Barbara Boxer: “I support passage of the fiscal year 2004 Defense Authorization bill. Our military men and women can rest assured that…”

“I support passage of the fiscal year 2004 Defense Authorization bill. Our military men and women can rest assured that the Congress of the United States stands behind them--especially when they are doing so much for this country in Iraq, Afghanistan, and throughout world. I appreciate their dedication and service to this grateful nation. That is why it is important to support the many good provisions that are in this bill--especially a well-earned pay raise and improved benefits for our uniformed men and women. I applaud the work of Senator Warner and Senator Levin on these quality of life issues and am especially pleased that they supported my amendment to study how we can provide additional benefits to those who are so frequently deployed that they are only home for hours at a time. This bill also includes a provision to address the issue of children who are left behind when both military parents are deployed to a combat zone--an important priority of mine since I was a member of the House of Representatives. I am also pleased that the Congress passed my amendment to provide fairness to taxpayers and businesses by making sure that the Department of Defense replaces its sole source contract with Halliburton to provide oil related services in Iraq with a contract that is subject to full and open competition. However, this does not mean I support everything in this bill.”