Don Nickles: “I have heard some statements where people are insinuating that American combat personnel are getting gypped by this…”

“I have heard some statements where people are insinuating that American combat personnel are getting gypped by this bill. That is false. We are giving them a benefit they didn't have before. We are saying they can use combat pay in computing their earned-income tax credit, or not. If it is to their advantage to use it, they can. If it is to their advantage not to use it, they can pass. This is a new provision. This is something they didn't have in the past. They have it now for 2 years. The Treasury advised against this because it is very complicated, very confusing, hard to monitor. I have already complained on the floor tonight about how complicated the EIT program is. It already has a 30-percent error rate, and that is without this confusion. This was done previously. The Clinton administration said not to do it. We repealed it at their request. We are putting it back for 2 years. We are trying to see if we can make it work and be factually accurate in computing taxes. This is a new benefit for combat pay which, incidentally, is not taxed. It is a good deal for American soldiers. It is not a bad deal. I resent the statement implying that they are coming up short. This is a good new benefit for them, and we will see if it works.”