washingtonscene
South Carolina Joins Compact
n South Carolina became the 32nd state to join the Interstate Compact on Educational Oppor- tunity for Military Chil- dren. States signing the compact agree to work together to ease school- transition problems for military children whose parents are reassigned between states.
an individual and $300 for a family), ex- cept eligible beneficiaries will be required to pay a premium. Unlike the existing TRICARE Reserve
Select program, in which premiums are 72-percent subsidized by the government, retirees will be responsible for paying pre- miums equal to the full cost of coverage. MOAA will provide updates as infor- mation becomes available.
Don’t Dawdle
on War Funding Troops need prompt action.
O
n June 16, Defense Secretary Rob- ert Gates said he is “becoming in- creasingly concerned about the lack
of progress on the wartime supplemental appropriations bill,” H.R. 4899, and urged the House to act soon. “We begin to have to do stupid things if the supplemental is not passed by the July 4 recess,” Gates told the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcom- mittee. “We could reach a point in August where money in the base budget runs out, and we will need to begin furloughs for civilian employees, and we won’t be able to pay active duty personnel.” On May 27, the Senate passed the bill,
which provides $33.5 billion for war efforts, and the House currently is considering it. House leaders have sought to use the bill
as a potential vehicle to provide more aid to states to prevent widespread layoffs of teachers and school workers. But concern about the federal debt has limited their abil- ity to secure votes without spending offsets. The bill provides $24.6 billion for op-
erations and maintenance; $1.8 billion for military personnel; $656.8 million for military construction; $924.5 million to acquire and sustain high-priority intel- ligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance initiatives; $616 million to cover fuel
3 8 MI L I T A R Y O F F I C E R AU G U S T 2 0 1 0
shortfalls; and $2.8 billion to support relief efforts related to the earthquake in Haiti. MOAA President Vice Adm. Norb Ryan
Jr., USN-Ret., urged members of Congress to quickly approve the war supplemental so military wartime needs aren’t disrupted.
Legislators:
“Cut Defense” Plan would whack people and benefits.
R
eps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Ron Paul (R-Texas), and Walter Jones (R-N.C.) and Sen. Ron Wyden
(D-Ore.) urged the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform June 15 to consider major cuts in defense spending. They expressed “an ongoing commitment to strong national defense” but said the growing national debt requires a reduction in defense spending over the next 10 years. Their letter highlighted recommenda-
tions of the Sustainable Defense Task Force, a group seeking to reduce spending in pro- curement, research and development, per- sonnel, operations and maintenance, and infrastructure. The task force has proposed cuts to save $960 billion between 2011 and 2020, including proposals to reduce person- nel costs by more than $100 billion during that period by cutting 200,000 military personnel (yielding a peacetime active duty end strength of approximately 1.3 million servicemembers), recalculating military compensation to curtail pay raises, and im- posing big increases in TRICARE fees. MOAA finds it appalling that, in the
midst of a decade-long, two-front war — when we are demanding far greater sacrific- es from servicemembers and their families than we have in generations — any panel of so-called “experts” can conclude the force is too big and military people don’t deserve their current compensation package.
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