[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 19088]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



               RESPECT OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN THE MILITARY

  (Ms. McKINNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, I was utterly speechless to read a news 
report from the San Diego Times dated September 29 that an unnamed 
Pentagon source had revealed that Secretary Rumsfeld was considering 
enacting an emergency provision to suspend the payment of $100 a day to 
U.S. servicemen and women who have been deployed for more than 400 days 
in 2 years, a pay provision mandated by this Congress and one which 
this Congress has already refused to revoke.
  Once again we are sending our young men and women into combat. They 
fly, fuel, arm and operate ships worth billions of dollars, and they 
risk their lives and the lives of others daily. Yet despite all of 
that, our Secretary of Defense does not apparently deem it appropriate 
to pay them what they are worth. We can give billions of dollars to the 
airlines, but not to young men and women in our military.
  Sadly, our Nation does not have a good record with respect to the 
treatment of its men and women in the military. Many have returned from 
Vietnam poisoned by Agent Orange, and many Vietnam veterans now live on 
our city streets as beggars. The thanks of a grateful Nation to our 
young men should also acknowledge the fact that they and their families 
will be taken care of by our government.

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