Lantos, Graves ask House Colleagues to Ensure Fair Pay for Reservists, National Guard Members
Lantos, Graves ask House Colleagues to Ensure Fair Pay for Reservists, National Guard Members
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Washington, D.C. - Congressmen Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Sam Graves (R-MO), joined by 72 other House members, are supporting a Senate measure that provides payments of up to $3,000 per month to members of the National Guard and Reserve who suffer income loss during extended mobilizations.
In a letter to House negotiators on the pending Defense Department authorization bill, Lantos, Graves and their colleagues note that Reservists and National Guard members serving in Afghanistan and Iraq "are struggling to keep up with mortgage, car, child care, and education payments on substantially less income than they enjoyed as civilians prior to extended deployments."
"The prospect of a substantial loss of income is having a profound effect our country's ability to recruit and retain our citizen soldiers," Lantos said. "These men and women are a valuable and necessary component of our armed services. It is unconscionable that we would make our citizen-soldiers choose between the financial security of their families and service to our country."
"I don't think soldiers should have to take a pay cut for serving their country," said Graves. "This is a bi-partisan, common sense bill that will help many soldiers and their families."
The provision, authored by Senators Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Richard Durbin (R-IL), allows for income replacement payments after a soldier has served six consecutive months of service. The House version of the bill included a similar provision, but with payments starting only after 18 months - a potential pay gap of up to $54,000, which Lantos called "a cold-hearted short-changing of those who serve in our name."
The provision in the Senate-approved bill is an important first step in fixing the "pay gap," one of the top problems facing Reserve and National Guard members. More than half of the members of the National Guard and Reserve report that they face a loss of income when mobilized for long periods of active duty because their military pay is less than their civilian pay. The average income loss is $4,400 per year, and more than 10 percent of Reservists and National Guard members report losing more than $2,500 a month when they go on active duty. At the same time, recruitment rates for the year are currently 24 percent below normal for the Army National Guard and 20 percent below normal for the Army Reserve.
http://lantos.house.gov/HoR/CA12/Newsroom/Press+Releases/2005/PR_051213_Reservists_Bill.htm