Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is continuing his efforts to improve housing for military families.
As a follow-up to his eight-month bipartisan investigation into the mistreatment of military families in privatized housing last April, Sen. Ossoff launched a bipartisan inquiry with the Department of Defense alongside Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) to improve data collection about privatized housing conditions that may pose a risk to military families’ health and safety.
The DoD’s Office of the Inspector General found that the Pentagon currently does not collect sufficient information on health threats or other harmful conditions found in privatized housing units.
“Due to this lack of information, the military services were unable to consistently track housing conditions that may have led to asthma, lead poisoning, cancers, and other adverse conditions among service members and their families,” the Senators wrote in the letter to Defense Secretary Austin.
The bipartisan group of Senators are pushing for prompt answers from DoD regarding actionable steps the agency will take to effectively monitor the state of these privatized housing units—ensuring they are prioritizing the health and safety of military families in Georgia and across the nation.
This is the latest action in Sen. Ossoff’s continued work to protect military families living in privatized housing.
Last year, as Chair of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Sen. Ossoff led an eight-month bipartisan investigation into the mistreatment of military families in privatized housing at Fort Gordon.
The day after he announced the results of his investigation, the Army launched their own probe into privatized housing conditions on Ft. Gordon.
In the months following the bombshell investigation — which found evidence of misconduct, ranging from unmet work orders to mold-infested apartments — Sen. Ossoff launched follow-up inquiries to the Army pushing for its own investigation and further oversight of privatized military housing.
In January, in response to Sen. Ossoff’s push, the Army committed to conducting unit-by-unit inspections of privatized housing on military bases across the country, starting first with Ft. Gordon.
Last year, Sen. Ossoff also helped introduce a bipartisan bill to bring more oversight and transparency to the entire military housing process.
Click here to read Sens. Ossoff, Scott, and Rubio’s bipartisan inquiry.
