Rep. John Moolenaar is now the chairman of the House Select Committee on China. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Moolenaar said his committee received information that shows "an alarming lack of urgency by the Department of Defense in adopting defensive measures."
"U.S. bases in the region have almost no hardened aircraft shelters compared to Chinese military bases," he said. "In addition, a DoD regulation involving World War II-era munitions is substantially delaying and driving up the costs of construction projects in Guam and [the Northern Mariana Islands] aimed at building a more resilient posture for our forces to withstand Chinese attacks and continue operations."
Moolenaar added: "We urge immediate changes."
Moolenaar sent the letter to military leaders, along with a number of his congressional colleagues, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
Reps. Robert Wittman, R-Va., Blaine Luetkeymeyer, R-Mo., Andy Barr, R-Ky., Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., Darin LaHood, R-Ill., Neal P. Dunn, R-Fla., Jim Banks, R-Ind., Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., Michelle Steel, R-Calif., Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, and Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., also signed onto the letter.
Moolenaar and his colleagues said U.S. bases and air assets are "highly vulnerable to Chinese strikes."
A B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber from the 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, on March 24, 2005, at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. (Bennie J. Davis/USAF via Getty Images)
"Our bases in the Indo-Pacific are unacceptably vulnerable to Chinese strikes," Moolenaar told Fox News Digital. "We don’t have enough hardened shelters to protect our aircraft and personnel."
Moolenaar told Fox News Digital that the Pentagon’s "own regulations are significantly delaying critical construction projects."
"We’re years behind the mark to harden our bases," Moolenaar told Fox News Digital. "Today, I’m imploring Pentagon leaders to begin this critical construction before China decides it’s too late."
Moolenaar’s warning comes as his congressional colleagues have pointed, specifically, to Guam as a region in need of additional attention.
Guam is the westernmost U.S. territory in the Indo-Pacific region and home to about 170,000 U.S. citizens. The Department of Defense owns approximately a quarter of the land on Guam and has a military force of nearly 7,000 active-duty service members on the island.
Guam hosts Naval Base Guam, the Navy’s only submarine base in the western Pacific, as well as Anderson Air Force Base, a large air base able to host U.S. strategic bombers and fighters.
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But Guam is significantly closer to Beijing than it is to Hawaii, and is within range of nuclear-capable missiles owned by the People’s Republic of China and North Korea.
U.S. officials have warned that China has spent decades developing both short- and intermediate-range missiles that can target Guam.
Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.
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