Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to speak on amendment No. 4251. I have filed the amendment; I have not yet requested it to be made pending. I would like to see this amendment move through. It seeks to remove the President's authority to deny troops their mandated pay raise. The issue of paying our troops should not be a partisan issue any longer. We have fought this battle for too many years on the Senate floor. This year I put forth a bipartisan solution with my colleague from Montana, Jon Tester, and with Senators Rubio, Portman, and Boozman. It is a long-term solution. Since 2004, the President has been required by law to give troops a pay raise matching the Employment Cost Index, also called the ECI, but when we mandated that the President raise troop pay with the ECI, we gave the ability for an exemption; that is, when the country is facing serious economic conditions or for matters of national security. Now, citing economic conditions, the President has used this exemption the past 3 years and he used it again this year--all while citing a growing economy. What happens is our troops are not getting the pay raise that Congress says they should, matching the ECI. When we are facing economic uncertainty, that is when our troops need it the most. The amendment is very clear cut. It removes the President's authority and future Presidents' authority to cite economic concerns when sending over a Presidential budget request without the mandated pay raise.…”