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Friday, June 26, 2009
NELSON: DEFENSE BILL SENT TO FULL SENATE ADDRESSES MILITARY SUICIDE, HEALTH CARE

Source: KOLNKGIN

Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson announced Friday that the Senate Armed Services Committee has approved the National Defense Authorization Bill for fiscal year 2010, addressing key personnel concerns and his call for benchmarks to assess progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, Nelson applauded the bipartisan support to address issues spotlighted in hearings he held this year.

The hearings addressed issues like military suicides, travel for stranded soldiers, health benefits, strains on military families and aid for wounded warriors. Nelson said he worked to make sure these issues were taken for action by policy and legislation in the National Defense Authorization Act.

"Our hearings clearly showed gaps in health care, suicide prevention and mental health treatment," Nelson Said. "These gaps are having repercussions on our military's brave men and women and their families."

For military personnel, the committee allocated $163.5 billion to fund costs of pay, allowances, bonuses, death benefits, permanent change of station moves and health care. The bill, among is many benefits to military members and their families, authorizes a 3.4 percent across-the-board pay raise, 0.5 percent above the budget request.

It also increased the overall size of the force. The bill authorizes fiscal year 2010 active-duty end strengths for the Army of 547,400; the Marine Corps, 202,100; the Air Force, 331,700; and the Navy, 328,800.

The bill also authorizes the Secretary of Defense to increase the Army's active-duty end strength by 30,000 above 2010 levels during fiscal years 2011 and 2012 if sufficient funding is requested in the budgets for those fiscal years.

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