Cord Byrd: “Senator Durbin's amendment touches on a critical issue: the strains being placed upon the National Guard and the Reserve…”

“Senator Durbin's amendment touches on a critical issue: the strains being placed upon the National Guard and the Reserve by the long deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He correctly points out that these deployments have resulted in a financial crisis for unknown numbers of American families who have loved ones called to duty, pulled out of their civilian careers, and sent half a world away for long periods of time. The amendment pending before the Senate would compensate those members of the National Guard and the Reserve who suffer a loss of income because they are away from their civilian jobs--but only if those jobs are with the Federal Government. The many Guardsmen and Reservists who work in the private sector would not be helped by the amendment. I am very sympathetic to the plight of the families of National Guardsmen and Reservists who have found themselves in dire financial straits because of a long, unexpected deployment that takes the family breadwinner away from his job. I have heard from families in West Virginia who could be facing financial ruin because of a soldier's drop in income due to a protracted, 18-month deployment. However, the Congress is approaching this problem from the wrong end. The heart of this matter is not how much Uncle Sam may pay our citizen- soldiers. The problem is that our National Guard and Reserve are being deployed, and re-deployed, for such long periods at a time.…”