About $77 million will be diverted from four military construction projects in Hampton Roads to help pay for President Donald Trump’s border wall, Virginia’s two senators said Wednesday.
A cyber operations facility at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton will lose $10 million and face possible startup delays. Another $18.5 million will be siphoned away from a project to replace a hazardous materials warehouse at Naval Station Norfolk.
Two projects in Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth also will see losses: $22.5 million for a hazardous materials warehouse and $26 million toward a Navy ship maintenance facility.
In a joint statement, Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine blasted the move.
“Taking money away from our military — including funding to support critical projects here in Virginia — will mean we are less equipped to tackle threats here at home and abroad,” Warner said.
Kaine said Trump is responsible for the well-being of U.S. troops, “yet the commander-in-chief is shirking that duty so he can advance his own political agenda.”
Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Virginia Beach, also condemned the funding shift.
“Pulling funding from the military makes our nation less safe and more vulnerable,” she said.
Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, D-Newport News, added: “By circumventing Congress, the Trump Administration has made a terrible decision to raid funds for military construction projects to pay for the President’s ineffective and unpopular wall at the southern border.”
Overall, the Pentagon says it will halt 127 military construction projects across the country to help build 175 miles of wall, The Washington Post reported. Officials spent Wednesday notifying members of Congress about projects that impacted their states and districts.
Defense officials have said projects will be delayed, but not canceled.
They have also avoided taking money from military housing projects. Earlier this year, the Pentagon was rocked by reports of deplorable conditions in privately-run housing that included examples in Hampton Roads.
Trump announced a national emergency seven months ago to spend about $8 billion on the border barrier, which he says is needed to curb illegal immigration. Of that, $3.6 billion was supposed to come from the Defense Department’s construction budget.
The funds are being diverted from the 2019 fiscal year budget that was passed earlier this year. The federal fiscal year runs through Sept. 30.
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the diversion of funds should be challenged in Congress and in the courts. The American Civil Liberties said it would sue to block Trump’s move, according to several media reports.
Local impact
The $10 million hit to Langley involves the Virginia Air National Guard 192nd Wing and a planned cyber operations center, said Bruce Sturk, Hampton’s director of federal facilities support.
The plan is about 65% complete and the Guard is eyeing the start of construction next year. The diversion of $10 million, besides delaying the project, could potentially increase its cost, Sturk noted in an email.
At the moment, the Guard is leasing office space outside the base and using some temporary space on base.
Both hazardous materials warehouses on the list fall under the Defense Logistics Agency, according to budget documents. The projects are needed to replace World War II-era structures that lack proper fire suppression systems and necessary storage capacity for hazardous materials, the documents state.
If the projects don’t go through, both installations will continue storing hazardous materials in structures that do not meet current life safety/fire safety requirements.
The $26 million for a ship maintenance facility at Norfolk Naval Shipyard covers a variety of work, including conversion of a fifth and sixth floor of a building to allow for the relocation of nuclear containment and life raft shops, the documents state.
Hugh Lessig, 757-247-7821, hlessig@dailypress.com
