Kendrick Meek: “I open my remarks with this quote by Charles M. Province by thanking those men and women who continue to serve in the…”

“I open my remarks with this quote by Charles M. Province by thanking those men and women who continue to serve in the United States military and provide us with the freedoms that we so frequently take for granted. We don't all have to agree about the conditions and terms and politics of war to agree that we have men and women in uniform who are among the finest human beings on this planet. It is fitting that at a time when our thoughts and prayers are most strongly focused on them, that we in the 108th Congress have this opportunity to offer them this small showing of our commitment to them. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, more than 188,000 members of the National Guard and Reserve are currently mobilized for active duty on top of the many hundreds of thousands of career active duty soldiers. These friends, neighbors, and family members are putting their everyday lives on hold in order to protect us and provide us with more than a sense, but a knowledge of security. Our military personnel and their families make enough sacrifices. They should not have to further sacrifice tax fairness just because they wear a uniform of the armed services. We need to provide incentives for our military personnel to continue their service to our country. Moreover, we need to provide adequate and fair compensation for our military personnel by ensuring that those men and women are treated fairly and equally under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code.”