I am deeply committed to our military and the brave men and women who have volunteered to defend our nation. My assignment on the Rules Committee will allow me to retain a voice in shaping the annual defense authorization bill and enhance my ability to work with other committees that craft other important military legislation such as the defense and military construction appropriations bills, and intelligence and homeland security legislation.
I am pleased that the FY 2005 Defense Authorization Act provides a 3.5 percent across the board pay raise for military personnel and extends many benefits and bonuses for members of the armed forces. It also continues to fund the Future Combat Systems and leaves the NLOS cannon as a separate line item, ensuring a replacement for the Paladin artillery piece. I was one of four original co-sponsors of the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) included in the Defense Authorization Act. This plan ensures there will no longer be a discrepancy between the benefits given to military retirees and the benefits given to survivors of other federal retirees.
Also in the FY2005 defense bill, Congress approved increasing the active duty Army and Marine Corps by 30,000 soldiers and the Marine Corps by 9,000 personnel over the next five years. Since September 11, 2001, the United States military has proven itself to be flexible and adaptive in meeting the operational demands of the new security environment. We must continue this trend and I believe this involves further increases in the size of our Armed Forces. The Defense Appropriations Conference Report for FY 2005 does much to modernize and strengthen our military, but it does not have enough funds to allow for a permanent expansion in manpower without reducing expenditures on other vital programs. I will work with my colleagues to address this issue in future Congresses. We must not allow anyone to shortchange our military.
I understand the challenges of serving our country during our Global War on Terrorism. No one ever imagined prior to September 11th, we would face the largest call up of our forces since World War II. This is an unfortunate reality, but I am proud of the servicemen and women who rise to the occasion.
I am ready to work with our National Guard and Reserve servicemen and women to ensure a smooth transition back to civilian life and to work with the Employer Support of Guard and Reserve should they have reemployment problems. I take these problems very seriously, and wish to reassure our Guardsmen and Reservists that their experiences will directly affect legislation in future Defense Authorization Bills.
Fort Sill is a critical part of the U.S. Army. Many soldiers stationed there are protecting America right now in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places around the world. Fort Sill is the premier artillery-training site for both the Army and the U.S. MarineCorps. The U.S. Air Force also uses part of Fort Sill as a training range. I am pleased to have been involved in adding over 90 new jobs with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service that were transferred to Fort Sill from Germany and securing funds to build more family housing and barracks.
Since I took office in 2002, I have worked hard to bring almost $139 million for military construction projects (121 million) and mission enhancements ($17 million) to Fort Sill. I will continue to work to bring additional funds and missions to Fort Sill. To find more information about Fort Sill please visit sill-www.army.mil.
I am committed to helping to strengthen Tinker Air Force Base, one of the most valuable depot maintenance facilities within the U.S. Air Force. Recent improvements on base in manufacturing and quality control have made Tinker a nationwide leader in innovation. Resulting cost savings and increased capacity will allow Tinker to do even more work for the Air Force.
In the 108th Congress, I was able to secure $62 million in funds for Tinker Air Force Base. I was also able to insert language into the conference report for the FY05 Defense Authorization bill that mandated at least 50 percent of maintenance on military aircraft and other equipment must be done in-house. With this language, DOD will not be able to close too many depots and indefinitely waive the 50-50 requirement during BRAC. Find more information about Tinker at www.tinker.af.mil.