Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of an amendment offered by the senior Senator from Alaska, Ms. Murkowski, to strike the changes to the basic allowance for housing, or BAH, that are proposed in section 604 of the Defense authorization bill. This amendment is very similar to one I filed this year as well as one I sponsored last year. Currently, each servicemember receives a housing stipend based on his or her rank, geographic location, and dependency status. Under section 604, however, this part of the military compensation package would no longer be considered a cash allowance. Instead, servicemembers would be compensated on an actual cost basis similar to the system that was in place in the 1990s, which resulted in a burdensome and inefficient administrative approval process. Notably, the 2015 Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission established by the fiscal year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act examined the issue of allowances as it assessed the military's compensation and retirement system. The Commission found that the current allowance system strikes an appropriate balance in providing compensation to military members and assistance for their living expenses. The Commission deliberately chose not to recommend any changes to the allowance system, and this view is shared by the Department of Defense. In fact, the Secretary of the Navy called me today to express to his concerns about this provision.…”