Date: 2013-10-03
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Speaker. I rise to speak on H.R. 3230. the Pay Our Guard and Reserve Act. The members of the National Guard who reside in the city of Houston are more than numbers. they are friends of mine who share a passion for love of country and community service that is unrivaled. It is very painful to me to see our men and women in the armed services treated with such disrespect by the majority of the House of Representatives. I know how they treat members of Congress when we visit their installations or facilities. They greet us with salutes. deference and respect. I have learned to return their greetings in kind not out of habit but out of true appreciation for who they are and what they do to make the lives of countless Americans better. Guard and reservists. unlike regular army or military service personnel. are part of the support for first responders for communities in times when a hurricane comes ashore. wildfires strike. tornadoes touch down and ice storms occur. When Congress moves to fund only components of the government but not the entire government they do harm to our nations security in small and large ways. One of the large ways they harm our nations security is to undermine the cohesiveness of all of the components of our military force. The majority bringing a bill to the floor today to include the Guard and Reserve on their list of favored Federal government programs. projects or agencies is an afterthought. If the House majority thought that the Guard and Reserves were important to the security of our nation. which I believe that they are. funding would have been in the bill passed that continued pay to soldiers. What is most troubling is that if the majority of the House would actually negotiate with Democrats in the House before introducing these measures. they would know that this approach will mean that we will spend the next hundred or two hundred days coming back to fund an office. agency or Federal component that the majority did not know was essential. The regular order for consideration of funding bills allows committees with jurisdiction and more important indepth knowledge about agencies to make funding decisions. No one member knows everything that there is to know about what each agency does and how what that agency does impacts or touches on how well another part of the Federal government functions. The Federal government is not a group of dismembered parts but a cohesive unit that works as one for the benefit of the American people. Attempting to bribe our Guard and Reservists into turning a blind eye to the best interest of our nation speaks to the character of the majoritys leadership on the matter of the budget. Attempting to turn one American against another is a shameful act and one that will not be tolerated or soon forgotten by the American public. The House majority see members of the Guard and Reservists as selfish. They are far from selfish. they are selfless. Over 662.000 National Guard and Reserve Troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan as of Included in these numbers are 15.877 Army Guard. 11.939 Army Reservists. 2.068 Navy Reservists. 3.499 Marine Corps Reservists and over 6.000 Air National Guard. Air Force Reservists and Coast Guard Reservists from the State of Texas. If the majority cared about the welfare of the Guard and Reservists they would have ended the Sequester. which has cost them pay cuts just like all Federal personnel. This is not a gamewhere points can be won or lostthese are lives being impacted by decisions made by the majority of this body who are not putting first the America the Guard and Reservists risk their lives to protect and serve. The Guard and Reserves will not leave anyone behindif they did they know that the ability to defend and protect this nation would be left behind. We must learn from these brave men and women to work together for the good of a nation and not for political gain. We know what needs to be doneput everyone back to work in the Federal government. then we can work on the issues that separate us. Time is important for Federal workers who have been working with reduced pay for months. We should and can do better than play politics with the lives of our Guard and Reservists.