[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 30, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H1688-H1690]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     REIMBURSING MEMBERS OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FOR CERTAIN 
                        TRANSPORTATION EXPENSES

  Mr. BRADLEY of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the 
rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 2057) to require the Secretary of 
Defense to reimburse members of the United States Armed Forces for 
certain transportation expenses incurred by the members in connection 
with leave under the Central Command Rest and Recuperation Leave 
Program before the program was expanded to include domestic travel.

[[Page H1689]]

  The Clerk read as follows:

                                S. 2057

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. REIMBURSEMENT OF CERTAIN TRANSPORTATION COSTS 
                   INCURRED BY MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED 
                   FORCES ON REST AND RECUPERATION LEAVE.

       The Secretary of Defense shall reimburse a member of the 
     United States Armed Forces for transportation expenses 
     incurred by such member for one round trip by such member 
     between two locations within the United States in connection 
     with leave taken under the Central Command Rest and 
     Recuperation Leave Program during the period beginning on 
     September 25, 2003, and ending on December 18, 2003.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Hampshire (Mr. Bradley) and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Bradley).


                             General Leave

  Mr. BRADLEY of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and 
extend their remarks on S. 2057.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Hampshire?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BRADLEY of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he 
may consume to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder).
  Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2057, which would 
retroactively reimburse 38,000 service members for their travel 
expenses incurred while on R&R, rest and recuperation leave. I would 
like to recognize and commend the majority for bringing this bill to 
the floor.
  Last year, the United States Army issued a policy that will require 
both Active and Reserve forces to spend one year boots on the ground 
overseas. To improve morale and address the concerns expressed by 
commanders and troops in the field, the Department of Defense 
established a rest and recuperation program for those service members 
with 12-months tours.
  Initially, the program allowed service members to travel from Kuwait 
to Germany and Baltimore, Maryland. Subsequently, they expanded that to 
two other airports, one in Atlanta and one in Dallas; and from these 
airports service members were then required to pay for their continued 
travel home.
  Subsequent to this, the Department of Defense also established a 
similar program for our fine men and women on duty as part of Operation 
Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. As part of this program, these service 
members were required to pay for the continued flight to their final 
destination, to their home.
  Last year, Congress recognized the unfair burden this policy placed 
on service members and sought to rectify it. However, in the course of 
doing that, the new benefit did not really kick in with the regulations 
until December 19, 2003. This was 3 months after the program started.
  So we have approximately 38,000 troops who had to pay for their own 
travel expenses from their points of arrival in the United States to 
home. This amounts to about $13 million. If my math is correct, that is 
an average of about $342 for each one of those service members.
  This is a small price to pay to restore fairness amongst the troops 
for this very important moral effort.
  Mr. BRADLEY of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ramstad).
  Mr. RAMSTAD. I thank my friend from New Hampshire for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, last year, the U.S. military began employing its first 
rest and recuperation program, known as R&R, since the Vietnam War. 
Soldiers who have served 12 straight months in a combat zone qualify 
for R&R.
  Sadly, however, we all remember the televised interviews of combat-
weary American soldiers back from Iraq on R&R and stranded at 
Baltimore-Washington International Airport, unable to afford a plane 
ticket home.
  Sad but true, Mr. Speaker, too many of our brave and battle-fatigued 
soldiers were unable to get to their hometowns to see their loved ones 
because same-day airfare was too expensive for many of our troops to 
afford.
  That is why last fall I introduced an amendment with my friend, the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moore), to make money available to cover 
troops' travel costs to their hometowns. With the support of the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis), chairman of the Committee on 
Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, our amendment was passed and 
the Pentagon began paying our troops' airfare all the way home.
  Unfortunately, though, Mr. Speaker, the Pentagon did not implement 
this program retroactively, which means the first wave of troops who 
came back from Iraq for R&R and who managed to scrape up the cash for 
airfare home are still to this day stuck with the tab to see their 
families.
  So, today, Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 2057, which 
will cover retroactively the domestic travel costs our brave troops 
incurred while on R&R leave.
  Mr. Speaker, the Ramstad-Moore amendment put the House on record that 
the Federal Government should cover all travel and transportation costs 
necessary to return our brave troops home. That is why passage of this 
bill is so important. Now Congress must finish the job it began last 
fall, to make sure none of our troops fall between the cracks and are 
forced to pay their own transportation costs to get home.
  Let us show today that we support our troops. Let us cover the costs 
that enabled our troops to return home for R&R, briefly reuniting wives 
and husbands, parents and children and other loved ones.
  I urge all my colleagues to support this important bill.
  I want to thank the gentleman from California (Chairman Hunter) of 
the Committee on Armed Services and the gentleman from New Hampshire 
(Chairman Bradley) for their support of this legislation, as well the 
gentleman from California (Chairman Lewis) of the Committee on 
Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, for their continued support of 
covering troop travel costs, and also want to thank the majority leader 
for allowing this legislation to come to the floor.
  Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. 
Ramstad) for his fine words and support.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. 
Moore).
  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. 
Ramstad) for his remarks and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder) 
as well.
  Last September, I heard a National Public Radio story about troops 
coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq. They were being deposited at 
Baltimore and Atlanta, and from there forced to pay their own way home 
or stay in Baltimore and Atlanta. I could not believe this. I checked 
with my staff and found out it was in fact true.
  I drafted a bill which, within 8 days, I think, got 155 Republican 
and Democrat cosponsors. I teamed up with the gentleman from Minnesota 
(Mr. Ramstad) who just spoke, and we put our bills together. He had a 
similar vote which passed by voice vote.
  Unfortunately, it only went back, according to the Department of 
Defense, to December 19. Our intention was clearly that this be 
retroactive back to the date when this program started, the rest and 
recuperation, bringing our troops home to be reunited with their 
families and loved ones for 2 weeks before they went back to 
Afghanistan or Iraq to finish their tour of duty.
  Now, I am very, very pleased that Senate S. 2057, the Senate 
companion to H.R. 2731 that the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ramstad) 
and I had, will complete the job; and if the House passes this today, 
we will in fact ensure that the troops are entitled to be reimbursed 
for their travel prior to December 19 and will in fact be reimbursed. 
That is the right thing to do for our troops and country.
  We talk so much in this body about how much we value our troops, and 
it was simply, simply wrong that we would ask those folks coming home 
from Iraq and Afghanistan to pay their own way back to their homes and 
then back to the coastal port for deployment again to finish their tour 
of duty.
  There is a little bit of dispute about the number of troops. My 
figures were 29,000, those of the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder) 
were a bit more,

[[Page H1690]]

and there is a little bit of dispute about the cost of the 
reimbursement for travel for these troops.
  But I think the intention of Congress here is very, very clear, and 
it is really, really nice when Republicans and Democrats can come 
together and the people out there in the country can see that in fact 
we are not just talking about supporting our troops, but we are putting 
our money where our mouth is. It is exactly the right thing to do.

                              {time}  1415

  Mr. BRADLEY of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity in late October and early November 
to travel to Iraq to visit our troops and to assess the rebuilding of 
that troubled nation. The first stop, Mr. Speaker, that we made was in 
Kuwait in the desert at one of the camps, and we saw the actual R&R 
facility where members of our military were being processed. We had the 
chance to talk firsthand to people that were about to leave the theater 
and go home and, boy, let me tell my colleagues, they were very 
excited, Mr. Speaker, to be able to come home and visit loved ones. We 
know this was during the time when they had to pay their own way; but, 
nevertheless, they were pleased to be able to do it.
  Then we traveled in and out of Baghdad with members coming on some of 
the C-130 transport planes. Once again, the same thing, they were very 
anxious to be able to come home for a couple of weeks and to be able to 
reunite with their families.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I salute our military for authorizing this. 
Obviously, this legislation corrects an inequity, where those members 
of our military who wanted to travel home prior to December 19 are now 
going to be reimbursed for their expenses. Mr. Speaker, as indicated by 
the previous speaker, the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moore), this was 
done in a bipartisan fashion. I salute not only the gentleman from 
California (Chairman Hunter), the gentleman from California (Chairman 
Lewis), but certainly the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder), the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moore), and the gentleman from Connecticut 
(Mr. Simmons) for their hard work on this very important piece of 
legislation that will deal with all of our troops fairly and will 
encourage this type of R&R in the future, which is so important to our 
troops in so many far-flung areas of the world.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Davis).
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman 
from Arkansas for yielding me this time.
  On Saturday of last week, I attended the funeral of Sergeant Phipps, 
who had been killed in Iraq in the line of duty. And, of course, as one 
could expect, it was a very solemn period, and there were thousands of 
people from his community who came to pay their last respects.
  It occurred to me as this bill was coming to the floor that 
individuals should have the opportunity certainly to come home and 
visit for rest, recuperation, and to see their families and friends 
while they are alive and healthy.
  So I simply came down to urge passage of this legislation and to 
indicate my support for it and to suggest that all soldiers who give of 
themselves should have the opportunity to experience interaction with 
their family.
  I thank the sponsors of this legislation, and I urge its strong 
support.
  Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to 
thank the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Bradley) for his work on 
behalf of this bill; along with the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. 
Ramstad), the gentleman from California (Chairman Hunter), and the 
gentleman from Missouri (Ranking Member Skelton) also for their fine 
work. I think this is a fine bill that will be much appreciated by our 
men and women in uniform and their families.
  Mr. MATHESON. Mr. Speaker, as a longtime supporter of the military, I 
was dismayed to learn that U.S. troops were forced to pay their way 
home from Baltimore-Washington International Airport, while on rest and 
recuperation leave.
  Late last year, Congress enacted legislation, which I supported, 
requiring the Department of Defense to provide travel and 
transportation allowances to military personnel serving in support of 
Operation Iraqi Freedom. As of December 19, 2003, the Department began 
covering these costs. Unfortunately, a number of soldiers who were 
issued leave beginning on September 25, 2003 were not eligible for 
travel reimbursement. Today, the Congress has rectified this 
discrepancy by ensuring that all of our soldiers will be reimbursed for 
their travel while on leave.
  I am well aware of the current demands faced by American soldiers and 
the sacrifices made by family members and loved ones. American soldiers 
have always excelled in their military duties and at a time when many 
of our troops are deployed for a year or more, it is imperative that 
Congress and the federal government adequately provide for them.
  Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BRADLEY of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I have no further 
speakers, so I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Whitfield). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Bradley) that 
the House suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 2057.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. BRADLEY of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas 
and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________