Continuing his fight to better provide for West Virginia’s troops and veterans, U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) voiced his support Wednesday for final passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009, a bill that will strengthen our Nation’s military readiness and support American service members and their families.  Having passed both the House and Senate, the bill will soon be sent to the President to be signed into law. 

“America has the finest military in the world, and West Virginians have a proud record of service in our Armed Forces,” said Rahall.  “The Congress has crafted a bipartisan bill that honors our military’s great service and sacrifice and provides them with the better protection, better health care, and better pay that they deserve.”

To restore military readiness after six years of troop deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 2009 Defense Authorization Bill authorizes $8.6 billion for the Army, $1.8 billion for the Marine Corps, and $800 million for National Guard and Reserve to address critical shortfalls in their equipment needs. 

For our troops in the field, the bill dedicates substantial resources to improve force protection, including an additional $1.7 billion for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, which have been found to dramatically reduce the casualties caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs).  Another $2.2 billion is provided for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDD), which develops new technologies to better combat IEDs.

“In these tough financial times, we must not forget the military families—the husbands, wives, and children of our servicemen and women—who are greatly affected by the ups and downs of our Nation’s economy,” said Rahall.  “This bill pays special attention to the families of service members and includes provisions to help them make ends meet while their loved ones are serving abroad.”

To this end, the bill includes a 3.9 percent pay raise for all military service members and extends prohibitions on increased premiums and co-payments for the TRICARE program and pharmacy user fees, saving military families billions of dollars in out-of-pocket healthcare costs.  Provisions also include funding for additional suicide prevention efforts, family support programs, and tuition assistance and training opportunities for military spouses.

“It is our duty to prepare and protect our men and women in uniform,” Rahall said. “This legislation authorizes historic funding to support our troops, both on and off the battlefield.”