Senate Appropriations Committee Unanimously Passes Mikulski Amendment to Protect Military Families' Access to Healthy Affordable Food at Commissaries

Press Release

U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), Vice Chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, announced today the Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously passed her amendment to restore $322 million in commissary funding to the Senate Defense Appropriations bill. Restoring these funds will prevent commissaries from reducing store hours and days of operation.

"The commissary is one of the most important tools we have to support and promote the health and well-being of our military families in this country," said Senator Mikulski, a member of the Senate Military Families Caucus. "At a time when thousands of military families depend on food stamps, it's wrong to reduce access to commissaries or increase costs at the checkout line. These families face enough stress. I want to keep commissary doors open to provide low-cost, high-quality food to our service members and their families until we're certain there's a better alternative."

This is a continuation of Senator Mikulski's fight to save commissaries for military families. Mikulski has also introduced three amendments to 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to protect commissaries.

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