Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Representative Neil Abercrombie was on hand at the White House this afternoon as President Barack Obama signed the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act into law.  The nearly $700 billion measure, which authorizes all operations of the U.S. military for the year and sets priorities for defense spending, includes an initiative championed by Abercrombie and Senator Daniel K. Akaka to bring fairness to 43,000 federal employees in Hawaii, Alaska and the U.S. Territories.

Under the current federal pay structure, those employees receive an annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) to help meet higher living costs.  But workers on the mainland get locality pay instead. The difference comes at retirement.  Locality pay counts toward salary when retirement pensions are computed; COLAs do not.  As a result, mainland employees get higher retirement pay than their Hawaii and Alaska counterparts.

“It’s a matter of fairness” Abercrombie said. “Federal employees in Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and the Pacific Islands shouldn’t have to settle for less financial security in their retirement.”
Rep. Abercrombie’s influence is apparent throughout the legislation.  As Chairman of the House Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, he successfully targeted nearly $24 million in defense project spending to Hawaii, including:

Alternative Energy Research

• $2.4 million for research into a wave powered electric grid power generating system;
• $3 million for development of a local, sustainable and renewable fuel source for the military in Hawaii. More than 90% of the military’s energy fuel is now imported.

Military Construction

• $850,000 for construction design of drydock facilities at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard;
• $5.4 million for construction design of the Hawaii National Guard’s Joint Forces Readiness Center; and
• $4.0 million for construction of a ground control tower at Hickam AFB.

Military Research and Testing

• Four different projects totaling $9 million for defense research and development of new sensor technologies and advanced detection systems.

Abercrombie also added $600 million to the legislation for the country’s National Guard and Reserve forces to replace worn out and battle damaged equipment from repeated Iraq deployments.  After two deployments, the Hawaii National Guard has been forced to leave communications and emergency gear in-country for the next unit rotating in.  Concerns have been raised in several states about the Guard’s ability to fully respond to natural disasters or other emergencies.

He also prevailed in the Defense Bill in his push for a back-up engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, , which is still in development.  Congress has argued for several years that having an alternate engine, in case of problems with the first, will ultimately save money.  In fact, a Defense Department report concludes that a back-up engine will ultimately save the F-35 program $2.2 billion.

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