Proudly Restoring Officers of Prior Enlistment Retirement Act
Floor Speech
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the Proudly Restoring Officers of Prior Enlistment Retirement, or PROPER, Act legislation that I will be introducing this week that will support America's involuntarily separated serv ice mem bers.
For the first time since the 1990s, the Army is shrinking. As our military continues to draw down in the Middle East, all service branches have been tasked with making difficult force reduction decisions.
Our All-Volunteer service has made considerable sacrifices, valiantly fighting two concurrent wars while solely remaining dedicated to the mission at hand.
As the Pentagon continues to implement a drawdown policy, provisions in the law could create unwarranted and unnecessary reductions to military retirement pay for thousands of involuntarily separated serv ice mem bers.
Mr. Speaker, these men and women have honorably served our country and deserve better. For example, some prior enlisted soldiers who received a commission into the officer corps are now facing a difficult situation. Years after being commissioned, the Army has made the determination to relieve these experienced soldiers from military service.
To make the situation worse, many of these individuals do not have the required time in the officer corps and are forced to receive a lesser retirement pension. Mr. Speaker, after having earned an officer's rank, these soldiers have been reduced in rank for retirement purposes.
Mr. Speaker, our soldiers have honorably served our country and deserve better. These men and women deserve to collect full pension and benefits equivalent to their service in uniform and not subjected to an arbitrary reduction in rank and pay after being involuntarily separated from the military.
To prevent this injustice, I will soon be introducing the Proudly Restoring Officers of Prior Enlistment Retirement, or PROPER, Act. The PROPER Act does not prevent further troop reduction. It merely assures these soldiers and those affected, through each military branch, can be made financially whole with due respect for their service.
Source