U.S. Rep. Kaialiʻi Kahele has been selected by the House Democratic Steering Committee to serve on the House Armed Services Committee.
The House Armed Services Committee includes six subcommittees: Tactical Air and Land Forces; Military Personnel; Readiness; Seapower and Projection Forces; Strategic Forces; and Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities, according to a press release from Kahele’s office.
The committee retains jurisdiction for defense policy generally, ongoing military operations, the organization and reform of the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy, counter-drug programs, security cooperation and humanitarian assistance activities (except special operations-related activities) of the Department of Defense, acquisition and industrial base policy, technology transfer and export controls, joint interoperability, detainee affairs and policy, force protection policy, and inter-agency reform as it pertains to the Department of Defense and the nuclear weapons programs of the Department of Energy.
Kahele was previously named to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, one of the largest committees in Congress, that has jurisdiction over all modes of transportation: aviation, maritime and waterborne transportation, highways, bridges, mass transit, and railroads.
“Contributing to the work of the House Armed Services Committee will be an honor,” Kahele said in a statement. “The opportunity to set military and defense policy is an important responsibility. Ensuring that our men and women in uniform have the training and resources they need is imperative to their safety and the safety of our Nation. As a Lieutenant Colonel in the Hawaii Air National Guard with twenty years of experience as an aviator, most recently as a C-17 Instructor Pilot and Mission Commander, I am uniquely aware of the needs of our military and our State.
“Hawaii plays a critical role in supporting our defense and diplomatic objectives location in the Indo-Pacific, the Department of Defense’s priority theater and most consequential region for America’s future. The security of the American people must be our top priority. We also have a duty to prioritize care for our veterans and military families. I will work diligently so that all of our military members, active-duty, reserve, and National Guard receive the support they deserve,” he continued.