Judd Gregg: “I want to address the bill that is presently before the Senate. I begin by congratulating the chairman of the committee…”

“I want to address the bill that is presently before the Senate. I begin by congratulating the chairman of the committee, Senator Warner, and the ranking member, Senator Bingaman, for bringing this bill forward in the sense that it has addressed the issue of pay raise for our service people. This is important. I think we all recognize that our ability to attract in a volunteer service first-class folks who are going to be willing to put their lives on the line for us requires, in turn, that we pay them a fair compensation which reflects the gravity of the job that they are doing and the importance of the job that they are doing. So the pay raise part of this bill, I think, is a very appropriate element of the bill. In addition, I am very supportive of the attempts to address the health care issues, not only of the service men and women, but of their families, which is critical to the quality of life. Of course, housing needs of service individuals is also extremely important. Those elements of the bill, especially the pay and the health care parts, are, in my opinion, steps forward, and I congratulate the chairman for bringing the bill forward and bringing it so promptly to our attention. But I do have serious reservations about some other elements of this piece of legislation.”