Reps. Whitesides, Houlahan, Haridopolos Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Bolster Military Readiness for Natural Disasters

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Reps. George Whitesides, Chrissy Houlahan, and Mike Haridopolos introduced the bipartisan Military Readiness Through Resilient Lands Act, legislation that instructs the Department of Defense to develop and maintain goals and metrics to assess natural resources on military installations. Natural disasters, such as wildfires and floods, and deterioration of environmental conditions can compromise important operations on military installations, reducing military preparedness and posing risks to national security. This bill asks the Department of the Defense to assess technologies that could be used to monitor their natural resources, which would enable better preparation on military installations for natural disasters and other threats to the ecosystem.

"As our nation's military continues to protect our country, it is imperative that our bases and installations are prepared for potential threats, including natural disasters," said Rep. Whitesides. "If a wildfire strikes a military installation, like we saw in Camp Pendleton earlier this year, it could shut down its operations, putting all of us at risk. Through the use of advanced technology and cutting-edge monitoring systems, our military can better understand the natural resources that exist on their installations, and take preventative actions to protect the installation from threats like natural disasters."

"As ranking member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel, I believe readiness begins with protecting our servicemembers and ensuring they have safe, resilient installations where they can live, work, and train. Wildfires, flooding, and other effects of a changing climate can threaten our people, disrupt operations, and undermine mission readiness," said Rep. Houlahan. "I am proud to co-lead the Military Readiness Through Resilient Lands Act with Congressman Whitesides to give military leaders better data and modern tools to manage our natural resources, strengthen installation resilience, and keep our forces safe and ready."

"America's military bases are critical to keeping our country safe, and it's important that they stay strong and ready to do their jobs," said Rep. Haridopolos. "The Military Readiness Through Resilient Lands Act protects our land and natural resources around these bases that are needed for training and operations, using improved technology and better information to make sure our military stays prepared to meet new challenges."

Specifically, the Military Readiness Through Resilient Lands Act directs the Department of Defense to:

• Evaluate, test, and, where appropriate, use, technologies and methodologies to improve natural resources programs on military installations.
• Assess natural resources and ecosystem services on military installations to allow for the comparison of conditions and trends concerning wildfire risk and fuels conditions, flood risk, ecosystem conditions, and biodiversity within that installation.
• Provide consistent and regular updates to data for use in integrated natural resource management plans.
• Add additional information to a report that the Department of Defense gives to Congress concerning progress made and benefits of using the metrics, technologies, methods, and data.

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