WALZ SUCCESSFULLY FIGHTS TO INCLUDE BENEFITS OWED TO MINNESOTA SERVICEMEN AND -WOMEN IN DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL

For Immediate Release
June 25, 2009

Contact: Meredith Salsbery
507-388-2149

WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, Congressman Walz voted for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2010 which authorizes retroactive payments to National Guard soldiers in Minnesota and elsewhere who have been deployed beyond established Department of Defense rotation cycles.

“These brave soldiers have gone above and beyond the call of duty. We owe them the benefits they have earned and I am pleased that the House took this significant step today by including this authorization,” said Walz. “I have been fighting hard to fix this bureaucratic snafu, and as this bill moves through the legislative process, I will continue to fight for our men and women in uniform.”

In 2007, the Department of Defense announced the establishment of the Post-Deployment/Mobilization Respite Absence (PDMRA) program to provide benefits to service members who are deployed beyond established DOD rotation cycles to Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately, because of a bureaucratic foul-up, years after returning home, thousands of these troops have not received their earned benefits, including over 2500 in Minnesota alone. The NDAA authorizes the DOD to make a retroactive payment to those soldiers who were unjustly deprived their PDMRA benefit. The next step is for the Congress to appropriate the additional funds needed to make the payments.

“I was recently up at Camp Ripley, and this issue was practically all I heard about. Many of our soldiers who were owed this benefit are redeploying. I don’t think it is good policy to redeploy a soldier before you’ve fully compensated them for their last deployment. I am more determined than ever to make sure our men and women in uniform receive the PDMRA payment they’re owed.”

The NDAA that passed the House today also included an amendment Congressman Walz introduced on the floor that would require the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to submit to Congress a report on the progress that has been made on the establishment of a Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record for members of the Armed Forces to improve the quality of medical care and create a seamless integration between the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“The President announced on April 9 of this year that his Secretary of Defense and Secretary of VA would be working toward establishing a Joint Virtual Lifetime Record, which is absolutely key to making sure our returning service members make that seamless transition when they become civilians again,” said Walz. “I was very pleased when the President made that announcement. But I am a firm believer in congressional oversight, and that is what my amendment does. It is what we owe our soldiers and our veterans.”

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY2010 also includes a pay raise for service members, expands TRICARE health coverage for service members and their families, and improves military readiness.

The NDAA will:

Military Families

· Provide a 3.4 percent pay raise for service members, 0.5% higher than the budget request

· Expands TRICARE health coverage to reserve component members and their families for 180 days prior to mobilization. Currently they’re covered for just 90 days before mobilization

· Limits the collection of pay and allowance overpayments that result from administrative error

· $1.95 billion for family housing programs

· Provide travel and transportation for three designated persons, including non-family members, to visit hospitalized service members

· Enable seriously injured service members to use a non-medical attendant for help with daily living or during travel for medical treatment.

· Provide scholarships to students pursuing degrees in disciplines that contribute to mental health programs

Improving Readiness

· Authorize $11 billion for Army reset, $2 billion for Marine Corps reset

· Spend $176 million to refill and maintain our nation’s prepositioned stocks

· Authorize $6.9 billion to address equipment shortfalls in the National Guard and Reserve

· Increase the size of the military – by 15,000 Army troops, 8,000 Marines, 14,650 Air Force personnel, and 2,477 Navy sailors

· Spend $450 million for Army barracks improvements and $440 million to support National Guard and Reserve military construction projects

· Improve the process of planning for and procurement of body armor

Afghanistan and Pakistan

· Require the President to assess U.S. efforts and report on progress in both countries, including metrics and timelines for achieving U.S. goals in these countries

· Provide funds to train and equip and increase the size of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF)

· Require a system to register and track all U.S. defense articles provided to Afghanistan and Pakistan

Afghanistan and Iraq

· Require a report on efforts to prioritize resources between Iraq and Afghanistan

· Direct GAO to provide separate reports assessing the strategic plans for Iraq and Afghanistan

Iraq

· Require a report to assist Congress with monitoring our redeployment from Iraq

· Require a detailed plan for the disposition of U.S. military equipment in Iraq