Chairman Ike Skelton
Opening Statement
Mark-up of H.R. 3159
July 27, 2007
"The committee will now turn to consideration of H.R. 3159, the Ensuring Military Readiness Through Stability and Predictability Deployment Policy Act. The bill, introduced by my dear friend Ellen Tauscher, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, would establish a minimum dwell time between deployments for our over-worked Armed Forces.
"Now, I'm just a country lawyer from Missouri, but even I know when momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to tell you, we have a whole lot of unhappy mommas in our military families. Why? Because in the uncertain world in which military families live, where service members put their lives on the line each and every day in defense of this nation, one of the most important things our families have relied upon is the predictability and stability of military routine, knowing when their loved one is going to be deployed and when they are returning home. Over the past several years, that predictability and stability has slowly been eroded as deployments are extended and policies that control those decisions are changed to meet increased operational requirements.
"Today, the Army is requiring active duty troops to deploy for 15 months and return to their home station for 12 months. This change is policy is breaking the back of our soldiers and their families. Soldiers simply aren't being given the time to recover from their deployment, undergo the training that they need, and spend time and get to know their families and loved ones again. It's time that Congress takes a stand on behalf of our solders and their families, and ensures that these warriors have the time they need to recuperate. We need to establish a minimum time between deployments for the sake of our service members and their families, and in reality, for the sake of our nation.
"The Air Force, which has been the canary in the mine for retention among the services, has not made their retention goals for mid-career and career personnel. The Army is also short of their goals for their mid-grade and senior personnel, both enlisted and officer. We need to recognize that this problem exists and may be getting worse, and one of the main reasons is frequent and extended deployments. The Department of Defense continues to fall short of its own goal of a 1 year deployed to 2 years home rotation for the active duty, let alone the goal for the reserves which is 1 year deployed to 5 years at home. We have a moral responsibility to our troops to reverse this trend.
"At the appropriate time, I will be offering a substitute amendment that would make minor modifications to the bill. It applies the bill's dwell time requirements for active and reserve component to units deploying for Operation Iraqi Freedom. To ensure that we have the resources to continue to prosecute the war on terror, it would exempt special operation forces, and any unit that may be needed to redeploy troops out of Iraq. I ask my colleagues to stand with me in support of our troops and our military families and require that they have at least the same amount of time back home as they do deployed.
"I now turn to my friend and colleague from New Jersey, Mr. Saxton for his opening remarks."
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