4 The Hampton Roads Messenger Editorial


A Quick Trip to South Korea Reveals a Great Deal


Annual Defense Bill FROM PAGE 1 Gyeongbokgung Palace National Palace Museum of Korea


Belvoir about their issues with military housing – like mold and safety concerns – I worked to include reforms in this must-pass bill to help ensure these problems are addressed. There’s still one amendment to the defense bill that we have yet to take up – my amendment to prevent the President from going to war with Iran without Congress doing its constitutional duty and voting on it. Americans don’t want another war in the Middle East and I’m going to do everything I can to block President Trump from unilaterally starting one. I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this amendment tomorrow,” Kaine said.


The following list includes many


of the programs and provisions Kaine advocated for during the markup process that were included in the final bill, which will directly aid Virginia’s defense industry:


• Improves Military Family Housing


Palace grounds Gyeongbokgung Palace BY ANGELA JONES I recently wrote about my


fabulous trip to Thailand. On the way back from Bangkok, my daughter and I stopped in picturesque South Korea. Although its northern neighbor, North Korea, has been in the news a great deal lately, South Korea appears to be a safe and surprising alternative for touring the Korean Peninsula. The American influence in South


Korea, probably due to the many US military bases located throughout the country, can definitely be seen as soon as one steps out of the airport in its capital, Seoul. It is the fourth-largest metropolitan economy in the world.


The population of South Korea is estimated to be 51.8 million and about half of the country’s inhabitants, 24.5 million, live in Seoul. Much of the food, fashion and


the way South Koreans have fun is influenced by western culture. For example, South Korean street-food markets sell something that resembles a corndog. From the airport in Seoul, visitors


are offered tours of the city, some of which are free. We took a bus from the airport for a nominal fee to an area of the city with some great tourist attractions. At the airport, we


SOUTH KOREA PAGE 13


• Supports Shipbuilding and Repair: Provides over $13 billion for Virginia shipbuilding priorities,


including


refueling and overhaul, new carrier


Virginia-class submarines and Columbia-class


Authorizes nearly $11 billion for ship repair.


• Authorizes Military Construction (MILCON): Authorizes over $430 million for 12 critical military construction projects throughout the Commonwealth, including at Ft. Belvoir, the Pentagon, Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Dam Neck, Quantico, Yorktown, and Richmond.


• Addresses Sexual Assault in the Military: Includes a Kaine amendment that requires DOD to report on a plan to create a “duty to report” to require servicemembers to intervene if they are aware of sexual assault in the armed forces.


Established 2006 A. J. Jones, Publisher Chris Parks, Editor


Sarah Parks, Graphic Designer Ida Davis, Contributing Writer Sales and Information: info@hamptonroadsmessenger.com Copyright pertaining to contents of this edition. All rights reserved.


• Delays Any President From Removing NATO Troops From Europe: Includes a Kaine amendment to prohibit the withdrawal of troops from Europe for one year following any presidential


decision to


withdraw troops from NATO. The one year period would allow Congress time to reverse such a decision. Kaine has led efforts to prevent any President from leaving NATO and introduced legislation earlier this year to explicitly prohibit any President from withdrawing from NATO without Senate approval.


• Supports Training for Defense Jobs: Includes a Kaine


construction, submarines.


amendment to require DOD to develop a plan to train skilled technicians for immediate placement in the Defense Industrial Base, including welding, machining, and additive manufacturing by partnering with state training and education programs. This was inspired by efforts at Danville Community College.


• Provides Financial Relief To Civilian Federal Employees: Includes legislation Kaine introduced with Senators Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) to provide financial relief to certain civilian federal employees who move for work. The Relocation Expense Parity Act would close a loophole that prevents certain federal workers from having additional taxes on their moving expenses fully reimbursed.


carrier


• Cleans Up Dioxin at Bien Hoa Air Base: Includes a Kaine amendment to provide funding for USAID to clean up dioxin – a byproduct of Agent Orange – at Bien Hoa Air Base near Ho Chi Minh City, which was one of the largest U.S. military bases during the Vietnam war. In April, Kaine participated in the formal inauguration of the second U.S.-funded dioxin remediation project in Vietnam, at Bien Hoa, which will remediate land contaminated during the war by dioxin.


• Addresses Recurring Areas of Instability: Includes a Kaine proposal which finally allows DOD to better transition to stability operations following conflict. A key lesson learned from the Iraq War was that the U.S. military was not equipped to conduct post-conflict stability operations which contributed to a resurgence of violence. Agencies like the Department of State and U.S. Administration for International Development (USAID) are equipped to handle stability operations in post-conflict zones, but lack the resources and security to access the areas where assistance is needed. Kaine’s provision will finally authorize DOD to properly support State and USAID in their efforts to access hard to reach areas in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia to


provide lasting stability.


Volume 13 Number 10


July 2019


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