U.S. Rep. Jason Crow was among the House members to travel to the Fort Hood Army base in Texas to investigate the approximately 30 service member deaths at the facility this year and the conditions there.

The lawmakers traveled to Fort Hood on Sept. 18, where they spoke to soldiers, spouses, leadership and others about problems with the culture at the base and the health and well-being of families.

“I was ashamed by the conditions of some of the barracks we visited last week, which appeared to lack basic maintenance and cleanliness,” said Crow, a former Army Ranger. “The leaders of those units must be held accountable. The men and women who serve and sacrifice so much for us deserve so much better. I believe that the new senior leadership we met with last week is committed to fixing the issues we saw, but they have a heavy lift in front of them.”

U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., the chair of the Military Personnel Subcommittee, said the trip had convinced her that more congressional oversight of the base was necessary. High-profile murders at Fort Hood, including that of Vanessa Guillén, as well as six suicides and eight accidental deaths, have focused attention on the installation. Speier said people told her “I don’t feel safe on the base,” and Crow and others reported learning about mold in military housing and broken chairs in classrooms.

The other House members who took the trip with Crow and Speier were U.S. Reps. Gilbert R. Cisneros, D-Calif., Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., Katherine Clark, D-Mass., Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.