[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15258]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



               AMERICA'S MILITARY, THE BEST IN THE WORLD

  (Ms. GRANGER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, throughout my years in public service I 
have had the pleasure of meeting and becoming acquainted with many of 
the fine men and women who serve in our Armed Forces. Their strength 
has allowed America to be an agent for change and courage. They have 
helped us win the Cold War, and several hot ones. In the process, they 
have helped open doors for democracy and torn down walls of oppression.
  We have an obligation to do anything and everything we can to defend 
our shores and protect our citizens. We must also show the same 
strength and support for our troops.
  I have introduced H.R. 4208, the Recruiting Retention and Reservist 
Promotion Act. This legislation focuses on three things: one, 
improvement for recruiting through expansion of junior ROTC, sea 
cadets, young Marines and civil air patrol youth programs; two, 
retention through enhanced bonus pay for lengthy and numerous 
deployments; and, three, reservist promotion through tax credits and 
loans for businesses that employ National Guardsmen and reservists who 
are called to duty.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in cosponsoring 4208. To our 
friends who


say we cannot agree and we argue over we cannot afford to have the best 
military, I would simply say we cannot afford not to.

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