WASHINGTON — Virginia's two U.S. Senators want the Defense Department to hurry up and finish overdue reforms designed to improve living conditions in the nation's more than 200,000 privatized housing units occupied by service members and their families.
Back in 2018, it came to light that military tenants faced mold, rodent infestations, dangerous wiring, shoddy repairs and indifferent response from landlords.
Congress passed laws to address the problems in 2020, but a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report in April found that reforms are inconsistently implemented.
Sens. Mark Warner (D-Virginia) and Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) wrote a letter to the DOD this week, saying: "Our service members and their families have been forced to navigate housing conditions .... that have been woefully unacceptable."
Kaine, during a media availability on Wednesday, said: "While I don't excuse any private provider for substandard performance, I do believe that the primary fault in this substandard housing issue rests with military leadership because they ultimately have the responsibility for this."
The senators are urging the DOD and each military branch to take a range of steps, including the necessary actions outlined in the GAO report, to ensure that they are meeting their obligations towards service members and properly implementing all necessary reforms.
Warner, in an interview with 13News Now on Thursday, said: "I'm angry because when Congress passes a law and the President signs it, and then it doesn't affect the kind of change, people lose faith. Everybody likes to say, 'We support the military.' But this isn't supporting the military if people have to live in squalor."
There are 35 privatized military housing complexes in Hampton Roads.