Fort Benning, Ga. — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff continues to push to improve infrastructure at Ft. Benning.
Sen. Ossoff, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, held a hearing about funding priorities for military construction projects and highlighted key projects in Georgia, including the need for continued upgrades at Ft. Benning.
Sen. Ossoff serves as the top Democrat on the Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee, positioning him to fight for and deliver Federal funding for key Georgia projects impacting national security, military readiness, quality of life for servicemembers and military families, and more.
During the hearing, Sen. Ossoff spoke with Lieutenant General Michelle Donahue, Deputy Chief of Staff for Army Logistics for the United States Army and raised concern that Fort Benning projects were not being prioritized in this year’s budget.
“General Donahue, I want to raise some serious concerns about Fort Benning. You know how important this facility is: over 100,000 soldiers are trained every year at Fort Benning –– that’s extraordinary; home of the Army Maneuver Center of Excellence, the Armor School, the Infantry School,” Ranking Member Ossoff said. “So much important work and projects on post that we’ve known for years need to be prioritized, advanced skills training barracks at Camp Merrill, for example, but General, despite the historic budget request for military construction as a whole, I don’t see Fort Benning getting the kind of prioritization and attention that it needs from the Department and the administration. In fact, Fort Benning has not received any military construction projects in this budget request, nor are any future projects listed in the UPL [unfunded priorities list] or on the FYDP [future years defense plan]. So why?”
“I have been working for years now for a replacement for Dexter Elementary, that’s really important for those families down there in Columbus,” Ranking Member Ossoff also said. “But I just want to highlight again that you know, we know there are other infrastructure and MilCon needs at the base. There are no MilCon requests from the Army for Fort Benning. We know, for example, that Camp Merrill, needs these upgrades. So, let’s just work together to make sure that this vital installation is not being taken for granted. I know you care about it. I know the Army cares about it. I know you care about it, Mr. Marks. I’m just a bit concerned by the lack of attention in this year’s base budget, so we’ll work together on that.”
Sen. Ossoff secured Lieutenant General Donahue’s commitment to work with him and the Subcommittee to ensure Ft. Benning’s infrastructure needs are addressed.
Click here to watch Sen. Ossoff’s line of questioning.
###
