Conference Report on H.R. 1585, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008

CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 1585, NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008 -- (House of Representatives - December 12, 2007)

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Mr. TURNER. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to thank Chairman Skelton and Ranking Member Hunter for their leadership in completing the conference report for FY08 National Defense Authorization Act.

On December 6, Chairman Skelton announced that an agreement had been reached on the conference report stating that ``this bill supports the troops, restores readiness, and improves accountability.''

I would like to point out that this bill includes a key policy provision that directly supports our troops. This bill will amend the Service Members Civil Relief Act to protect the children and custody arrangements of servicemembers deployed in a contingency operation. This provision is important because it protects our deployed troops from courts that have been overturning established custody arrangements while a servicemember is serving our country in a contingency operation such as Iraq or Afghanistan.

Today, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill because it provides the child custody protection that our deployed troops deserve. Much is asked of our servicemembers, and mobilization can disrupt and strain relationships at home. This additional protection is needed to provide them peace of mind that the courts will not undertake judicial proceedings considering their established custody rights without them. This amendment protects them, and it protects their children.

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