National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011

Floor Speech

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Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Chairman, last year I was in Afghanistan. Some paratroopers were transporting me outside the city of Kandahar, and one of them stopped and turned to me and said, Are you a Congressman? I said yes. He said, Can you help us? We haven't had a pay raise in 10 years. I said, Can I help you? You bet I can.

Upon returning, I introduced the COMBAT Act to increase specialty pay for troops serving overseas and separated from their families. Over the past several months, I have worked to incorporate hostile fire, imminent danger, and family separation allowance pay increases into the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act. This increase will help hundreds of thousands of servicemembers and their families.

Our servicemembers and their families have made enormous sacrifices to keep us safe. They deserve this pay raise, and I am proud to see that the increases are included in the 2011 defense authorization bill.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your efforts, and for working with me on this issue, and for all the work that you have done for our Armed Forces. I support this important legislation.

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