[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5634-5635]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    THE PROSPECT OF WAR AGAINST IRAQ AND SUPPORTING OUR ARMED FORCES

  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I come to the Senate floor today to 
speak about some of the most crucial issues facing our Nation: No. 1, 
the prospect of war against Iraq, and, No. 2--though it will never be 
in second place--support for our U.S. military.
  It has been my longstanding position to support a multinational 
response to the Iraqi threat. That means building international support 
to defang Saddam Hussein. We all know he is a duplicitous character, 
but I believe if the goals of America and the world are to be 
successful, we need to work in a multilateral way, working through the 
United Nations, to build international legitimacy, and also to get the 
world to support us, to share the burden of war, if war is necessary, 
during the war in terms of the danger, and to share the burden of what 
would come after the war in terms of the economic cost of rebuilding 
Iraq.
  The risks and consequences of acting alone are much greater than they 
would be for multinational action. The risks to our troops are greater. 
If allied forces do not join the mission, our troops will be bearing 
that burden all by themselves. The challenge in post-conflict Iraq will 
be greater if other nations do not share this responsibility or this 
burden. Also, I believe the consequences for the war on terrorism will 
be greater if we lose the essential cooperation of other nations.
  There is a lot of disagreement about going to war: whether we should 
go to war now; whether we should go to war at all; whether we should go 
to war alone or whether we should continue to work through the United 
Nations. I have stated my own positions. But I believe there is 
something all Americans agree on; that is, we must support our troops. 
We must stand up for those who are standing up for us. We must protect 
our defenders, the brave men and women of our military, and we must 
support them not only with words but with deeds. That means ensuring 
that our troops have the best and smartest weapons, that they have the 
training and the equipment they need.
  But while we are standing up for our military, we must also stand up 
for their families. Our troops will face grave danger. They should not 
have to face fear for their families, and particularly they should not 
have to worry about their families' finances.
  Although America is on the brink of war, American military families 
must never be on the brink of bankruptcy. That is why we, in the 
Senate, must take immediate steps to support military families.
  There is legislation pending. Let's provide tax relief to military 
families. Let's pass legislation to help the families of the National 
Guard and the Reserves who have been called up for longer periods than 
at any time in the past 40 years.
  Each and every member of our military is part of the American family. 
Their service is a tremendous sacrifice and great risk. These are 
ordinary men and women called upon to act in an extraordinary way. 
Whatever their nation asks them to do, I know they will do it with 
bravery, fortitude, and gallantry. All Americans owe them a debt of 
gratitude.
  Members of the military, though, do not just need our gratitude 
through words; they need our gratitude through deeds. That is why I 
support two immediate steps and call upon the Senate to join with me 
and other like-minded colleagues to advance these steps.
  I believe the Senate must quickly pass legislation to ease the tax 
burden on our American military. Our troops should not have to worry 
about tax deadlines and paperwork when they are preparing to defend our 
Nation.
  I urge the Senate to pass, this week, the Armed Forces Tax Fairness 
Act, without loading it down with any special interest giveaways. While 
some are preoccupied with tax cuts for ``Joe Millionaire,'' we should 
be preoccupied with GI Joe and GI Jane.
  At the same time, we need to look at the financial burden many of the 
families are facing. Let's talk about the National Guard and the 
Reserves. The Senate also has to help the Guard and Reserves. They have 
been called up in record numbers. Right this minute, 168,000 Guard and 
Reservists are serving alongside our active-duty military.
  Since September 11, over 230,000 of our National Guardsmen and 
Reservists have been mobilized. In my own home State of Maryland, that 
number is at least 4,000. And not only have they been called up, but 
many have been called up more than once over the past year and a half.
  The Guard and Reserves are ready to serve. They are our citizen 
soldiers. They are called up in times of national

[[Page 5635]]

emergency. Yet they are being asked to serve for longer periods of 
time. Many have been called up three or four times since September 11. 
This places a tremendous burden on their families. There are financial 
burdens of losing pay and losing businesses. Let me give you some 
examples from my own home State of Maryland.
  The 115th Military Police Battalion of the Maryland Army National 
Guard has been deployed repeatedly since September 12, after the attack 
on the United States of America. That is when they were called up to 
stand guard at the Pentagon. When I went over to the Pentagon after the 
attack, I saw Maryland responding: I saw on the perimeters our own 
National Guard protecting the Pentagon, and Maryland first responders 
doing the rescue and recovery. When they were called up, they wanted to 
be there. Then they had a two-week breather. But then they were called 
up to guard the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and now they are deployed 
in Afghanistan.
  The long periods of mobilization are hard not only on them but on 
their families. Let me give you some examples of what the families are 
facing.
  I will talk about a reservist in Columbia, MD. He is a wonderful guy, 
and he owns a small home improvement business. After the terrible 
snows, this business would be booming, but he is not there to fix 
gutters or sidings, or help seniors repair those leaky basements. He 
has been called up most of the year. He has already been called up 
three times, and now he has been called up once again. He has been 
called up so often that he has had to shut down his home improvement 
business, where he was the sole employee. His family is now forced to 
borrow against their home to make ends meet. They have already gone 
through their savings, and they have already gone through their 
children's tuition money for college. We have to think about this man 
and his family.
  In a family in Centreville, the husband has been activated four times 
over the past year and a half. He is the main breadwinner. The family 
has already lost half of their income this year. They are having a 
difficult time making payments on their home and, in fact, the wife and 
children are now considering moving in with her parents.
  Then there is the National Guardsman in St. Mary's County, who has 
been deployed 9 months out of the last 18 months. In February, he was 
deployed again. His wife is now working two jobs to make ends meet.
  We have to face this challenge. For years we have faced the challenge 
of how we had been shortchanging our military. We have increased pay 
for full-time duty and we have improved benefits. We needed to do that 
and that was the right thing to do.
  Now we are facing a unique challenge, looking at the Guard and the 
Reserves who are ready to do their duty, but they are now being 
deployed as frequently as if they were on active duty and their 
families are facing hardship.
  As part of this response, I will be joining Senator Dick Durbin to 
introduce legislation called the Reservists Pay Security Act of 2003. 
It would ensure that Federal employees who take leave to serve in our 
military reserves receive the same pay as if no interruption in their 
employment occurred. Why start with Federal employees? Well, many large 
companies and local governments continue to pay the full salary of 
their employees when they are activated. I applaud those excellent 
corporate citizens and those local governments. Some of the largest 
employers in my own State are also meeting that responsibility. The 
Federal Government should be a model employer and set the example for 
large businesses. This should be a first step.
  I believe we should move quickly to pass this bill because many 
members of the Guard and Reserves do work for the Federal Government in 
highly specialized areas. But the Federal Government needs to do more 
than that. We need to take a look at those who work for small business 
and those who are self-employed. A call for duty will be responded to, 
but a call for duty time and time again in a single-year period places 
the responsibility on the family. American families should never 
subsidize our war effort. We should be looking out for those families.
  Supporting our troops should be more than speeches, it should be more 
than parades. Sure, when the war begins--if it does begin--I believe 
there will be an outpouring of great American sympathy. But we need to 
put it into action to help the men and women defending our Nation; and 
for the full-time active duty, continue raising pay and improving 
benefits; and for our Reserves and our Guardsmen, to close the gap 
between the income they are leaving behind and the country they are 
working to defend.
  Please, let's pass that Tax Fairness Act. Our military should not 
even be paying taxes when they are at war in Iraq. There should be 
shared sacrifice in the United States of America, and that means not 
only shared sacrifice in terms of those who are willing to go and 
fight, but we need to fight for those who are fighting for us.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in putting the men and women of our 
military at the top of our agenda, whether as we look at the issues 
facing the economy or facing taxes, because, remember, as our budget is 
strained, theirs is near the breaking point.
  I conclude by saying God bless our troops and God bless America.

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