Political Quotes

“Members of this body are keenly aware of the demands we place on our troops, the circumstances in which they live and work and the fact we often pay them less and expect them to do far more than employers in the private sector. I commend Secretary Cohen, General Shelton, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff for recognizing that military recruitment and retention has begun to suffer and for acting forcefully to address this problem. The fiscal year 2000 defense budget includes funding for an across-the-board increase in military salaries, targeted pay raises to better reward performance, and a change to the military retirement system to place service members who entered after 1986 on a footing more comparable to those who entered the service at an earlier date. These changes should help provide fairer compensation to our men and women in uniform, and we should act together to enact them into law. The bill before us contains provisions similar to those proposed by Secretary Cohen's budget, but there are several ways in which the benefits offered by S. 4 are even more generous.”