SENSE OF CONGRESS ON IMPROVING MILITARY HOUSING FOR MEMBERS OF THE AIR FORCE.

SEC. 2856. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON IMPROVING MILITARY HOUSING FOR MEMBERS OF THE AIR FORCE.(a) Finding.—Congress makes the following findings:(1) In the mid-1990s, the Department of Defense became concerned that inadequate and poor quality housing for members of the Armed Forces was adversely affecting the quality of life for members and their families and adversely affecting military readiness by contributing to decisions by members to leave the Armed Forces.(2) At that time, the Department of Defense designated about 180,000 houses, or nearly two-thirds of its domestic family housing inventory, as inadequate and needing repair or complete replacement.(3) The Department of Defense believed that it would need about $20,000,000,000 in appropriated funds and would take up to 40 years to eliminate poor quality military housing through new construction or renovation using its traditional military construction approach.(4) In 1996, Congress enacted the Military Housing Privatization Initiative to provide the Department of Defense with a variety of authorities to obtain private sector financing 124 STAT. 4479 and management for the repair, renovation, construction, and management of military family housing.(5) The Air Force has used the Military Housing Privatization Initiative to award 27 projects at 44 military bases to improve over 37,000 homes.(6) The Air Force has received $7,100,000,000 in total development investment from the private sector for new housing with a taxpayer contribution of approximately $425,000,000, representing a 15 to 1 leveraging of taxpayer dollars.(7) The Air Force, like the other military services, has been able to leverage varying conditions of housing at military bases into fiscally viable projects by packaging housing inventories at multiple bases into a single transaction.(8) Congress has approved transactions involving the packaging of multiple bases as a critical tool to maximize the efficient use of taxpayer funds.(9) Congress supports the goal of the Air Force to complete transactions for the repair, renovation, construction, and management of 100 percent of their military family housing inventory in the United States by December 31, 2012.(10) The Air Force currently has 6 project solicitations prepared for open competition at 22 Air Force installations to improve over 15,000 homes.(b) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of the Air Force should use existing authority to carry out solicitations for the 6 military housing projects involving the packaging of 22 bases consistent with the goal of improving 15,000 homes for Air Force personnel and their families by December 31, 2012.