Evan Bayh: “I rise to support a cause which is essential to the continued prosecution of our war on terrorism. It is essential to…”

“I rise to support a cause which is essential to the continued prosecution of our war on terrorism. It is essential to preserving our National Guard and Reserve as a vital force in defending our country, and it is essential to defending our moral obligation to those who defend our Nation. No one--particularly those citizens who have placed themselves in harm's way at our bidding--should be forced to choose between doing right by their loved ones and doing right by our country. The amendment I have submitted will prevent that moral tragedy from happening. What I refer to as the patriot penalty--the cut in income those who are called to active duty in our Guard and Reserve must suffer--has become a very serious problem. We now have about 180,000 Active-Duty Guard and Reserve personnel; 40 percent of the forces in Iraq have been called to active duty from the Guard and Reserve. The deployments are now lasting longer on average than any time since the Korean war. Since that conflict, it had been our practice to not summon the Guard and Reserve for active duty for more than 6 months. Today it is routine they are called to service in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere for longer than that period of time, making these deployments not reasonably anticipatable on behalf of these individuals and their families. Mr. President, 51 percent--more than half--of the guardsmen and reservists who are called to active duty suffer a loss of income, the patriot penalties.…”