Ed Whitfield: “I, like others, rise in strong support of this Fiscal Year 2001 Department of Defense conference report. I support this…”

“I, like others, rise in strong support of this Fiscal Year 2001 Department of Defense conference report. I support this bill because we must reverse the downward spiral in defense spending that we have seen for more than a decade. That spiral has seriously undermined our readiness, modernization, recruitment, and retention efforts. It has been my honor to represent the men and women serving in the military at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. This legislation is important to them because it provides those soldiers a 3.7 percent pay raise and provides up to $500 a month to assist soldiers and families who are forced to live on food stamps. For our military retirees, this bill finally fulfills the promise made when they joined the service years ago. It guarantees a lifetime health care benefit for all retirees and their eligible family members. For Department of Energy contract and vendor employees, this bill establishes the first Federal program to compensate workers who have or will contract beryllium disease or certain cancers resulting from radiation exposure. At a minimum, workers will be entitled to a $150,000 lump sum payment plus medical expenses.”