On the recordApril 8, 2011
The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America understand better than anybody what it is like to serve there and to not have any other stresses that would add to what they are already doing for our country. They say pass S. 724. The National Association for Uniformed Services, with more than 180,000 members, sent a letter in support. The Military Officers Association of America has also added its support with 377,000 members. We have the grassroots support. Everyone understands this. I will read a couple of the messages that have been on this wonderful Web site, but, first, here is one that came to my Web site: Dear Senator Hutchison: My husband serves as a Captain in the United States Army. As the wife of a currently deployed soldier and mother to our two-year-old son, I find it outrageous that our government is debating whether or not to continue to pay our troops. While my husband and I are very fiscally responsible, many of his junior soldiers simply cannot handle the implication of what it would mean to not receive their paychecks. We worry for these soldiers' families. How will they afford groceries? How will they afford diapers for their babies? Will they be able to pay their rent or mortgages? These are not questions that we should have to ask. Money should not be a worry on these soldiers' minds. My husband and the soldiers in his unit do incredibly dangerous missions and quite frankly it frightens me that this could split their focus in a very negative way.…
