“Mr. Chairman, Congressman McKeon, as the Chairwoman of the Military Personnel Subcommittee, I am pleased to bring before the committee the military personnel mark.  I want to thank my ranking member, Mr. Wilson, for his contributions in putting together this mark.  Particularly, thank you, Mr. Chairman for your support and leadership.

 “I am proud that this mark continues to improve the quality of life for our service members, their families, and military survivors—in fact, let me recognize the Gold Star Wives who are in the audience.  Service members and their families are bearing the burden of multiple deployments after nearly eight years of conflict.  It is our responsibility to support our men and women in uniform and their families, given the enormous sacrifices they are making in defense of our nation.

 “We all agree men and women in the service—are the heart—of our nation’s security.  All the weapon systems in the world cannot substitute for their competency, dedication, and sacrifice.  Recent surveys show that 94 percent of military families do not believe the American people truly understand the sacrifices they are making on behalf of our country.  We have a responsibility to help change that in way that we approach this authorization bill.
 
 “Thankfully, this year 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.  

 “We could have included a prohibition on fees this year, but it would have created a false sense of security that prohibitions on health care fees would continue 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. 

 “As the previous two chairs of the subcommittee, Dr. Snyder and Mr. McHugh, and I have stated in the previous three National Defense Authorization Acts, this committee shares the department’s concern about the rise in health care costs, that any changes to the health care benefit require careful and deliberate consideration, with a full accounting of the impact of any changes to the entire system.

 “Some of the highlights of the bill include:

 “A 3.4 percent pay raise, which is 0.5 percent higher than the President’s budget request.  Those who are serving on the front lines every day have earned this pay raise.  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 percent to 2.4 percent, from a high of 13.5 percent during fiscal year 1999.

 “This year we chose to recognize military families for the tremendous sacrifices they too are making in defense of our nation.  The mark includes a number of initiatives that are focused on military families.  These include coverage under TRICARE for reservists called to duty at least 180 days prior to mobilization for themselves and their families, and TRICARE dental coverage for survivors to correspond with their TRICARE medical coverage.  We also extend the maximum number of leave days a member may accumulate and carry over, since the constant demand on the force means that many members are unable to use their accumulated leave in the short time they have available.

 “We continue to provide for our wounded warriors by providing travel and transportation benefits for up to three people to travel to visit a wounded, ill or injured member who is hospitalized during any 60 day period, and we allow the services to provide travel and transportation benefits to non-medical attendants who provide support to very seriously or seriously wounded, ill or injured service members.

 “The subcommittee continues its oversight and commitment to significantly reducing sexual assaults and harassment within the Department of Defense.  The mark builds upon the past programs and policies and moves forward on efforts to reduce sexual assault and harassment within the Department of Defense.  I would like to thank the following committee members for their help and support in crafting the provision included in the mark.  Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Turner, Ms. Tauscher, Ms. Bordallo, Ms. McMorris-Rodgers, Ms. Shea-Porter, Ms. Giffords, Ms. Tsongas, Ms. Fallin, Ms. Pingree, and Mr. Loebsack.  I would also like to thank Ms. Harman for her contributions.

 “Local communities continue to feel the pressure of the growth in the force and the force structure changes that have been occurring across the country.  Given the current economic climate, many continue to struggle to support military families in their communities.  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 did not have the mandatory offsets to pay for the $5.1 billion proposal within the subcommittee’s allocation.   There are some who believe that the Chairman of the Budget Committee can use the reserve fund within the budget to provide us the mandatory allocation.  Unfortunately, this is not true.  The reserve fund allows the Chair to adjust the allocations of the committees or the aggregate budget for legislation containing specific initiatives provided that the legislation complies with the House PAYGO rule.

 “The Democratic leadership continues to work with us and a resolution is expected by the time we reach the floor.  I must remind my colleagues, we all know how difficult it is dealing with mandatory scoring.  If it was easy, we would have addressed these issues years ago.

 “I appreciate the contributions of all the members of the committee, and my colleagues on the subcommittee.  While we could not accommodate all the requests that were brought before us, we have addressed many important ideas and proposals.  I urge my colleagues to support this mark, and I appreciate the support of the ranking member, Mr. Wilson.  Also, the exemplary staff led by Ms. Debra Wada, Mike Higgins, Dave Kildee, and Craig Greene.

 “Mr. Wilson, are there any comments that you would like to make?”