National Military Appreciation Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, 25 years ago, the month of May was designated National Military Appreciation Month by an act of Congress introduced by the late Senator John McCain, a war hero from the State of Arizona.

Since then, throughout every May, our Nation observes a series of military events: On May 8, Victory in Europe Day, the date Nazi Germany surrendered in World War II; May 10, Military Spouse Appreciation Day, to recognize the exacting service of military spouses; and, May 18, Armed Forces Day, to honor the roughly 1.4 million people who serve as Active-Duty troops in all six branches and the 760,000 National Guard and Reserves, every one of them volunteers.

Lastly, on May 27, our Nation will observe its most solemn national holiday, Memorial Day, when across the country events will be held at military gravesites and veteran gathering places to remember and pray for those who gave their lives in defense of our Nation's freedoms and security.

Mr. Speaker, the definition of appreciation is to express gratitude. Gratitude can come in many forms, verbal, which certainly counts, but the most meaningful is tangible support for the disruption and sacrifice that the hard work of military service entails.

Mr. Speaker, I have the honor to represent eastern Connecticut, home to the largest military installation in New England, with 9,000 sailors, officers, and DOD support personal, the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, and the highest concentration of veterans in the State of Connecticut.

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a Veterans' Coffeehouse nearby the submarine base, a monthly event hosted at Filomena's, a restaurant owned and operated by Michael Buscetto, whose amazing staff and volunteers donate a piping hot breakfast to 50 or so local vets to share war stories, have a few laughs, and catch up on new developments for the veteran community. I was asked to provide a legislative update on a variety of those issues.

The most prominent was a progress report on the milestone PACT Act signed into law by President Biden in 2022 that finally knocked down barriers to healthcare and benefits to millions of veterans exposed to toxins during the Vietnam war, the Gulf war, radiation cleanup, and Camp Lejeune, the most significant expansion of benefits and services to toxic-exposed veterans ever.

Since the bill was signed, implementation has moved fast, as this chart shows. As of a few days ago, the VA reported that over 1 million PACT Act-related claims have now been granted, delivering more than $5.7 billion of benefits to veterans and their survivors. Over 145,000 new veterans have enrolled in VA healthcare, and over 5.4 million free toxic exposure screenings were given to all veterans whether they are enrolled in the VA or not. The law was further expanded a few months ago, to include veterans who not only served overseas, but also those who only served in the continental U.S. and are suffering from the cancers and heart disease caused by toxic exposure.

I also briefed the coffeehouse on a new measure, which the House Armed Services Committee, on which I sit, will take up tomorrow, the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement Act as part of the annual National Defense Authorization Act. This bill, thanks to the bipartisan efforts of the Quality of Life Panel, will provide additional resources and new authorities for servicemembers and their families. This effort could not come too soon.

Last year, for the first time in over 20 years, the Air Force missed its Active Duty enlisted recruiting goal. The Army fell short of 10,000 enlisted recruits, and the Navy fell short over 7,000 enlisted sailors and 2,000 officers.

Included in this bill for tomorrow are authorities to alleviate pay discrepancies for junior enlisted servicemembers, combat food insecurity, support childcare, and spousal employment opportunities. Importantly, the bill authorizes a 19.5 percent increase in military pay for junior enlisted servicemembers.

The bill will also cover 100 percent of basic allowance for housing to ensure that servicemembers can cover the cost of housing no matter where they are stationed. It will also make the basic needs allowance available to all servicemembers with dependents whose income is less than 200 percent of the poverty guidelines, making more servicemembers eligible for the program.

Incredibly, the panel documented that 25 percent of junior enlisted servicemembers today are forced to enroll in food stamps in order to put food on the table for their families.

Lastly, the DOD will be given the authority to transfer professional licenses between States for military spouses, and fully fund childcare fee assistance programs to eliminate wait lists for eligible families.

This is the sort of meaningful gratitude that truly adheres to the goals of Military Appreciation Month. As John McCain often quoted George Washington: ``The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive how the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.''

These powerful and wise words are true today more than ever with an all-volunteer force, and we should finish the job for successful implementation of the PACT Act and pass this year's quality of life bill as soon as possible.

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