By Kristina Wong - 10/27/16 09:55 AM EDT
A bipartisan group of more than 100 House lawmakers urged the Pentagon on Thursday to find a "permanent solution" to the problem of National Guard troops being asked to pay back reenlistment bonuses they received a decade ago.
"Years after receiving enlistment bonuses, these men and women have been asked to pay back the bonuses they improperly received through no fault of their own," said the letter, which was led by Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and signed by 108 lawmakers.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Wednesday announced the Pentagon would suspend efforts to recoup the bonuses from soldiers until a streamlined review and appeals process could be put into place.
The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday that the Pentagon was trying to recoup reenlistment bonuses and other incentives that were paid to nearly 10,000 California National Guard service members a decade ago after an audit found that they were made either erroneously or improperly.
A California National Guard incentives manager pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined more than $15 million. A one-star general and two colonels were eventually separated from the military after paying restitution and serving probation.
The bonuses, often $15,000 or more, came during a period of difficult recruitment at the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The audit came after a California National Guard incentives manager was found to have approved about 9,600 service members who were later deemed ineligible for the incentives.
Defense officials say about 1,100 of them accepted them improperly, or should have known better. About 5,500 of them had missing paperwork or documentation when they were approved, and about 3,100 have not been reachable.
So far, about 2,000 service members have been notified of their debt, with at least $20 million recouped. Some are facing interest charges, wage garnishment and tax liens. Those who have appealed the debt have faced an unwieldy process that's sometimes taken years.
The lawmakers called on the Pentagon to reimburse those who accepted the bonuses in good faith but have paid them back.
"Any permanent solution should also make servicemembers who acted in good faith whole if they have already repaid the Department," they said.
"We are ready and willing to work with you to find a permanent solution to this matter."
