Military Officer - July 2006 - (Page 34) washingtonscene ■ Defense organization. House: Redes- ignate the Secretary of the Navy as the Secretary of both the Navy and Marine Corps. Senate: not addressed. ■ Moving household goods. Senate: Require DoD to provide full replacement value for lost or damaged household goods in contracts with movers by March 1, 2008. House: not addressed. [Congress must] correct a whopping $735 million shortfall in the defense health budget. Health Funding Faces Shortfall MOAA urges reversal of TRICARE budget cuts. T estifying before the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee May 24 on behalf of The Military Coalition, MOAA Government Relations Director Col. Steve Strobridge, USAF-Ret., emphasized the urgent need for the subcommittee to correct a whopping $735 million shortfall in the defense health budget. “Both the House and Senate Armed Services committees have categorically rejected Pentagon plans to double or triple military retiree health fees for FY 2007,” Strobridge said. “However, the president’s budget already reduced defense health funding by $735 million for the coming year in the expectation that these fees would be imposed, and they would dramatically reduce beneficiary participation. That’s not going to happen this year, and the $735 million needs to be restored or military medicine will run out of money next summer.” Strobridge further noted that the House of Representatives already had completed its work on its version of the defense health appropriations bill and didn’t restore the money, so now the Sen- ate has to act to avoid a significant funding shortfall for this vital program. Strobridge’s testimony also highlighted the need to fully fund initiatives already approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee, including increased military manpower levels and upgraded pay raises. He urged funding levels to ensure that housing, school, child care, and other family support requirements are met for the thousands of military families who will be relocating as a result of base reduction and closure actions or other global rebasing plans. Support programs for Guard and Reserve families who don’t have access to military installation services must be a continuing priority. Note: The Defense Appropriations Subcommittee’s purview is limited to so-called “discretionary” funding issues. “Mandatory” spending initiatives such as concurrent receipt and survivor benefits aren’t normally addressed in appropriations bills. VA Data Theft Sparks Reviews MOAA supports legislation to protect affected veterans. O n hearing that a computer containing 26 million veterans’ personal data was stolen from a VA employee’s home, MOAA’s first reaction was, “How could this happen?” At scathing House and Senate hearings in May, legislators took VA Secretary Jim Nicholson to task for a data security program that has been criticized for years. They also expressed their unhappiness about the three-week delay between the theft and public notification. They made no bones that the VA’s data security problem has to be fixed — and fixed fast — and those responsible for the incident need to be disciplined. [CONTINUES ON PAGE 40] 36 MILITARY OFFICER J U LY 2 0 0 6
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