Trent Lott: “Mr. President, S. 4, the Soldiers', Sailors', Airmen's and Marines' Bill of Rights Act of 1999 is a much needed first…”

“Mr. President, S. 4, the Soldiers', Sailors', Airmen's and Marines' Bill of Rights Act of 1999 is a much needed first step in fixing the problems of a military that I fear has been in a death spiral, quite frankly, after continued years of underfunding by the two previous administrations, both this one and the previous one. It started some 10 years ago, slowly, in the aftermath of the wall coming down and the Soviet Union being broken apart. But it has been a continuing slow process that has really started having a profound impact. Now, I must say we finally got the title correct--Soldiers', Sailors', Airmen's and Marines' Bill of Rights, because I referred to it early on as the Soldiers' Bill of Rights, and I quickly heard from the marines and the airmen and the others that it is for all of our military personnel. I think this is a very important bill. It addresses key areas that really have negative effects on our military and on retention.”