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Military Reserve and National
Guard
Today 50 percent of the troops in Iraq are members of the
Reserve and National Guard units, with many having served
three tours of duty. Although these soldiers have been asked
to perform similar duties as all those “in theater”,
their benefits continue to lag behind their active duty counterparts.
That is why I am proud to have joined with fellow House Democrats
in introducing the GI Bill of Rights for the 21st Century
(HR2131), to honor the bravery of our troops and the tremendous
sacrifices that their families have made. This legislative
package was created to provide equity for all our servicemen
and women with better protections and improved benefits. It
will also guarantee homecoming veterans improved access to
education, health care and the opportunity for good jobs as
well as repealing unfair tax burdens on military families.
Specifically, this legislation will:
• Require fair treatment of active and reserve forces
equally as to the lengths of their deployments
• Ensure that Guard and reserve units serving overseas
get the pay they deserve, accurately and on time
• Open access to the TRICARE health system for all guard
and reserve personnel
• Provide funds to service members’ families to
help secure access to child care and development programs
• Lower the reservist retirement age from 60 to 55
• Establish a Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel
and Readiness (Reserve Affairs) under the Secretary of Defense
to be responsible for the overall supervision of reserve component
affairs of the Department of Defense
• Provide potential recruits with a detailed explanation
of their commitment to the military, including how “Stop
Loss” orders and call-ups of the Individual Ready Reserve
or other potential special circumstances or declarations could
affect their military contract.
FY 2006 Defense Funding
The Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year
2006 (PL 109-148), which I supported, provided $453.2 billion
for the military and defense. The bill provides a 3.1 percent
pay increase for military personnel, provides $50 billion
in emergency supplemental funding to cover operations in Iraq
and Afghanistan for the first half of the year, $29 billion
for Gulf Coast hurricane relief, and $3.8 billion for flu
preparedness. In addition, the bill includes programs important
to Connecticut, such as the F/A-22 Raptor, Joint Strike Fighter,
submarines and Black Hawk Helicopters.
In addition, I have co-sponsored and supported the following
legislation during the109th session of Congress which collectively
provides additional benefits to individual soldiers and their
families:
The Military Death Benefit Improvement Act of 2005
(H.R. 292)- Increases from $12,000 to $100,000 the
death gratuity payable to the survivors of members of the
Armed Forces who die in combat while on active duty or as
a result of combat related injuries.
HOPE at HOME Act (H.R. 383)- Entitles a Federal
employee who is a member of a reserve component and is absent
from Federal employment under a call or order to active duty
for a period of more than 30 days to the difference between
the amount of the civilian base pay that would otherwise have
been payable to such employee for such period and the amount
of military compensation received for the active-duty service.
Military Health Services Improvement Act of 2005 (H.R.
1639)- Which requires members of the Armed Forces
to receive mental health evaluations before and after combat
deployment.
Amendments to Title 10 United States Code (H.R. 1666)-
Provides for a temporary five-year increase in the minimum
end-strength levels for active-duty personnel for the Armed
Forces and increases the number of Special Operations Forces.
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