Chambliss Urges House Colleagues to Support Our Nation's Military

May 9, 2002

WASHINGTON-U.S. Representative Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism & Homeland Security and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, today urged his colleagues in the House to support America´s armed forces by voting in favor of the 2003 Defense Authorization bill.

Speaking on the floor of the House today, Congressman Chambliss made the following remarks:

"I strongly support the FY03 National Defense Authorization Act, which will provide critical resources for our military to ensure that they have the adequate training, modern equipment, and sufficient resources to do their job in protecting our nation.

"This bill is important for our nation. Our troops deserve a pay raise-and we provide that to them. We provide our troops and their families quality health care and benefits, which they have earned because of their service and sacrifice for our nation. We provide significant funds for the development of technologies that are needed for our missile defense systems so that we are better prepared to meet the future threats this country faces. We increased the resources available to combat terrorism, which is an immediate threat to the people of the United States. We increased key readiness accounts so that we continue to increase our capabilities to support our warfighters who are actively engaged in protecting American interests around the globe.

"Let me say that this bill is also important for Georgia. We fund critical military construction projects at Robins Air Force Base, Fort Benning, Fort Stewart, and Kings Bay Navy submarine base. We fully funded the president´s budget requests for vital modern aircraft for our Air Force, including the F-22 advanced tactical fighter, the C-17, the C-130, and JSTARS-all of which are important to my home state of Georgia as well as our long-term national defense priorities."

Highlights of the bill include:

A 4.1 percent pay raise for service men and women;

Elimination of out-of-pocket housing expenses paid by service members by 2005;

Full retirement pay and disability compensation for military retirees who are more than 60 percent disabled;

$7.3 billion for programs to combat terrorism including equipment to detect and decontaminate chemical-biological agents, counter-intelligence efforts, and counter-drug activities;

$550 million to increase active duty force strengths by more than 12,000 personnel;

$7.8 billion for continued development of ballistic missile defense;

$9.1 billion for depot maintenance ($64 million more than 2002 level);

Authorization for a multi-year procurement of 40 C-130J aircraft for the Air Force and 24 KC-130J aircraft for the Marine Corps (built by Lockheed in Marietta);

$3.7 billion to purchase 12 C-17 aircraft;

$279.3 million for the procurement of one E-8C Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) stationed at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Georgia; and

$627.3 million for continued F-22 research and $4.1 billion for 23 low-rate initial production (LRIP) F-22s, and $530.6 million for the advance procurement of 27 LRIP F-22s in 2004.