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“Good morning, we are here to markup the Military Personnel Subcommittee portion of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. The mark before members is a continuation of the subcommittee’s efforts to improve the quality of life for our service members and their families.
“Our country has been in conflict for nearly eight years, service members and their families are bearing the brunt of multiple deployments, with no foreseeable end in sight. It is important that we uphold our responsibility to care for those who volunteer to serve our nation in uniform and their families, given the sacrifices they are making in defense of our nation.
“It has been another challenging year for the subcommittee to support all the programs that were brought to our attention. Thankfully, the subcommittee did not have to deal with the dramatic increases to TRICARE fees and premiums previously proposed by the Department of Defense.
“Secretary Gates has indicated a willingness to work with the committee to address the significant growth in military health care expenditures. While we could have included a provision that prohibited fees this year, such a provision sends the wrong signal that we will be able to sustain continued prohibitions on health care fees in the future.
“We need to work together not only with the Department of Defense, but with those who represent our military personnel and their families to find a fair and equitable solution that protects our beneficiaries and ensures the financial viability of the military health care system for the future.
“I appreciate the support of Mr. Wilson, the ranking member, in working together on this mark.
“Some of the highlights of the bill include:
• A 3.4% pay raise, which is 0.5% higher than the President’s budget request. This is the eleventh consecutive year of pay raises above ECI and this raise will further reduce the gap between military and private sector raises from 2.9% to 2.4%, from a high of 13.5% during fiscal year 1999.
• This is the ‘Year of the Military Family.’ As such, we have included a number of initiatives that are focused on military families. These include a pilot program for spouse internships, transportation of a second privately owned vehicle to and from a non-foreign overseas area, and a requirement for the Secretary of Defense to study the appropriateness of the current housing standards. These are just a few of the provisions that we have included to support our military families.
• The demands on the Army and the increases in non-deployable soldiers are having an adverse impact on the Army’s effort to reduce dwell time, according to the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army. The mark includes authorization for the Army to increase its active duty end strength 30,000 above the 547,400 that is authorized for Fiscal Year 2010.
• Over the past several years, the subcommittee has maintained a focus on sexual assault and harassment, and remains committed to significantly reducing sexual assaults and harassment. The mark builds upon the current focus by senior military leadership and aids in those efforts to reduce sexual assault and harassment within the Department of Defense.
• The increase in the force and the accompanying force structure changes has had an impact on the local communities that support them. Therefore, the mark includes an authorization of $50 million in the Department of Defense Impact Aid program, and additional $15 million for local educational agencies directly impacted by force structure changes and BRAC.
“Unfortunately, the subcommittee was unable to include the disability compensation provision that was included in the President’s budget. We do not have the mandatory offsets to pay for this $5.1 billion proposal within the subcommittee. The Democratic leadership, however, is working with the committee and a resolution to the issue is expected.
“I appreciate the contributions of all the members of this subcommittee, and committee, in developing our mark. While we could not accommodate all the requests that were brought before our subcommittee, we were able to accommodate a sizable number of them. This is a good mark and I appreciate the support of the ranking member, Mr. Wilson.
“Mr. Wilson, are there any comments that you would like to make?”
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