The Senate Armed Services Committee and the House National Security Committee both deserve applause for their support on this important issue. In its first draft of the Defense Authorization Bill, the committee had approved a demonstration package of six test sites. At two other sites, Tricare would be offered as a supplement to Medicare. We're very grateful to Bond and the leaders of the Armed Services Committee for this important upgrade. The broader the test, the more retirees will be covered and the better data we'll have to push for worldwide implementation.
Current law covers only voting rights in federal elections.
The proposal arose from a suit by local officials in a Texas community last year to void absentee ballots of some military voters after those votes made the difference in a local election. The suit was subsequently thrown out, but TROA has supported this initiative to ensure that those assigned away from home on military orders, and whose sworn duty is to uphold the Constitution, are not deprived of their own voting rights as a result of that service. SBP open season. We don't expect many will take advantage of this option though, assuming the House agrees to it. A conference committee of House and Senate leaders began negotiations in July to negotiate the differences between their respective versions of the Defense Authorization Bill.