Kay Bailey Hutchison: “This is a military Bill of Rights. This bill is going to try to help alleviate a very bad situation that we have with…”

“This is a military Bill of Rights. This bill is going to try to help alleviate a very bad situation that we have with our military. Right now we are having a hard time recruiting. We have had the worst recruiting year in the Army for the United States since 1979. We are having a hard time retaining our best people. For every two pilots that we lose, we are only gaining one to replace those pilots. So you can see, if we are losing two pilots and gaining one, pretty soon we are going to have a pilot shortage in the Air Force, and the time has come. It is also going to add to the expense of training the pilots in the Air Force. The Navy has had to lower its educational standards to recruit. This is not good. So many of us in Congress on a bipartisan basis said, What can we do? What can we do to make sure we are giving quality of life to those who are giving their lives to protect our freedom? What can we do to make it worthwhile for them? The basic things we have heard that are a problem that cause us to lose personnel are pay, health care, and pension benefits. This bill, with our amendment, will address all three. The bill before us today is a pay raise.”