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MCPON Outlines Legislative Priorities Before House Appropriations Subcommittee

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS060216-05
Release Date: 2/16/2006 11:11:00 AM

By Chief Journalist Michael Foutch, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) (SS/AW) Terry Scott spoke before the House Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs Subcommitte, Feb. 15.

The Navy’s senior enlisted advisor brought the concerns of Sailors around the globe, with whom he had visited in the past year, to lawmakers on the panel.

“Their courageous and determined efforts under difficult conditions around the world have amazed and inspired me. In these visits, I have taken special note of the quality of life in which they serve and live. Continuing the Navy’s successful efforts at present and in the future means recognizing the heroic sacrifices of the men and women of our Navy, and providing the necessary means to support them,” Scott said.

“Other nations may boast similar advances in technology, but our competitive edge to meet the challenges to our country, to take the fight to our enemies and to ensure a safer world is the extraordinary creativity, ingenuity and steadfastness to duty of the best people America has to offer,” he added.

Among the legislative concerns discussed during the appearance was the progress of eliminating the Navy’s backlog of inadequate family housing by Fiscal Year 2007. Scott also provided an update on the Homeport Ashore program and the steps taken to date to reduce the number of 18,300 junior Sailors required to live aboard ship while in homeport.

“Our junior Sailors face years of living under these conditions with little relief because of high costs of housing found in the communities surrounding Navy homeports,” Scott said.

Pilot projects now underway in Norfolk and San Diego hope to offer junior Sailors a comfortable place to live while in homeport.

In addition, Scott testified that efforts to involve and care for military families has an impact on Navy readiness. The multi-pronged approach for child care in an environment of uncertain deployment schedules is a critical quality of life issue, he said. However, demand for quality care has outstripped the current supply of care, and even with more than 1,000 additional child development center spaces under construction, Scott pressed for more work to be done.

“I welcome the opportunity to work with members of this subcommittee and Congress, too, in our attempts to close the gap between available capacity and the needs of our Navy families,” he said.

Another priority Scott presented to the subcommittee is the financial readiness of Sailors. While he reported success in the Navy’s efforts to encourage junior Sailors to participate in the Thrift Savings Plan, with 51 percent taking a direct and present interest in their financial future, he explained the tactics of an industry that preys upon military members who lack savings in the bank or a credit card to absorb unexpected expenses, often charging interest rates above 700 percent a year.

“Predatory lenders find easy targets among our less-financially savvy young service men and women, but more senior Sailors have been snared in the spiraling interest trap of these payday loans,” Scott said.

Quoting from a recent survey conducted in San Diego among military members, 21 percent had turned to a predatory lender for a short-term loan. Mid-grade enlisted members (pay grades E-4 to E-6) represented 80 percent of that total.

“While they claim to provide what appears to be the easiest option for our Sailors to climb out of tough financial times and meet those short term needs, the fees these predatory lenders charge can add up quickly. But the lenders have an easy answer for that, by offering to roll over those fees into a new loan,” Scott explained.

Scott also made the case during his testimony for continued support of enlisted education initiatives.

“We need Sailors who are educated to confront the unpredictable, to anticipate the impossible, to plan for the unimaginable,” Scott said. “Their determination to persevere in the defense of our nation and our interests around the world under extremely difficult conditions inspire us to ensure our best efforts are made to keep them in the best position possible to succeed."

Additionally, Scott discussed options to update the educational opportunities offered by the GI Bill, including a chance to permit approximately 14,000 members currently serving under the Post-Vietnam Veterans' Educational Assistance Program era to enroll and offer a second chance enrollment for career-oriented members, “so that no member faces leaving the service with no education benefits whatsoever,” he said.

“What we do today to value in the Navy and in our joint operating environment our lifelong learners, to capitalize on the creativity and motivation of the best people America has to offer is crucial to the long-term security and health of our country,” Scott said. “We are proud that our best thinkers and learners, the best people America has to offer, continue to step up and serve in the defense of our nation.”

Scott was joined in the appearance before the subcommittee by Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps John Estrada, Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Gerald Murray and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Ken Preston.