On the recordOctober 3, 2013
I thank the chairman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, in the family of public servants, our military, and especially their families, deserve special attention, especially during this government shutdown. We have spoken with pride many times about our Active Duty soldiers, sailors, marines, Coast Guard, airmen and airwomen, many deployed in Afghanistan and other challenging areas around the globe. I need not remind my colleagues that the men and women of the National Guard are just as vital to the performance of our military. They train, deploy, and they fight alongside their Active Duty brethren. Many of these men and women have completed multiple overseas deployments in some of these same dangerous areas. They guard us here at home and meet the challenges of manmade and natural disasters--civil emergencies like Hurricane Sandy last year in New Jersey or the flooding in Colorado. Last year, the National Guard alone responded to more than 100 natural disaster missions. Mr. Speaker, this bill corrects a drafting error in the Pay Our Military Act, signed into law last Monday. It is intended to appropriate funds so that all of our servicemembers--Active Duty, Guard and Reserve--get paid. It deserves our bipartisan support.
