Mike Levin: “we made good progress on this bill yesterday. Unfortunately, we weren't successful in reaching a unanimous consent…”

“we made good progress on this bill yesterday. Unfortunately, we weren't successful in reaching a unanimous consent agreement on a finite list of amendments to this bill which would allow us to move quickly to final passage. But we simply must complete action on this bill. President Bush has declared a national state of emergency. Our military forces are deploying around the world. We are calling the National Guard and Reserve units to active duty to augment our active forces. This bill contains critically important provisions for our national security. It provides much needed increases in military pay and benefits, including housing benefits and allowances. It contains authority for bonuses and special pay to retain people with critical skills in the military services, and it contains a number of important provisions to improve the efficiency of the Defense Department operations.”