[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 22, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H1249-H1250]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            FAIRLY COMPENSATING OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I want to start my comments 
off tonight by reading a poem that I think reminds us of just how 
important the men and women in uniform are to this Nation.
  And the poem is written by a Father Denis Edward O'Brien, the United 
States Marine Corps, and it says:

     It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom 
           of the press.
     It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of 
           speech.
     It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us 
           the freedom to demonstrate.
     It is the soldier, who salutes the flag.
     It is the soldier who serves beneath the flag.
     It is the soldier whose coffin is draped by the flag.
     It is the soldier who allows the protester to burn the flag.

  Mr. Speaker, the reason I read that poem is to remind the Members of 
Congress as well as the American people that we have many men and women 
in uniform who are willing to die for this country and to die for our 
freedoms. The reason I come to the floor once a week is to remind my 
colleagues in the Congress, both Republican and Democrat, that we have 
between 5,000 and 11,000 men and women in uniform on food stamps.
  The reason I use that figure between 5,000 and 11,000, it depends on 
which agency we are talking about, but the way I look at this, if we 
have one, just one family in the military on food stamps, that is one 
too many. We have 60 percent of our men and women in uniform who are 
married who serve this Nation.
  Our men and women are being deployed more than ever before. In fact, 
between 1982 and 1990, Army and Marine Corps operations, the number was 
17 deployments. Between 1990 and today, our Army and Marine Corps have 
been deployed 149 times. We know that we have men and women in Bosnia. 
We have men and women in Kosovo. We have men and women in uniform all 
over this world.
  My point in coming to the floor once a week is that I introduced, 
several months back, H.R. 1055 that has been signed by over 90 Members 
of Congress, both Democrat and Republican, that says that the men and 
women in uniform, if this bill should pass, would receive a $500 tax 
credit, if they qualify for food stamps.

[[Page H1250]]

  I am first to say that this would not get each and every one off, 
whether it be 5,000 or 11,000 on food stamps, but what it would say to 
those men and women in uniform, we care about you. And, yes, we need to 
do more. At this point, this is the best that we can do.
  Mr. Speaker, I am first to say that, yes, it would be nice if we 
could raise the salaries of those in the military so no one would ever 
be on food stamps, but that is not possible. Who is to say that 2 or 3 
years from now we might not have any extra money to give any increases 
to those in our military?
  I bring this picture, this happens to be a Marine, it could be a 
member of the Air Force or the Army or the Navy, I bring this Marine to 
the floor of the House, because this Marine represents all married men 
and women in uniform.
  You can see standing on his feet it happens to be his daughter Megan. 
In his arms, he is holding his daughter Bridgett. And I look at this 
photograph, and I see this little girl's look. Of course, she is 
looking at the camera. But I am thinking, this little girl does not 
know this, but possibly her daddy might not come back from deployment. 
Hopefully, he will.
  But each and every time our men and women in uniform go overseas, no 
matter where it might be, there is always that possibility that they 
might not come back. So I want to say to my colleagues, both Democrat 
and Republican, I want to thank those first who have signed the bill. 
Again, we are somewhere around 90 Members who have signed the bill.
  I want to say to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle that I 
think it is unacceptable. I think it is deplorable that any man or 
woman in uniform who is willing to die for this country should be in 
the need of WIC, the WIC program or food stamps.
  I will be sending out a dear colleague letter this coming week, and I 
hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will sign with me on 
this bill, H.R. 1055. It is only a modest step forward, but it is a 
step forward for those in uniform on food stamps.

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