Democratic Radio Address By Representative Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)

Federal News Service August 28, 2004 Saturday

HEADLINE: DEMOCRATIC RADIO ADDRESS BY REPRESENTATIVE EARL POMEROY (D-ND) .

BODY:

Good morning. This is Congressman Earl Pomeroy from North Dakota.

Imagine: It's 121 degrees, around 2 p.m. and you're on the road again. Your kids back home are probably still asleep. It's only 4 a.m. back there. They'll probably get up in about three hours to catch the early morning cartoons. Meanwhile, your eyes scour the road for explosives or other signs of danger. It's hot. You miss your family, your home. But you do the job you're there to do.

You're an American soldier in Iraq. Your mind is on your mission, but your heart is thousands of miles back home in the U.S.A.

Nearly half of our deployed soldiers made the transition to full time soldiers in Iraq in just of a matter of a few weeks. They are the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines of the National Guard and Reserve. Back home they're police officers, carpenters, teachers, or students.

They are mostly young, working men and women who probably never thought their service in their home state National Guard would lead them to the scorched sands of Iraq, requiring them to be away from home for more than a year.

But, in all my meetings with troops and their families, I never hear from a soldier who is attempting to get out of the promise they made to serve if called. It's just not their way.

I do hear from troops who worry about their families back home-who worry about how their military paycheck will meet the mortgage payment, or the electric bill, who worry about keeping healthcare in place for their families until they return home. These soldiers don't want out. They just want to make sure their families don't suffer as a result of their service.

A former President and great American once said, 'A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards.' Teddy Roosevelt had it right in 1903 and we need to get it right now for the men and women of our Armed Forces.

That is why I've introduced the Guard and Reserve Fairness Act, to provide members of the National Guard and Reserve and their families increased access to TRICARE, the military healthcare system, and increased GI bill educational benefits. The bill also provides tax incentives to employers who continue to pay their Guard or Reserve employees after they're deployed. The need for this legislation is clear: a government study has found that 40 percent of National Guard and Reserve soldiers between the ages of 19 and 35 do not have health insurance.

Congress is debating this very issue right now within the 2005 Defense Authorization bill. All Guard and Reserve troops should have access to the military's TRICARE healthcare system and Democrats are fighting to make that happen. It's the right thing to do.

And as college classes begin this fall across the country, soldiers from the Guard and Reserve are finding that their G.I. Bill benefits are not keeping up with the rising costs of higher education. It's high time to raise these benefits to match increased tuition costs.

Finally, when soldiers are deployed, the last worry they should have is that their families will suddenly be unable to make ends meet. More than 40 percent of the reservists surveyed reported that their family income dropped when they were mobilized.

At a time when we are asking so much of the members of our National Guard and Reserve, we need to increase these benefits provided in return for their courageous service. We need to do it to keep these young men and women serving in these capacities. We need to do it to continue to attract other committed people. We need to do it because they've earned it.

But, the fight for Guard and Reserve benefits is not the only front in the battle to get the square deal Teddy Roosevelt referred to more than 100 years ago.

Active duty troops are serving day-in, day-out, as our country's full-time force. They and their Reserve Component counterparts will become tomorrow's veterans. And each one is entitled to fair benefits and a fully funded veterans health care system. That's the least we can give them for their service to our country.

Instead, while veterans are waiting months just to see a doctor, Republicans in Congress have shortchanged VA healthcare benefits by well over a billion dollars this year. And the Administration has proposed legislation that will cost veterans over $400 million out of their own pockets in the next five years.

That's not the square deal they were promised.

Active duty, Guard, Reserve, veterans - they've all fought for our country. They shouldn't have to fight the government to get the benefits they have earned.

When you've said goodbye to your spouse and kids, put your job on hold, and crossed an ocean to serve your nation, a square deal is the one thing you should be able to count on.

This is Congressman Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota. Thank you for listening.