Henry Cuellar: “I thank Chairwoman Granger and Ranking Member Visclosky for their bipartisan work in support of our Nation's military. I…”

“I thank Chairwoman Granger and Ranking Member Visclosky for their bipartisan work in support of our Nation's military. I also thank the staff on both sides of the aisle because they have worked very hard to put this very important bill together. Mr. Chair, first I would like to highlight that this bill provides over $606 billion to rebuild our Armed Forces, including $338 billion to restore critical military readiness programs. This is a significant investment in the men and women who sacrifice so much to keep us safe. This bill also includes a 2.6 percent pay raise for our military families, the largest in 9 years, which is the least we can do to show our gratitude for their service to our country. There are other investments, and let me just highlight a couple of them. There is $40 million for military impact aid, which enables schools to provide specialized counseling programs to meet the unique needs of our military children. There is also an additional $10 million to fund programs aimed at supporting military families that have children with severe disabilities. There is also $203 million for the National Guard Counterdrug Program, which allows units to conduct more counterdrug operations and training exercises, which, again, will help us reduce the illegal drugs coming into our country.…”