Don Nickles: “I became concerned about the cost not just of the pay increases, which are handled by appropriation committees every…”

“I became concerned about the cost not just of the pay increases, which are handled by appropriation committees every year--in other words, this bill can authorize pay increases of whatever percent, but the appropriators have to come up with the money to do it. They will do that within the budget cycle, and we are going to pass a budget this year. So I am optimistic that will be funded. It will be within the budget and it will be responsible. So, again, I don't have a problem with that portion of the bill, the pay raise. That portion of the bill, I might mention, is $26 billion over the next 10 years. It is about half of this bill. The total cost of this bill is about $55 billion over the next 10 years. So I don't have a problem with the pay raise provision. I do have a problem with two of the entitlement increases in this bill. I think, with all due respect, they are mistakes. I think increasing the military retirement percentage from 40 to 50 percent is a mistake. Some colleagues say don't raise that. I was in the Congress when we reduced it from 50 to 40. We did that with an overwhelming vote of 92-1. In 1986, we reduced the military retirement schedule from 50 to 40 percent as part of an overall package for entitlement reform in the military. It was overwhelming, 92-1. Now we are getting ready to do the opposite, increasing it probably from 40 percent to 50 percent.”