Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, Teh Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005
EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT FOR DEFENSE, THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR, AND TSUNAMI RELIEF, 2005 -- (House of Representatives - March 15, 2005)
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Chairman, I thank my good friend and colleague from California for yielding me this time and for his incredible leadership on this important issue.
Mr. Chairman, a couple of weeks ago, six Navy Reserve Seabees prepared to depart from Worcester, Massachusetts, and 10 Marine Corps Reservists based in Worcester received their activation notice. They are now waiting to learn when and where they will be deployed. These are all too familiar events to every Member of this Chamber.
The citizen soldiers of the Guard and Reserves are fully integrated, vital components of our military force. They are essential to the success of any military operation, and they have fought and they have died wearing the uniform of this country. We are asking these brave men and women and their families, their employers and their communities to make tremendous sacrifices for us and our country. Many of them are now deployed for 12 or 18 months rather than the traditional 6 months.
This amendment recognizes this reality. We know that for every Guardsman and Reservist serving abroad, there is a family at home also making sacrifices for their country. Many of these families face a loss of income when their military pay is significantly less than their civilian pay. This pay gap forces Guard and Reservist families to pinch pennies to make ends meet. It is unacceptable that families of activated Guard and Reservists have to worry about how to put food on the table or pay the mortgage. It is unacceptable to force those families to run up their credit cards, take on extra jobs, work overtime, use their savings, borrow money, go on welfare or rely on food banks. Our soldiers have enough to worry about when they are deployed overseas. They should not have to worry about their family finances.
This amendment will help these families. It will reward those employers who are already doing the right thing by keeping their activated employees on payroll, and it will provide an incentive to other employers to join them in this patriotic service. It will also require the Federal Government to match the patriotism of the private sector by closing the pay gap for activated Federal employees. I am very proud to say that the State governments of Massachusetts and New Hampshire already make up the pay gap for State employees who have been activated by the Guard and Reserves. The Federal Government should follow their lead.
By passing this amendment, Congress can provide hope to families and communities here at home. I also hope it will provide some peace of mind to our brave men and women now serving in harm's way.
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