Garamendi Supports Mare Island, Travis Air Force Base, Port Chicago 50, and More in National Defense Authorization Act

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, U.S. Representative John Garamendi (D-CA08) voted to pass the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025” (H.R.8070) in the House Committee on Armed Services. As the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, Garamendi is responsible for all U.S. military installations and environmental cleanup of formerly used defense sites like decommissioned bases.

Each year since 1961, Congress has passed the National Defense Authorization Act to provide the legal authority and oversight for the United States military, including personnel, installations, and equipment used in our national defense. The House Armed Services Committee passed the legislation by a bipartisan vote of 57 to 1, which will be considered by the full U.S. House of Representatives in the coming month.

“I am pleased the House Armed Services Committee has once again come together to address critical issues facing our service members, military families, and the more than 1,100 U.S. military installations worldwide. As the top Democrat on the Readiness Subcommittee, I built upon my previous efforts to require the military to do its part in tackling the climate crisis. I also worked to crack down on giant defense contractors price gouging American taxpayers, support Travis Air Force Base and Marine Ocean Terminal Concord (MOTCO), and fund state maritime academies, like Cal Maritime,” Garamendi said.

“I also offered amendments to slow the development of wasteful nuclear weapons programs, which were not adopted in the final NDAA. These programs are unnecessary and costly mistakes at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer and further precipitate the modern nuclear arms race between the U.S., Russia, and China. These amendments acknowledge the facts and advice from various experts in this field and save billions of dollars that can be spent to address more worthy defense needs. They also help reset U.S. nuclear modernization policy, greatly exceeding its deterrence requirement. While I am disappointed that the committee did not adopt my provisions to curtail wasteful nuclear weapons spending, I am pleased that some of my oversight provisions were included in this NDAA,” Garamendi continued.

“No legislation of this scope is perfect, and this year’s NDAA under the House Republican Majority is no exception. But I am pleased to have worked in a bipartisan manner to ensure that this must-pass legislation addresses the critical issues for our military families and national security. Now that the House Armed Services Committee passed this legislation with strong bipartisan support, I will work to ensure it passes Congress and is signed into law by President Biden,” Garamendi concluded.

As the top Democrat on the Subcommittee on Readiness since 2019, Garamendi added key provisions to the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025” to support: the cleanup of Mare Island, justice for the Port Chicago 50, Travis Air Force Base, combatting the climate crisis, limiting wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars by the Pentagon, and more:

• Seeks Justice for Port Chicago 50 WWII Veterans
  • In advance of the coming 80^th anniversary of the Port Chicago Disaster, Garamendi directed the U.S. Navy to reconsider exonerating the 50 Black sailors who survived the munitions explosion and then convicted of mutiny and dishonorably discharged for refusing to follow a racially motived order on July 17, 1944.
  • In Congress, Garamendi has worked with Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA10), who represented the site from 2015 until 2023, to seek justice for the Port Chicago 50 and their families.

• Honors the Life of Seaman Danyelle Luckey, late Pittsburg Resident
  • Garamendi offered the “Seaman Danyelle Luckey Military Medical Accountability Amendment Act” as an amendment, named in honor of a constituent who died tragically due to medical malpractice while serving aboard the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier in 2016. Garamendi plans to reintroduce the “Seaman Danyelle Luckey Military Medical Accountability Amendment Act” to ensure that no other military family suffers needlessly like the Luckey family.

• Supports Cal Maritime Academy in Vallejo
  • Garamendi authorized more than $58 million for state maritime academies like California State University Maritime Academy (Cal Maritime) in Vallejo. Once enacted into law, this new federal funding will support:
    • scholarships for low-income students,
    • funding for shoreside infrastructure, and
    • funding for fuel and maintenance expenses.

• Supports Travis and Beale Air Force Bases
  • Fully funds the nationally important missions at Travis Air Force Base and ongoing military construction projects.
  • Authorizes $148 million to construct a Multi-Domain Operations Center (MDOC) at Beale Air Force Base.

• Cleanup and Redevelopment of Mare Island
  • Garamendi directed the U.S. Navy to expedite the transfer of the remaining Navy-controlled land on Mare Island to the City of Vallejo. His provision reaffirms that the Navy must pay for the environmental cleanup necessitated by the closure of Mare Island Naval Shipyard in 1996.
  • Garamendi has championed the revitalization of Mare Island during his time in Congress, including a new $13 million private investment in the shipyard in 2022. In last year’s National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (Public Law 118-31), Garamendi added his “Federal Ship Financing Improvement Act,” providing new federal loans and loan guarantees for repairs and retrofits of U.S.-flag civilian vessels in domestic commercial shipyards like Mare Island Dry Dock. In that 2024 law, Garamendi also directed the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to study dredging the finger piers 2 and 3 of the Army Reserve Center on Mare Island to a depth of 30 feet to restore the usability of the piers for commercial shipbuilding in the future.
    
    
• Support for Domestic Shipbuilding
  • Garamendi secured funds to support the National Defense Reserve Fleet and the Maritime Security Program, U.S.-flagged commercial vessels used to transport military personnel, cargo, fuel, and equipment for the U.S. military.
  • Garamendi included a provision that urges the DoD to support domestic ship repairs in facilities like those on Mare Island.
    
    
• Requires a Re-evaluation of the Hunter Hall Army Reserve Center
  • Garamendi directed the U.S. Army to clarify the future of the Hunter Hall Reserve Center and to work closely with the City of San Pablo. If decommissioned by the Army and then transferred, the City intends to redevelop the property to  to build new classrooms and additional parking for students and faculty at Contra Costa College and create needed storage for public works and first responders.

• Cleanup and Local Control of the Decommissioned Oakland Army Terminal
  • Garamendi directed the U.S. Army to expedite the transfer of the decommissioned Oakland Army Terminal to local control by the East Bay Regional Park District while requiring the Army to continue to pay for the environmental cleanup of this decommissioned Army site in 1999.
  • In Congress, Garamendi has been working with Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA12) to transfer this land to local control as part of the East Bay Regional Park District’s public parklands and San Francisco Bay Trail system across the East Bay.
    

• Supports Servicemembers and their Families
  • Garamendi directed the DoD to improve the quality of life for military servicemembers and their families, including investments in barracks and housing, on-post facilities and installations, and historic pay raises for servicemembers.
  • Increased funding for schools with children of military members, building upon his work on the “Impact Aid Infrastructure Partnership Act,” introduced in 2023 with Senator Hirono (D-HI).
  • Ensures that when military members are ordered to move, they can expect the best possible moving experience through more robust oversight of the Global Household Goods contract.
  • Requires additional reporting requirements from the DoD’s Joint Safety Council to review, correct, and prevent training accidents.

• Addresses Climate Change and Energy Resiliency
  • Garamendi secured a provision that will minimize runoff of untreated water and designate a DoD official responsible for coordinating regional storm water management among military departments.
  • Increases funding for the DoD to buy land or acquire conservation easements from willing landowners around military installations to protect from developers such as Flannery and Associates, LLC.
  • Garamendi secured funding for portable battery-electric generators, like those manufactured in Richmond, to ensure that installations can continue operations in the event of a blackout or Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS). This builds on Garamendi’s efforts to ensure that the military supports a transition to a clean energy economy.  

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