Hirono Statement on Committee Passage of FY27 National Defense Authorization Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and Ranking Member of the Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee, released the following statement after the Committee passed its draft of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) earlier this week:

"I'm proud to have secured numerous provisions in the Senate's FY27 NDAA that invest in military readiness, Hawaii, the Indo-Pacific Region, and our servicemembers and their families, while also holding the Army accountable on the military training land lease negotiations. However, I could not in good conscience vote to advance a bill that paves the way for an up to 40% increase in year-over-year Department of Defense spending, especially as this administration wages an illegal war in Iran with no plan or end in sight.

"Our nation's strength depends not only on our military power, but also on the economic well-being of our people. At a time when families across the country are struggling with skyrocketing costs, the Trump Administration is asking Congress to authorize a massive increase in defense spending just months after slashing programs like SNAP and Medicaid upon which millions of Americans rely. Equally concerning, this bill comes amid Pentagon leadership's racist and sexist war on diversity, equity, and inclusion, including the firing and withheld promotion of dozens of officers, most of whom are women or persons of color. While I'm proud of many of the provisions in this bill that support our servicemembers and our national security, I voted against authorizing a massive increase in military spending for this regime. I remain committed to working toward a final version of the bill that balances the importance of our national security with the domestic needs of the American people."

Despite her opposition to the bill, Senator Hirono secured and supported several key provisions in the FY 2027 NDAA. Specifically, the bill includes provisions introduced by Senator Hirono that:

Deliver for Hawaii

• Directs the Secretary of the Army to seek from the State of Hawaii, on terms acceptable to both the Army and the State, a renewal of expiring training land leases. As part of this, requires the Army to expeditiously resubmit their Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) for the leased lands and address deficiencies identified by the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources.
• Reinforces efforts to safely and expeditiously close the Red Hill Fuel Facility by adding $10 million above the President's Budget for environmental restoration and remediation and $5 million for community engagement initiatives.
• Prohibits the use of funds to carry out a hiring freeze, reduction in force, or hiring delay without cause at all four public shipyards, including Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.
• Provides authority to conduct Electrical and Infrastructure Upgrades on Former Naval Air Station Barber's Point (Kalaeloa) and directs the Navy to transfer and make available $14 million in funds to support this effort.
• Adds $17 million for the Pacific Intelligence and Innovation Initiative (P3I), which creates a local skilled workforce to meet DOD demand for intelligence, IT, and cyber professionals in Hawaii and address cuts in the President's Budget.
• $9.5 million increase for the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC), which mitigates the large program cuts in the President's Budget.
• Adds $20 million for the High-Performance Computing Modernization program to address cuts in the President's Budget.
• Establishes a grant program to help small businesses and nontraditional contractors cover Level 2 Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification costs.
• Authorizes $50 million for supplemental impact aid to educational agencies affected by the enrollment of military and DOD civilian dependents, $10 million for impact aid for children with severe disabilities, and $20 million for local educational agencies determined to have high concentrations of military children with severe disabilities.
• Encourages the DOD to identify opportunities to strengthen domestic shipbuilding and repair capacity through investments in infrastructure, industrial modernization, and workforce development.
• Provides flexibility for 8(a) companies by modifying the Small Business Act's "bona fide place of business" requirement for DoD construction contracts awarded under the 8(a) program, allowing an 8(a) participant to satisfy the requirement by certifying they will establish a staffed, physical office in the designated geographic area within 60 days of the contract award.
• Directs the Secretary of the Air Force to limit divestment and to submit a report and briefing on the MQ-9 aircraft, while directing the MQ-9 to increase inventory by 2028.
• Requires a briefing from the Secretary of the Navy on the recent decision to shift the homeport of USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) from Honolulu to San Diego.

Invest in Critical Infrastructure:

Invests over $2.2 billion for 17 military construction projects in Hawaii:

• $507 million for the next increment of funding for the Dry Dock 3 replacement at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH).
• $380 million for a new aircraft maintenance hangar at Wheeler Army Airfield.
• $248 million for the next increment of funding for the water treatment plant at JBPHH.
• $183 million for the Pacific Warfighting Center expansion at Ford Island.
• $142 million for the next increment of funding for airfield pavement upgrades at Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands.
• $134 million for the company command compound at Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay.
• $129 million for electrical distribution and modernization at Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay.
• $79 million for the Air traffic control tower at Wheeler Army Airfield.
• $76 million for the Armory expansion at Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay.
• $72 million for costs to complete the wells and storage tanks at Helemano Military Reservation.
• $71 million for costs to complete the water well and booster pump at Fort Shafter.
• $49 million for the main gate entry control point at Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay.
• $30 million for a new fire station at Schofield Barracks.
• $26 million to complete the elevated tank and distribution lines at Schofield Barracks.
• $21 million to complete the water storage tank at Schofield Barracks.
• $3.6 million for the secure integration support lab and land acquisition at Maui Optical and Supercomputing Site.
• $3.3 million in planning and design funds for the aircraft clear water rinse facility at Wheeler Army Airfield.
• Report and briefing on the Navy's alternative plans for the Waterfront Production Facility at Pearl Harbor

Support Servicemembers, Veterans, and their Families:

• Authorizes a 3.6 percent pay raise for all military members.
• Requires the DoD to report on their implementation of chaperone policies for sensitive examinations across the Department.
• Requires the DoD to provide the complete, unredacted report on the effectiveness of women serving in ground combat roles, including all underlying background information and methodology, to the Government Accountability Office to support an independent third-party study.
• Directs the DoD to assess how reversing the influenza vaccine requirement may affect military readiness and report the findings to Congress.
• Protects military retiree freedom of speech by prohibiting DoD leaders from weaponizing the Uniform Code of Military Justice against them.
• Expands the Department's new Defense Health Agency complaint system to explicitly include tracking, reporting, and handling of issues related to women's healthcare.
• Codifies a requirement for the military to notify relevant state medical boards when a licensed medical professional is being investigated or charged with misconduct.
• Requires the Secretary of Defense to provide Congress a briefing on the Public Schools on Military Installations Program (PSMI) priority list, which includes several Hawaii schools. The briefing must cover an assessment of costs of construction/renovation and a recommended federal/state cost share ratio for funding.
• Allows the Secretary of Defense to establish the pay of wage-grade employees located at any defense industrial base facility in order to make rates of pay comparable to the private sector and surrounding areas.
• Requires the DoD to institute the "Smitty Checks" policy, which are mandatory, in-person wellness checks for injured, ill, or recovering servicemembers. This provision is named in honor of Private First Class Caleb "Smitty" Smither, U.S. Army. who tragically passed away in 2020 after suffering a head injury and returning to his barracks.
• Directs the Defense Health Agency to provide a briefing and report on the feasibility of DoD administering an H. pylori testing and treatment program, guidelines to treat H. Pylori, and prevalence of gastric conditions such as stomach cancer and ulcers among active duty servicemembers and veterans.
• Requires the Department to address the oversight gap in the military-to-civilian transition by standardizing the performance metrics for the transition assistance program.
• Expands protected communications of tenants of privatized military housing who report housing-related issues relative to the privatized housing.
• Requires timely notification to both Congress and affected officers when the promotion of an officer is delayed, including the basis, expected duration, and status of any associated review or investigation.
• Requires DoD and the VA to establish an access to health care pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of expanding reciprocal access to health care facilities, personnel, and services between the DoD and VA.
• Requires the Secretary of Defense and the Secretaries of the military departments to ensure that the disclosure of telework and remote work eligibility, as well as exemptions for return-to-in-person-work requirements, is considered for all announcements of vacant positions in the DOD to encourage all agencies of the Department to utilize these flexibilities to support the employment of military spouses.
• Expands eligibility for hearing aids to include children of retirees enrolled in family coverage under TRICARE Select.
• Requires DoD to notify the Armed Services Committees after a material failure affects patient care in an operating room, critical care unit, intensive care unit, or emergency department at a military medical treatment facility.

• Directs the Comptroller General to assess DOD's use of nondisclosure agreements and to conduct a study on whistleblower protections within the Department.
• Authorizes the Department to increase the maximum tuition assistance benefit.
• Prohibits the DoD from reducing the number of personnel assigned to service review agencies that provide critical administrative relief and records correction services for servicemembers and veterans.
• Increases maximum authorized amounts for hostile fire and imminent danger pay, as well as aviation incentive pays and bonuses, to better recognize operational demands and support retention in critical specialties.
• Requires briefings on how each Service is ensuring that retention efforts focus not only on meeting end strength requirements, but also on retaining high-performing servicemembers and personnel in critical skill areas.
• Requires the Secretary of Defense to standardize the collection and reporting of data related to childcare capacity, workforce readiness, and waitlists across the Armed Forces and military installations, including disaggregated data on utilization, staffing, unmet demand, and fee assistance programs.
• Requires the Secretary of Defense to declassify or make such information available for family members to review, any record, live-sighting report, or other information in the custody of the DOD that relates to the location, treatment, or condition of any prisoner of war or missing in action from World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War.
• Directs each service to develop a service-wide strategy for scaling human performance technology to advance mental health, sleep, and wellness tracking for servicemembers.

Strengthen Our Ability to Protect the Indo-Pacific Region:

• Authorizes and extends the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI).
• Directs the INDOPACOM Commander to provide an independent assessment of how transfers of personnel, platforms, equipment, munitions, and other capabilities from INDOPACOM affect the command's ability to deter and, if necessary, prevail in conflict in the Indo-Pacific.
• Extends the admission of H-2B nonimmigrant visas to Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands by two years and adds Wake Island to the list of locations to support military construction projects.
• Authorizes multi-year procurement for certain munitions.
• Enhances DoD's ability to train ally and partner foreign security force capacity by adding additional authorities (foreign internal defense, disaster risk reduction/response operations, and space domain awareness/space operations) to the list of eligible programs the U.S. would be allowed to provide assistance under security assistance authorities.
• Supports the Navy's accelerated procurement of amphibious warfare ships by expanding the multi-ship authority.
• Increases the INDOPACOM Commander's minor military construction threshold from $30 million to 35 million to bolster posture in the Indo-Pacific.
• Increases the unspecified minor military construction threshold from $9 million to

$15 million and relieves the area cost factor adjustments for Alaska, Hawaii, and other

islands in the Indo-Pacific for a period of 5 years.

• Requires certification that there is a continuity of operations plan before the Guam command and control facility is declared operational.
• Redesignates the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative as the First Island Chain Security Cooperation Initiative (FICSCI) and makes the Philippines eligible to receive assistance under this authority. It also extends FICSCI to 2032 and authorizes up to $1.5 billion in assistance in FY 2027.
• Authorizes the Department to establish a War Reserve Stockpile program for Taiwan.
• Prohibits a reduction in U.S. military posture on the Korean Peninsula or a change in wartime operational control over the Combined Forces Command until the Secretary of Defense certifies to Congress that such action is in the national interest. Further directs the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the INDOPACOM Commander, and U.S. Forces Korea to conduct an independent risk assessment of any changes.
• Directs INDOPACOM, Space Force, and key stakeholders to brief Congress on integration of Space Domain Awareness (SDA) capabilities into current and future joint exercises with our allies and partners.
• Requires a strategy for crisis management in the South China Sea.
• Prohibits DOD from retiring or decommissioning in FY 27 any oceanographic research vessels, including the Kilo Moana operated by the University of Hawaii.
• Directs a report detailing U.S. support to Japan in the development and fielding of an operational counterstrike capability.
• Directs a briefing on efforts to enhance combined United States-Republic of Korea operational capabilities and interoperability using emerging technologies.
• Revitalizes the AUKUS partnership by designating the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Armaments Cooperation as the Senior Defense Official with responsibility for AUKUS and extends the timeframe for this function until 2032.
• Modifies the authorization of the sale of nuclear attack submarines in the AUKUS agreement to allow for the transfer of up to three in-service subs.
• Directs a plan in the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual to remove unnecessary procedures and regulations related to AUKUS.
• Requires a report assessing planned use of mobile networking and resilient command and control architecture in Taiwan.

• Direct the Navy to do a report/analysis on the required number of submarine tenders to support the larger future fleet of submarines.
• Directs the Department to brief Congress every quarter on the status of planning for and implementation of core Homeland defense priorities, including plans for responding to a major attack on the Homeland in the context of military operations in other areas of responsibility - this briefing includes Hawaii and Alaska.
• Authorizes a pilot program to replace a chiller or chiller-related facilities that support subsistence resiliency within INDOPACOM at locations that have been deemed remote and isolated.
• Directs a briefing on efforts to expand and deepen bilateral military exercises with India in the space domain.
• Requires a report on how DoD can more efficiently work with our partners in the Freely Associated States to speed up dual-use military construction projects.

Modernize the Force:

• Directs the establishment of a DOD-wide ecosystem for the deployment and enterprise use of agentic artificial intelligence systems at scale and speed.
• Requires the Secretary of Defense to brief Congress on the use of collaborative planning platforms to ensure it is cost effectively procuring and implementing such platforms.
• Accelerates software procurement to remove bureaucracy that will support the speed and development of critical software programs.
• Codifies in statute the DOD review process for autonomous weapon systems and AI capabilities, specifying standards for human judgment, validation and testing requirements, prohibited uses, and a centralized incident reporting repository.
• Requires artificial intelligence training as part of the DoD's Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response (CHMR) process.
• Directs the Secretary of Defense to develop authoritative security standards and guidance for artificial intelligence agents across the DOD.
• Directs a briefing on the feasibility and advisability of piloting autonomous welding across the organic industrial base.
• Provides key authority for servicemembers to repair their own equipment under urgent conditions (right to repair).
• Directs an independent review of whether CYBERCOM is adequately organized and resourced to meet its expanding authorities and responsibilities.
• Directs a briefing on artificial intelligence enabled biological threat detection.
• Requires a comprehensive assessment of the effects of the adoption of artificial intelligence systems by personnel of the DOD on the maintenance and retention of essential warfighter skills.
• Authorizes an increase of more than $1 billion for maritime unmanned systems.
• Directs a briefing on the Department's strategy to scale the production, procurement, and deployment of small, unmanned aircraft systems to tactical units.
• Directs the Secretary of the Army to report on its efforts related to autonomous surface vessel technology.
• Directs a briefing on the automation and efficiency of munitions production.
• Directs the Secretary of Defense to provide a briefing on increasing and diversifying munitions inventories.
• Requires a Department of the Air Force integrated air and space capabilities electronic warfare roadmap.
• Directs a briefing on the procurement of low-collateral, non-kinetic solutions for Counter-small Unmanned Aerial Systems swarms.
• Requires a streamlined process for developing, negotiating, and concluding international agreements relating to science and technology cooperation, including memoranda of understanding and project agreements.
• Directs a briefing on Department's plans to expand the use of advanced software and artificial intelligence technologies and its evaluation of real-time audit capabilities.

Prioritize Sustainability and the Environment:

• Secures an additional $20 million in funding for DOD's REPI Program to avoid land use conflicts near military installations, address environmental restrictions that limit military activities, and increase military installation resilience.
• Requires DoD to review and take action within 180 days on proposals for alternative energy projects (like wind) that could impact national security. This provision responds directly to the current administration's hostility towards these types of projects.
• Amends the law to include combatant commands as eligible entities to recover and reinvest operational energy cost savings.
• Requires the DoD to establish a public-private partnership program on recycling strategic and critical minerals.
• Ensures that electrical systems within facilities of the DOD are capable of operating in islanded mode during grid outages, thereby enhancing energy resilience, security, and operational continuity.
• Aligns major military installation master plans to the new definition for military installation resilience requested last year by the DOD and adopted in the FY26 NDAA.
• Clarifies that the expansion of the footprint of existing facilities or infrastructure is not allowed outside of very limited criteria.
• Requires a report on Taiwan's Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) supply and storage and recommendations on resiliency.

Hold this Administration Accountable:

• Closes loophole that could allow defense contractors to avoid financial consequences for providing inaccurate pricing data, helping ensure the Pentagon gets a fair deal for taxpayers.
• Shifts burden of proof to contractors to justify restrictions on technical data.
• Limits the DoD's Ability to reassign Military Uniformed JAG attorneys to the Department of Justice to serve as Immigration Law Judges.
• Requires the Secretary of Defense to conduct a review of the ownership structure and any conflicts of interest before obligating or disbursing any funds for an equity investment and adds stronger oversight of the Economic Defense Unit.

• Prohibits the Secretary of Defense from entering into a contract for goods or services, unless the contractor agrees to not purchase equity security, pay dividends, or make any other capital distribution with respect to equity securities unless the contractor has a waiver from the Secretary of Defense.
• Requires the Secretary of Defense to report on the implementation of civilian harm and mitigation response directives and regulations.
• Increases oversight of the use of counter-drone capabilities on the southern border.
• Requires the DOD and key stakeholders to brief Congress on the Maven Smart Systems (MSS) program of record transition, including lessons learned, responsibility structures, and oversight mechanisms following the program's transition.

• Creates accountability measures for implementing generational acquisition reform from the FY26 NDAA.
• Prohibits the reduction in U.S. military force posture in Europe or relinquishment of U.S. command of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe position until the Secretary of Defense assesses the impact on U.S. and NATO interests and certifies to Congress that such action is in the national interest. Further directs the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Commander of U.S. European Command to conduct an independent risk assessment of any such changes.
• Prohibits the use of funds to remove the Army's Prepositioned Stocks in Europe.
• Prohibits funds authorized in the NDAA from being obligated or expended to implement any activity that recognizes the sovereignty of Russia over the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine.
• Authorizes the Civil Military Coordination Center as a subsidiary of the Board of Peace to oversee the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire in pursuit of Hamas' complete and permanent disarmament.

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