Dick Durbin: “my amendment raises the combat pay, imminent danger pay for the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast-guardsmen…”

“my amendment raises the combat pay, imminent danger pay for the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast-guardsmen presently in combat from the figure of $225 a month suggested by Senator Stevens to $250 a month, and the family separation allowance from $200 a month to $250 a month. I have spoken to my colleagues, whom I respect very much and whom I acknowledge to be certainly doing the very best they can with an extraordinary bill at an extraordinary time, and urge them to consider this new figure. I have not pursued my original request, which was $500 a month for both, nor a modification of it of $400 a month. I have come down to what I consider to be a reasonable increase in light of the reality of the circumstances. I do not know that any person in the Senate will stand before us and argue that he is going to find complaints from military families about this family separation allowance or even about combat pay. Thank God we have the very best people in America serving in our military. Their families are at home keeping the families together, praying for their safe return. They are not importuning and begging this Congress for more money. That has not happened. God bless them for not putting pressure on us to deal with that. But let us accept the reality of our responsibility.”