Patty Murray: “that article states: The Army National Guard . . . missed its recruiting goal for at least the ninth straight month in…”

“that article states: The Army National Guard . . . missed its recruiting goal for at least the ninth straight month in June and is nearly 19,000 soldiers below its authorized strength, military officials said Monday. Further, the Army Guard: . . . is more than 10,000 soldiers behind its year-to-date goal of almost 45,000 recruits and has missed its recruiting target during at least 17 of the last 18 months. Many factors, as we all know, affect recruiting, but how we care for our veterans is absolutely one of them. As George Washington said: The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their country. That was George Washington back in 1789. It is still true today. We need to show our veterans--today's veterans and those considering military service--we will be there for them. If the Senate retreats from what we agreed to 2 weeks ago, it will tell potential recruits the VA will have a hiring freeze and the VA will not have new clinics and we will not be there for them. That is the wrong message to send. The Senate agreed our veterans need $1.5 billion. We agreed on a bipartisan basis. I am offering this amendment today to make sure there is no backtracking and that our veterans get the help they need, they deserve, and they were promised.…”