[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 4121-4122]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       INTRODUCTION OF MILITARY FAMILY FOOD STAMP TAX CREDIT BILL

  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, approximately 11,000 of our 
military families are on food stamps. Let me repeat that. Eleven 
thousand military families are on food stamps. The men and women who 
volunteer to protect and defend the citizens and freedoms of this 
Nation are struggling to make ends meet. Our troops accept the most 
awesome responsibility, yet they are so severely underpaid that many 
must take on second jobs. Others are forced to accept food stamps in 
order to feed their families. Still many others out of pride refuse 
government assistance and their families suffer silently.
  Mr. Speaker, I find this absolutely inexcusable. These men and women 
are willing to defend and die for this Nation and yet our troops are 
paid so little that thousands can barely afford to feed their own 
families. Unfortunately, the problems that face our military extend 
well beyond pay levels. Today's average soldier, sailor, airman and 
marine is both overworked and undercompensated, and it is not 
surprising. Defense spending has been cut nearly in half under the 
current administration. President Clinton will not pay for the 
increased operational needs of the armed services, but he continues to 
deploy our forces at a rate greater than any other President in 
peacetime since World War II. These deployments, which often have no 
direct bearing on our national security, have cost our Nation over $13 
billion. Frequent deployments are taking their toll on our aging 
equipment, they are separating our troops from their families, and are 
quickly wearing out our forces.
  I have the honor of representing a district with four military bases, 
Cherry Point Marine Air Station, Camp Lejeune Marine Base, Seymour 
Johnson Air Force Base and the Elizabeth City Coast Guard Base. I have 
spent many hours meeting privately off-base with dozens of pilots, 
commanders and enlisted personnel. They will tell you, Mr. Speaker, the 
current state of our military is cause for concern. We cannot continue 
to do more with less, nor can we expect to continue to recruit and 
retain men and women to an all-volunteer force until we address the 
issues that affect the quality of life of our troops.
  Mr. Speaker, at this point our military has all but hit the bottom of 
the barrel. Over the last few years, Congress has continued to bring 
this serious discrepancy between civilian and military pay to the 
attention of this administration. As a result, the administration has 
finally started to consider a pay increase to combat the growing 
problem. This is a good first step, but we need to build upon this 
momentum.

[[Page 4122]]

  Today I introduced a bill to curb what I consider one of the most 
unacceptable situations that faces our military families, and that is 
that our military families need food stamps. The bill I filed today, 
the Military Family Food Stamp Tax Credit Bill of 1999, will extend a 
tax credit to military families to ensure that they no longer have to 
depend on the government to put food on their table. The tax credit 
also helps our enlisted troops overseas who currently cannot 
participate in the food stamp program. With the anticipated increase in 
basic pay and this tax credit, we can look forward to raising the 
income level of our Nation's military so they will no longer be forced 
to rely on food stamps.
  I hope that my colleagues on both sides of the political aisle will 
join me in honoring the important role of our United States military 
and support this bill.

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