Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Iraq and Afghanistan Security and Reconstruction Act, 2004

EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN SECURITY AND RECONSTRUCTION, 2004

Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, the Pentagon has rolled out a program to bring home troops who have served in Iraq for over a year. It is a good program. Under the Rest and Recuperation Leave Program, these service men and women will get a much deserved 2 weeks of R&R with their families. Unfortunately, the program only provides for transportation to places such as Baltimore, Atlanta, Dallas, or Los Angeles. From these cities, our service men and women are expected to pay their own way home at same-day rates.

Chad Krandall and Dave Schmaltz, cousins and Minnesota National Guard members from Gwinner, MN were told the price of a same-day ticket from Baltimore to Minneapolis-St. Paul would be $1,200 each. Steven Bazaard, another Guard member from Minnesota, was faced with a similarly high bill if he was to make it all the way home to see his wife Sherry Billups in Blackduck, MN. Isaac Girling, a member of the 142nd Battalion in Iraq, will have to pay the same exorbitant fee when he comes home next week to Stillwater, MN to see his newborn son for the first time.

I don't have anything against Baltimore, Atlanta, Dallas, or Los Angeles. But to be perfectly frank, these cities can't really hold a candle to Blackduck or Gwinner, and they are a long way away and expensive to travel to.

This R&R program is a good start, but it doesn't go far enough to support our troops. These are families which have already made do for a year without their loved ones, and the toll has been both emotional and financial. To ask them to pay same-day airfare to see their loved ones is simply unfair.

If we acknowledge that troops who have been in Iraq for a year deserve a 2-week vacation like anyone else, we ought to make sure they get all the way home. That is what we are talking about here—making sure our service men and women who have performed so admirably, have sacrificed so much in defense of their country and in defense of freedom, get all the way home.

I have introduced, along with the distinguished chairman, Senator Stevens, and my friend and fellow Senator from Minnesota, Senator Dayton, an amendment to fix this unintended consequence of the R&R program. We have broad bipartisan support, including Senators BYRD, DAYTON, ALEXANDER, CHAMBLISS, COLLINS, CONRAD, CORZINE, CRAIG, DEWINE, DOMENICI, DORGAN, ENSIGN, ENZI, GRAHAM of South Carolina, GREGG, JOHNSON, KENNEDY, MURKOWSKI, SANTORUM, SUNUNU, STEVENS, and ALLEN.

The chairman and his staff on the Appropriations Committee have been very gracious in working with me to craft a good amendment to make sure our troops and their families do not have to pay these high rates.

This amendment will not have any budgetary consequence. It will simply make sure existing funds are used for this essential program to boost troop morale and to reunite families separated by this engagement. This amendment is the right thing to do.

I notice my friend and colleague, the senior Senator from Minnesota, Senator Dayton is here. I yield the floor at this time to Senator Dayton.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.

Mr. DAYTON. Mr. President, I thank my distinguished colleague, Senator Coleman, who joined with great minds which think in the same direction. We introduced this legislation on the same day. I am proud to be joining with Senator Coleman in the Coleman-Dayton amendment to provide for transportation to homes and places of origin for our troops, many of whom, in the case of Minnesota, have just had their tours of duty in the Iraqi theater extended by 6 months. In the case of the 142nd Battalion, it covers northwestern Minnesota and North Dakota. As a result of this extension and this deployment and administrative matters, many of them will not see their families for up to 18 months. To drop them off at the Baltimore airport and tell them they are going to be on their own at that point and at their own expense to try to get back and see their families for their one opportunity in nearly 18 months I think would be shameful. I think the American people are more generous than this. I think under these circumstances it is the least we can do.

I thank the Senator from Minnesota for his leadership on this matter, and I am glad to sponsor it with him.

I yield the floor.

Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I say to my friend and colleague, Senator Dayton, that the two folks from Minnesota understand it is really good to get home—and also the folks from Alaska and Idaho. This amendment does that.

I urge adoption of the amendment. I yield the floor.