[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H10892-H10894]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ARMY RESERVE-NATIONAL GUARD EQUITY REIMBURSEMENT ACT
Mr. BATEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 2796) to authorize the reimbursement of members of the Army
deployed to Europe in support of operations in Bosnia for certain out-
of-pocket expenses incurred by the members during the period beginning
October 1, 1996, and ending on May 31, 1997, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 2796
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Army Reserve-National Guard
Equity Reimbursement Act''.
SEC. 2. REIMBURSEMENT OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMY DEPLOYED IN
EUROPE IN SUPPORT OF BOSNIA OPERATIONS FOR OUT-
OF-POCKET EXPENSES INCURRED TO TRANSPORT
PERSONAL PROPERTY.
(a) Reimbursement Authorized.--The Secretary of the Army
may reimburse an individual described in subsection (b) for
expenses incurred by that individual while a member of the
Army for shipment of personal property of the individual to
or from Europe during the period beginning on October 1,
1996, and ending on May 31, 1997, if the shipment of the
personal property, if made on June 1, 1997, would have been
covered by a temporary change of station weight allowance for
shipment of personal property authorized by the Department of
the Army. Such reimbursement shall be made from amounts
available as of the date of the enactment of this section for
the payment of the temporary change of station weight
allowance.
(b) Covered Individuals.--An individual referred to in
subsection (a) is an individual who, as a member of the Army
during the period beginning on October 1, 1996, and ending on
May 31, 1997, was deployed from the United States to Europe
in support of operations in Bosnia or reassigned from Europe
to United States upon the completion of such deployment, or
both, under travel orders that did not authorize a temporary
change of station weight allowance for shipment of personal
property of the member.
The SPEAKER pro tempore [Mr. Snowbarger]. Pursuant to the rule, the
gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Bateman] and the gentleman from California
[Mr. Dellums] each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Bateman].
[[Page H10893]]
Mr. BATEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2796 would not direct, but would indeed authorize
reimbursement for certain out-of-pocket expenses incurred by certain
members of the United States Army who were deployed to Europe in
support of the Bosnian operations in late 1996.
The bill has been amended from the introduced version to more clearly
specify who in the Army is eligible for such reimbursement if the
Secretary of the Army elects to exercise its authority.
The Army supports this initiative, and I am not aware of any
controversy at this time associated with the bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DELLUMS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the bill before us today, H.R. 2796, is an example of
what I and more than 50 of our colleagues consider good governmental
legislation. This bill will correct a gross inequity that impacts upon
approximately 4,200 of our Army Reserve and National Guard personnel
who are deployed in Europe in support of our operations in Bosnia.
It will provide the necessary statutory authority for the Army to
reimburse those soldiers, who had to take money out of their pockets to
pay for shipment of personnel items, which the Army has paid for in the
past and has started to pay for again.
I am especially pleased that this legislation has been developed at
the request of the Department, in that it demonstrates their sincere
concern for the welfare of the junior grade enlisted personnel who are
the intended beneficiaries of this legislation.
Further, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be the cosponsor of this bill,
and I would like at this time to extend my congratulations to my
distinguished colleague, the gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs.
Clayton], for persisting in this effort. I underscore for emphasis
``persisting in this effort.''
Mr. Speaker, the distinguished gentlewoman brought this matter to my
attention several weeks ago. We were not able to address this matter in
the normal course of events in the context of the conference report
that was the vehicle for our fiscal year 1998 defense authorization
bill, but were able to do it in this context.
Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman, as I said, brought this matter to my
attention and worked with great diligence to bring us to this moment. I
again congratulate the gentlewoman and loudly applaud her for her
efforts on behalf of the 4,200 men and women of our Army Reserves and
National Guard.
Mr. DELLUMS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the
distinguished gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton]
Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I also want to commend both sides of the
House, both the majority and the minority on this issue, for allowing
this to come up. I want to pay particular attention to the care and
attention and the direction that the gentleman from California [Mr.
Dellums] gave to this issue, and thank the gentleman from Virginia [Mr.
Bateman] for leading this effort on his side. We would not be here
unless there was cooperation on both sides. I want to acknowledge that.
This issue came to me because 125 National Guardsmen in eastern North
Carolina had experience going at the direction of their country,
serving their country they thought well, but also having to pay for
that engagement. What it meant was they had to pay for the shipment of
their personal goods back to the United States.
Here before, military personnel would be reimbursed for the shipment
of their personal goods. Why? Because there had been an administrative
change or policy change within the administration of the Pentagon.
When we brought that to them, they said unless we actually sought
legislative remedy, they could not make this correction, which we
thought was an issue of fairness for the 125 military personnel in
eastern North Carolina. We did it for the whole. So this particular
legislation now is going to enable more than 4,200 individuals to be
reimbursed, as they should be, for the transfer of their personal goods
back home.
I think it is an issue of fairness; I think it is an issue of
respect, the respect we have traditionally given our military, that if
they incur expenses, certainly we ought to reimburse them.
Also I think it is an issue of respect for our junior personnel,
because oftentimes we forget they, too, have expenses that they seem to
think are big. $400 or $500 may not be big to us, but for junior
personnel it is indeed an expense item that they would like to have
reimbursed.
Again, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank everyone involved in this, all of
the members of this committee, because 125 people in eastern North
Carolina will be delighted to know now they can be reimbursed. I
suspect the 4,200 personnel across the country are appreciative for
this Congress correcting what was an injustice to them.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time, and thank
the gentleman from California [Mr. Dellums] for his leadership.
Mr. DELLUMS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
distinguished gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Skelton].
Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for
yielding me time.
Mr. Speaker, let me take this opportunity to congratulate the
gentlewoman from North Carolina for a matter of paying attention to
people she represents and trying to heal their financial reverses as a
result of serving our Nation as Members of the National Guard. She not
only helps them, but helps National Guardsmen all over the country. We
thank the gentlewoman, from Missouri National Guardsmen, and, I know as
well, from other Members across our country.
I have had, Mr. Speaker, the opportunity to visit with American
National Guardsmen in Europe, in Germany, in Bosnia and in Hungary.
They serve well, and they serve ably. In the process they are giving up
a great deal. They are away from their homes, they are away from their
work, they are away from their family, and they are serving as
honorably as anyone in uniform.
For us not to pass this piece of legislation that makes them whole
financially and on reimbursement for items they necessarily had to
purchase in Europe would be a mistake. So I wholeheartedly support the
effort of the gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton], and the
gentleman from California, as well as the gentleman from Virginia.
Mr. DELLUMS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. McHale].
Mr. McHALE. Mr. Speaker, I, too, thank the gentleman from California
for yielding me this time.
Mr. Speaker, I want to point out this is really an extremely
important effort on behalf of our Army and National Guard participating
soldiers. The gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton] has
stepped forward today with a piece of legislation that will be very
important to 4,206 Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers who,
unfortunately, because of an administrative error, were not given the
proper reimbursement on the shipment of personal goods.
This really goes beyond the shipment of personal items. The
Representative from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton] recognizes when these
troops deploy to and from an overseas mission, they deserve to get a
level of equity which, unfortunately, was not provided in this case.
There are no second-class soldiers in the United States Army. This
corrects that inequity. It is, in fact, the Army Reserve-National Guard
Equity Reimbursement Act, and I strongly urge my colleagues on both
sides of the aisle to support the legislation.
Mr. DELLUMS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
distinguished gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Taylor].
Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I would like to join the long
list of people commending the gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs.
Clayton] for bringing this to our attention.
Over 4,200 reservists will be affected in their pocketbooks by this.
They do not make much money. Most of them volunteered to go to Bosnia.
Some of them were involuntarily called up. All of them took a pay cut,
in all probability, to serve their country. So it is very important
that, where we can and
[[Page H10894]]
when we can, we see to it that they incur no unnecessary expense in
doing so.
Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the gentlewoman from North Carolina
[Mrs. Clayton] for bringing this to our attention. I want to commend
the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Buyer] and the gentleman from Virginia
[Mr. Bateman] for allowing this to come to the floor today. We are
definitely doing the best thing for those people in uniform.
Mr. DELLUMS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I would simply like to conclude by indicating that I
would have liked very much for this matter to have been dealt with in
the context of the conference report that accompanied the defense
authorization for fiscal year 1998. In that regard, this would, in a
few short days perhaps, have been signed into law. But I am pleased we
are at least taking this step.
My hope is by the House of Representatives taking this step, we will
have sent the appropriate signal to the other body to act with dispatch
on this matter that cries out for equity and cries out for action.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BATEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Buyer].
Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Subcommittee on
Military Readiness for yielding me this time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the legislation to correct
these errors with regard to our troops. This is really basically, my
colleagues, support-the-troops legislation.
This legislation corrects a problem created earlier this year when,
due to an administrative change in Army policy, reservists deployed to
Bosnia were forced to pay out of their own pocket to ship their
personal goods home at the completion of their tour. Most of the
reservists called for the second rotation to Bosnia were affected by
this change.
This matter came to the attention of the authorizing Committee on
National Security really too late to deal with this issue effectively
in the defense bill this year.
I compliment the gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton] for
bringing this to everyone's attention. I am disappointed that the
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve affairs, Ms.
Sara Lister, would not have brought this immediately to the Committee
on National Security's attention. I know she brought this in response
to your inquiry, but I wish she had brought it right to the authorizing
committee. Perhaps, if she is listening, she is going to get that
warning order.
I urge my colleagues to support the legislation. The troops can be
reimbursed in a timely fashion for their selfless service to their
country. I agree with the ranking member that hopefully the Senate will
take this up immediately.
Mr. BATEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, let me add in conclusion my thanks and compliments to
the gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton] for having
determined that there was this problem and having brought it to our
attention in order that we could address the problem, one which
definitely needed to be addressed and which I am happy to have
cooperated in having the House hopefully pass in the next minute.
I hope also the Senate will take action on this and the President
will sign it in order that we can have the authority for these troops
to be paid that which they deserve.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Bateman] that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 2796, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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