[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 12, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S929]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             MILITARY COLA

  Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I rise to speak on the issue of the 
military COLA. This is a cost-of-living adjustment for our military 
retirees. In the budget agreement, the COLA was reduced for military 
retirees by 1 percent until they reached age 62, and then the COLA is 
restored. I am opposed to this provision in the budget, and I have 
since cosponsored legislation to fix it, meaning fully reinstating the 
COLA for our military retired.
  The bill we are considering and voting on later today fixes the COLA 
problem. It reinstates the COLA in full, and that is good. That is what 
I want to do, and that is what I believe the vast majority of Members 
in this body on both sides of the aisle want to do. We should pass the 
bill, and I believe this afternoon we will.
  The bill we have been considering this week fixed the COLA problem 
and restored the cost-of-living adjustment for our military retirees, 
but it did not cover the cost of doing so. The cost of the legislation 
is about $6.8 billion over a 10-year period, which, of course, is the 
Congressional Budget Office's scoring period. We can cover that cost, 
and we should. We have the deficit and the debt. We have to address our 
deficit and debt. We have to make sure we are paying for things, and we 
can absolutely do that in this case. In fact, we put forward amendments 
to do just that.
  The first amendment I joined in putting forward was one led by 
Senator Kelly Ayotte, the Senator from New Hampshire. Her amendment 
fully covers the cost of fixing the COLA. The way it works is it covers 
the cost by simply requiring that the additional child tax credit 
statute is properly enforced. I will explain that.
  This amendment will require families with children who apply for the 
additional child tax credit must have Social Security numbers for those 
children. This is a simple straightforward enforcement provision to 
ensure the law is followed. Why wouldn't we make sure the law is 
enforced? After all, I believe that is an important part of our job.
  In fact, I also believe the Treasury Department supports this 
enforcement provision as well, and I would wish to cite from a recent 
inspector general's report.

       In 2011, the Treasury Department's Inspector General 
     reported that individuals who were not authorized to work in 
     the U.S. received billions by claiming the ACTC, and several 
     news investigations found troubling instances of abuse of 
     this tax credit. In just one example, according to a 2012 
     news report, an undocumented worker in Indiana admitted that 
     his address was used to file tax returns by four other 
     undocumented workers who fraudulently claimed 20 children in 
     total--resulting in tax refunds totaling nearly $30,000.

  The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates this change would save 
approximately $20 billion over 10 years. That is $20 billion in savings 
over 10 years, which obviously far more than covers the $6.8 billion 
cost of the COLA fix we are putting forward. Clearly that works.
  I understand we have not been able to get bipartisan agreement on 
this pay-for, so we need to find something we can agree on because we 
need both Republicans and Democrats to pass this legislation to fix the 
COLA, and that is why I have since offered another pay-for. It is a 
simple 1-page amendment that provides a pay-for for restoring the cost-
of-living adjustment for our military retirees. What it does is it 
simply extends the provisions of the Budget Control Act--the budget we 
passed--for one more year, from 2023 to 2024.
  I am pleased to say we will be voting on my amendment this 
afternoon--not because I have offered the amendment but, rather, 
because the leadership has agreed to offer the House version of the 
COLA fix. The legislation we will be voting on this afternoon has the 
pay-for I have just outlined. It is not identical to the amendment I 
have submitted, but it is very close to it. It ensures our military 
retirees will receive their much-deserved retirement.
  I have urged my Republican colleagues in our caucus to fix this 
problem, and I have urged my Democratic colleagues on the Senate floor 
to fix this problem. I believe we will fix the cost-of-living 
adjustment in a bipartisan way today and restore it for our military 
retirees. This amendment will make sure we pay for it so we are not 
increasing the deficit or the debt.
  As a former Governor and now as a Senator, I have had the honor and 
privilege to work with our military men and women. I have been to Iraq 
and Afghanistan. I have gotten the calls when one of our heroes makes 
the ultimate sacrifice. I know they put it all on the line for us.
  Today I ask my fellow Senators to join with me and vote for our men 
and women in uniform. We need to fix the COLA for our military retired. 
We should support those great men and women who wear the uniform and 
honor and protect us and serve this Nation in the cause of liberty and 
freedom with their dedicated service.
  Join with me and support them and vote for this legislation.
  I thank the Presiding Officer, and I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico.

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