[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 30 (Thursday, March 8, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E329-E330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      OUR SERVICEMEN DESERVE MORE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JO ANN DAVIS

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 8, 2001

  Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address 
the needs of our servicemen. Often, we will hear that our servicemen 
require a pay raise. That is absolutely true, however, not for the 
reasons usually cited. They simple deserve it.
  Mr. Speaker, over the past several months I have had the opportunity 
to visit the military bases in my district and to speak with many of 
the junior solders, sailors, and Marines about their service. Without 
hesitation, they have all told me that they love serving the country, 
but are frustrated by the constant deployments, poor housing, and a 
constant lack of spare parts.
  I realize that we have addressed some of these problems, but we have 
much more to do. If we do not more fully address them, we will 
shortchanging not only ourselves, but actively endangering our 
grandchildren. However, the issue remains, our servicemen deserve more.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that our President has forwarded a 
budget that will allow us to substantively increase our servicemen's 
pay and benefits. This is good for the present, however, more needs to 
be done in the long term.
  The realities are ugly. Our servicemen are underpaid. Furthermore, 
over the past several years, we have set military pay .5% below the 
Employment Cost Index. This was wrong. It shouldn't have happened. But 
worst of all, it treats our servicemen as second-class citizens. While 
civil service has never paid as much as the civilian sector, we should 
at least ensure that those who provide the most important civil 
service, defense of our nation, the same level of compensation as other 
government employees.
  This is an issue of justice, and an issue of fundamental fairness. It 
is not acceptable to ignore this issue any longer.
  Mr. Speaker, now I realize that this is something that cannot be 
solved overnight. However, it is an issue that we must address for the 
future. For, if we continue to treat our soldiers, sailors, airmen and 
Marines in such a manner, they will eventually realize that our 
servicemen will vote with their feet.
  While they won't rank it first among their problems, our servicemen 
do cite this injustice. But, let me take a minute to cite why this is 
even more urgent. Our services, with our

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encouragement, have fundamentally transformed to become more family 
friendly. As a result, the pressure on many servicemen increases when 
they are forced to move overseas. Oftentimes, their spouse is unable to 
find employment, and as result, these families lose a significant part 
of their income.
  Mr. Speaker, families are a force multiplier when you deal with an 
all volunteer force. They are a motivator and an integral part of our 
defense strategy. Because of this, we must address inadequate pay. The 
time has come. We need to address this now and for the future. We have 
waited too long.
  We must raise our servicemen's pay.

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