Novictor Aviation's vice president of safety, told Civil Beat that the company fully cooperated with the FAA and NTSB investigations and that it works closely with the Honolulu Flight Standards District Office. Report Doesn't Address FAA's Role Though the FAA report repeatedly says that Battjes was improperly given authority to certify her pilots, it didn't examine who gave her that authority or why. But a lawsuit filed over the crash shows that FAA officials in Hawaiʻi did discuss that issue, if obliquely. The suit was filed by the parents of crash victim Ryan McAuliffe against Novictor, the estate of the pilot and the U.S. government. The parties agreed to a confidential settlement in June. In a court filing, an attorney for the McAuliffes wrote that documents showed the government 'repeatedly acknowledged its role in improperly issuing authorizations that contributed to the subject crash.' The filing quoted an email sent by an acting assistant manager at the FAA's Honolulu office in November 2019 in which the employee expressed concern about the best way to proceed with Novictor 'in light of our errors and lack of oversight of the Check Pilot program at Novictor.' Aimee Lum, an attorney with the Honolulu law firm Davis, Levin and Livingston who represented the McAuliffes, declined to elaborate on the filing. Monfort's allegations had gone much further than what the manager suggested in his email, saying that the same day he revoked Battjes' authority to certify her pilots, an assistant FAA manager removed him from the Kailua investigation, citing his caseload. Monfort said that amounted to retaliation; the Senate committee said it corroborated the allegation. The FAA report has nothing to say on the matter. Monfort also alleged that FAA management had failed to require helicopter tour operators to correct deficiencies in their training programs. Investigators agreed that was true in one case that he had identified in 2018, but didn't agree it was a pattern. And FAA investigators said they did not substantiate two of Monfort's broader allegations about the Honolulu office's oversight. One of them was related to a crash that happened eight months after the one in Kailua. Monfort claimed that managers in Honolulu's Flight Standards District Office had prevented him from traveling to Kauaʻi from September through November 2019 to perform 'required surveillance and inspection' of the air tour operator Safari Aviation. On Dec. 26, a Safari Aviation Airbus helicopter flown by the company's chief pilot slammed into a ridge near Kekaha on Kauaʻi. Three children were among the six passengers who died along with the pilot. FAA investigators wrote that although there had been confusion over travel arrangements during this period, 'there is no evidence' that managers 'were actively trying to prevent the whistleblower from traveling.'
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Army removes, reposts website documenting Japanese-American WWII soldiers
HONOLULU (KHON2) — A revision of history or a reconfiguration to align with current policies? Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news That is the question for the Army after the official military website for the 442nd infantry regiment was taken down and republished on Feb. 15. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in WWII and composed of Nisei — American-born sons of Japanese immigrants. Hawaii Rep. 'can't find a reason' to distinguish men, women in Selective Service They faced prejudice after Pearl Harbor in 1941 but thousands of those brave souls gave up their livelihoods to fight for the freedom of the nation they lived in. 'They volunteered to fight. They said, 'Yes, a country that's going to denigrate me, I'm still going to fight, because I believe' and I think they were absolutely instrumental,' said former Marine Forces Pacific Chief of Staff Ray L'Heureux. Despite their sacrifice, the official military website for the 442nd was taken down on March 14 and prompted a letter from Hawaii Rep. Ed Case to the Army secretary. More than 50 universities face federal investigations as part of Trump's anti-DEI campaign 'We know darn well that this is an attempt to censor our history, to remove any mention of race or ethnicity from our nation's story. We know that. And if we didn't believe it before this, we know it's happening now,' Case said. A republished website on the 442nd was made public on March 15 and it makes several references to Japanese-Americans and Nisei soldiers. 'That assignment was handed to somebody. 'Okay, go into all the websites, purge DEI stuff and,' And then somebody picked up on it and went, 'Woah!' You know, and the reaction that ensued after that is justified in my opinion,' L'Heureux said. The Army released a statement to KHON2 and said they are working tirelessly to align content on their site with current guidance: Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news 'The 442nd Regimental Combat team holds an honored place in Army History and we are pleased to republish an article that highlights the brave Soldiers who served in the 'Go-for-Broke' brigade. In accordance with a Presidential Executive Order and guidance from the Secretary of Defense, the Army recently took down the Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders Heritage webpage that featured content about the 442nd Infantry Regiment and Nisei Soldiers. The Army is tirelessly working through content on that site and articles related to the 442nd Infantry Regiment and Nisei Soldiers will be republished to better align with current guidance. There are still many stories available on Army websites that celebrate the bravery of the 442nd Infantry regiment that were not impacted by the Heritage webpage. The Army remains committed to sharing the stories of our Soldiers, their units, and their sacrifice.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
