Carol Shea-Porter: “It's very important. I sit on the Armed Services Committee and the Subcommittees on Personnel and Readiness. So I hear…”

“It's very important. I sit on the Armed Services Committee and the Subcommittees on Personnel and Readiness. So I hear every day what the President's impact has had on personnel and on readiness. I would like to address both of them. Supporting the troops is a lot more than putting a yellow ribbon on a car. The 'Support the Troops' sound coming out of the White House rings hollow to my ears after 6 months on the Armed Services Committee. I will give you an example. Here we have the most wonderful troops in the world, committed volunteers who signed up out of love and patriotism for their country. It came time for a pay raise, and the President only wanted 3 percent. The House of Representatives, bipartisan, said they wanted 3.5 percent pay raise. So, how much is 3.5 percent versus the President's percent? Well for an E-4, it would be $200 a year. I know, from sitting on the Personnel Subcommittee, what a strain this is on their families and the cost of having a loved one gone and having to get day care and having to get extra help and not having the same support system that they have when they have their spouse or family member with them. Yet the President said 3 percent was sufficient.”