[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 19, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S347-S348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WARNER (for himself, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. McCain, Mr. Smith 
        of New Hampshire, Mr. Inhofe, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Roberts, Mr. 
        Allard, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Lott, Mr. Mack, Mr. 
        Coverdell, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Hagel, and Mr. 
        Abraham):
  S. 4. A bill to improve pay and retirement equity for members of the 
Armed Forces; and for other purposes; to the Committee on Armed 
Services.


 The Soldiers', Sailors', Airmen's, and Marines' Bill of Rights Act of 
                                  1999

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, today Senator Lott, the Majority Leader, 
introduced S-4, The Soldiers', Sailors', Airmen's and Marines' Bill of 
Rights Act of 1999. This bill is an integral part of the National 
Security element of the Republican agenda that the Leader announced 
this morning.
  Last fall, Senator Lott, in an excellent exchange of letters with the 
President and Republican Chairmen, identified key problems with 
military pay levels and the military pay system. Following this 
exchange of letters, the Armed Services Committee held hearings on 
September 29, 1998 and again on January 5, 1999 in which General 
Shelton and the Service Chiefs described the many problems the military 
services were experiencing because of many years of shortfalls in 
funding. Particular emphasis was put on readiness, the retention of 
highly trained people and the inability to achieve recruiting goals.
  The testimony of the Joint Chiefs was courageous. They spoke very 
candidly of the problems borne by the men and women in the military and 
how increased defense funding was needed in order to begin to alleviate 
these problems.
  General Shelton and the Service Chiefs urged the President and the 
Congress to support a military pay raise that would begin to address 
inequities between military pay and civilian wages, and to resolve the 
inequity of the ``Redux'' retirement system.
  Senators Lott, McCain, and Roberts took an initiative and showed 
leadership in developing this legislation. These Senators worked within 
the Armed Services Committee to craft a bill that would address the 
problems identified by the Joint Chiefs in a comprehensive and 
responsible manner.
  The bill will provide military personnel a four-point-eight percent 
pay raise on January 1, 2000 and will require that future military pay 
raises be based on the annual Employment Cost Index plus one-half a 
percent. The bill restructures the military pay tables to recognize the 
value of promotions and to weight the pay raise toward mid-career NCOs 
and officers where retention is most critical. The Joint Chiefs 
testified that there is a pay gap between military and private sector 
wages of 14 percent. This bill moves aggressively to close this gap and 
ensure military personnel are compensated in an equitable manner.
  The bill provides military personnel who entered the service after 
July 31, 1986 the option to revert to the previous military retirement 
system that provided a 50 percent multiplier to their base pay averaged 
over their highest three years and includes full cost-of-living 
adjustments; or, to accept a $30,000 bonus and remain under the 
``Redux'' retirement system. The Joint Chiefs testified that the 
``Redux'' retirement system is responsible for an increasing number of 
mid-career military personnel deciding to leave the service. S-4 will 
offer these highly trained personnel an attractive option to 
incentivize them to continue to serve a full career.
  We will establish a Thrift Savings Plan that will allow service 
members to save up to five percent of their base pay, before taxes, and 
will permit them to directly deposit their enlistment and re-enlistment 
bonuses into their Thrift Savings Plan. In a separate section, the bill 
authorizes Service Secretaries to offer to match the Thrift Savings 
Plan contributions of those service members serving in critical 
specialities for a period of six years in return for a six year service 
commitment. This is a powerful tool to assist the services in retaining 
key personnel in the most critical specialities.
  Senator McCain was the key proponent of an initiative in the bill 
that would authorize a Special Subsistence Allowance to assist the most 
needy junior military personnel who are eligible for food stamps. The 
allowance would provide these families an additional $180 per month and 
will reduce the number of military families on the food stamp rolls.

  As I and other Members of the Senate, have visited military bases 
here in the United States, in Bosnia and in other deployment areas, we 
have found that our young service men and women are doing a tremendous 
job, in many cases, under adverse conditions. In order to demonstrate 
to these highly trained and dedicated military personnel that we 
appreciate their sacrifices and contributions, we must move quickly to 
pass this legislation. Such action will permit military personnel and 
their families to make the decision to continue to serve and will 
assist the military services in recruiting the high quality force we 
have worked so hard to achieve.
  I am proud to be a co-sponsor of this important legislation and will 
do my upmost to ensure its quick passage.
  Mr. McCain. Mr. President, I rise today with my Republican colleagues 
to introduce legislation, S. 4, to provide increased pay and retirement 
benefits to members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families. As one 
who has long warned that declining defense budgets and increasing 
commitments were propelling our military towards the infamous ``hollow 
force'' of the 1970s, I decided last October 7th to join with my 
friend, Senator Pat Roberts, to craft legislation, S. 2563, that would 
restore military retirement benefits to a full 50 percent of base pay 
for 20-year retirees in order to encourage highly trained, experienced 
military personnel to remain in the service. Unfortunately, because of 
time constraints, Congress did not act on the bill last year.

[[Page S348]]

  Since then I have worked closely with Senator Roberts and the 
Republican Leader, Senator Lott, to draft legislation that address the 
readiness concerns of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of 
Defense. This bill is a significant step toward addressing the pressing 
readiness problems afflicting our Armed Forces. The Joint Chiefs of 
Staff have repeatedly stated the current retirement and pay gap is 
their highest priority for solving the retention problem undermining 
the preparedness of our men and women in uniform.
  Specifically, this legislation which is sponsored by Majority Leader 
Lott, Senator Roberts, myself the distinguished Chairman of the Armed 
Services Committee and the other committee Republicans, includes a 4.8% 
pay raise, effective January 1, 2000, pay table reform, restored 
military retirement benefits to the pre-1986 level of 50 percent, 
Thrift Savings Plan proposals, and a Special Subsistence Allowance to 
help the neediest families in the Armed Forces, many of whom now 
require federal food stamp assistance.
  Mr. President, the Republican Leader has agreed to make this 
legislation a priority for the 106th Congress and we fully expect to 
pass this legislative proposal by Memorial Day. If Congress approves 
this bill by the end of May, then 3,000 military families will be paid 
enough to get them off food stamps at the beginning of next year. It is 
unconscionable that the men and women who are willing to sacrifice 
their lives for their country have to rely on food stamps to make ends 
meet. The Pentagon estimates that approximately 11,900 military 
households currently receive food stamps. This bill will help nearly 
10,000 of these military families get off of food stamps over the next 
5 years by ensuring their income is sufficient to provide for their 
spouses and children.
  Mr. President, it is critical that we address the concerns of the 
senior military leadership who have cited better military pay and 
retirement benefits as their highest priority. We failed to do so last 
year. We must move this bill through Congress quickly this year to slow 
the exodus of our pilots, military policemen, Naval special operations 
personnel, surface warfare officers and other critical military 
specialties that have caused the deterioration in our Armed Forces 
readiness that we have heard detailed in testimony over the last four 
months.
                                 ______