Chip Cravaack: “I thank Chairman Kline for the recognition. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of a critically important bill which…”

“I thank Chairman Kline for the recognition. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of a critically important bill which I am a cosponsor of, offered by a fellow member of the Minnesota delegation, Chairman John Kline. The Post-Deployment/Mobilization Respite Absence program is an important program that allows servicemembers the opportunity to readjust after deployments and spend more time with their families. This earned leave further provides returning servicemembers with more time and a less stressful environment in which to seek employment in a time where a job search is becoming increasingly more difficult. These earned benefits will help combat the high stress experienced by those who have returned home from prolonged deployments. The Minnesota National Guard and tens of thousands of other guardsmen and reservists who have been deployed to the Middle East and were impacted by the PDMRA change were charged with the promise to defend our country. They have more than lived up to their end of the bargain to keep their promise. Now it is time for the Department of Defense to live up to its end of the deal and provide these individuals with the full benefits they were promised at the time of their mobilization deployment. As Chairman Kline addresses in his support for this bill, some of the servicemembers affected by this policy change have performed multiple deployments in excess of 12 to 24 months since the beginning of the Iraq war.…”