Washington, D.C. - House Armed Services Committee Member U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) announced that H.R. 1815, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006, passed out of committee in the wee hours this morning. Among other issues of importance, the committee authorized a 3.1% across-the-board pay raise for U.S. military. Overall, the bill authorizes $441.6 billion in budget authority for the Department of Defense and the national security programs of the Department of Energy. In addition, the bill authorizes $49.1 billion for ongoing operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the global war on terrorism. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on H.R. 1815 next week.

“The men and women in our military are on the front lines of maintaining our national security,” Larsen said. “As a member of the House Armed Service Committee, I am working to support them and provide them with the resources they need in order to defend this nation.”

Improved Pay, Benefits and Strength For Military
“This year’s defense bill includes a 3.1 percent across-the-board pay raise and better benefits for our troops, sending them a strong signal of support for their service.”
· This increases the amounts paid for active duty enlistments, reserve enlistments and active duty re-enlistments.
· The bill also makes the reserve rates for basic allowance for housing equal to active duty rates when mobilized for over 30 days.
· In addition, the bill increases the maximum amount of hardship pay from $300 to $750 per month.
· The bill recommends increasing the strength by 10,000 in the Army and 1,000 in the Marine Corps and gives the authority for more growth.
· An amendment was included to extend TRICARE to all Reserve component personnel on a permanent basis.

Improved Recruitment and Retention Initiatives
“This bill will help us recruit and retain more men and women for our all-volunteer military that is currently under tremendous strain,” Larsen said.
· The bill includes an increase for the maximum amounts that can be paid for active duty enlistments from $20,000 to $30,000 and reserve enlistments from $10,000 to $15,000 and active duty re-enlistments from $60,000 to $90,000.
· It establishes a pilot program to test a new $1,000 bonus for service members who encourage new recruits to enlist.

Improved Benefits for Veterans and Retirees
“We made a commitment to the women and men who served this nation in our military that we would take care of them in their time of need,” Larsen reminded. “I am working with my colleagues to right Congress’s wrongs against our veterans.”
· The bill allows veterans with a disability rating below 100%, but still determined to be “unemployable” due to their disability, to begin receiving full “concurrent receipt” in 2009, five years earlier than currently scheduled to receive benefits.

U.S. Air Force Tankers
“Our Air Force needs more tankers, and Boeing is the company that should build them,” Larsen urged. “This bill moves us closer to that.”
· A provision in the bill would ban the Pentagon from purchasing goods and services from foreign companies that are receiving government subsidies. This section of the bill, while not naming Airbus, would keep Airbus’s parent company, EADS North America, from competing for the U.S. Air Force tanker contract.

To become law, all of these provisions will have to survive the House floor passage and remain in the conference report after negotiations to combine the House and Senate bills. The Senate has not yet acted on its own bill. Larsen serves on the U.S. House Armed Services Committee.