[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 98 (Thursday, July 15, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      MISSION FIRST, PEOPLE ALWAYS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARTIN T. MEEHAN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 14, 2004

  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the brave men and 
women in our armed forces who are serving courageously in Iraq, 
Afghanistan, and throughout the world. Our Nation owes these brave 
troops a debt of gratitude for the sacrifices they have endured to make 
this world a safer place.
  I particularly want to salute our reservists, who have transformed 
from a supporting role to become a critical part of the backbone of our 
military. More than 40% of our troops now deployed to Iraq and 
Afghanistan draw from the Reserve Component. Many of them have served 
multiple tours, been called up with less than five days' notice, and 
had their deployments extended well beyond the promised ``12 months 
boots on the ground.''
  Now the Defense Department has announced that it will activate 5,600 
members of the Individual Ready Reserve, a pool of former soldiers that 
have completed their active or reserve duty but still have time left on 
their contracts. And the next troop rotation for Iraq and Afghanistan 
will only increase the burden on the Reserve Component, who will soon 
make up 43% of our deployed troops beginning in February of 2005.
  Tonight, I would like to highlight the harrowing story of the 94th 
Military Police Company, the longest activated reserve unit to date. 
Roughly one-third of the 94th's members live in Massachusetts, and I 
have had the opportunity to speak with many of their family members in 
recent months.
  The 94th Military Police Company first deployed to Iraq in April of 
2003 after fulfilling a mission in Bosnia. The unit has seen its 
deployment extended twice--first by six months, then by four more. On 
Easter weekend of this year, members of the 94th loaded onto a bus in 
Kuwait to finally come home. Just as they were about to depart, they 
were turned back by their commanders and told they would have to serve 
another 120 days because there simply wasn't enough trained MPs to 
replace them. Now, just a few weeks before they are expected to return 
home for good, they have been sent out on another convoy mission.
  While we are indebted to their service, the story of the 94th MP 
Company shows that this country can't continue to place the burden of 
war squarely on the back of our Reserve Component. If we ask these men 
and women to put themselves in harm's way in Iraq for extended periods 
of time, we must ensure that they are given the same fair treatment as 
their active duty counterparts. If we do not, we will face a serious 
recruitment and retention crisis.
  What we need is a committed strategy to restructure our weary and 
overstretched Army.
  First and foremost, we must expand the active duty endstrength of our 
military. I applaud my colleagues on the Armed Services Committee on 
both sides of the aisle for recognizing this need. We have authorized 
an increase of 30,000 soldiers and 9,000 marines over three years as 
part of this year's defense authorization bill. I am disappointed that 
the Pentagon has chosen to overstretch our current forces instead of 
expanding our pool of manpower.
  Second, I am concerned that the occupational specialties most in 
demand--such as military police, intelligence analysts and engineers--
are highly concentrated in the Reserve Component. Instead of calling up 
the Individual Ready Reserve, we need to ensure that we have an 
adequate pool of specialists within the active-duty force. This 
requires an aggressive recruitment and training program backed by 
incentives to attract people with the right skills.

  Third, we need to lay out a transparent, equitable rotation schedule 
for our reservists that allows members and their families to predict 
when they will be activated. This administration has treated Guard and 
Reserve families with arrogance and a lack of respect. They have 
notified members of the Army Reserves and National Guard just days 
before deploying them to Iraq, broken promises that they would only 
serve for twelve months boots on the ground, and issued sweeping stop-
loss orders to prevent members from retiring when they have fulfilled 
their service.
  The Administration's policies aren't pro-family or pro-military. Our 
troops and their families deserve better. If we don't treat our Reserve 
Component with the respect they deserve, our military's readiness will 
suffer. That has consequences for all of us.
  As our troops say, ``Mission first, people always.'' Our reservists 
are fighting on the front lines of the battlefield to protect our 
security, freedom, and democracy. We need to stand up for them and 
provide them with the respect they deserve.

                          ____________________