WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, released the following statement today on the passage of the Ensuring Military Readiness Through Stability and Predictability Deployment Act of 2007.
This legislation mandates a minimum period of rest and recuperation for members of the Armed Forces between deployments for Operation Iraqi Freedom. It was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on a vote of 229 to194, with 2 voting present.
Today I voted to pass H.R. 3159, the Ensuring Military Readiness Through Stability and Predictability Deployment Policy Act. This legislation requires the Department of Defense to provide one day of training or rest in the United States for every day that Active Duty service members are deployed to Iraq- and requires three days for every day that Guardsmen and Reservists are deployed to Iraq. I was proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation because our troops are deployed so frequently, and with so little time to recover, that military leaders and analysts say we are at risk of causing permanent damage to the Army by driving many of our junior and middle rank to leave the service. This would cause a serious loss of combat leadership experience that would take decades for the U.S. Army to recover from.
Congress has a Constitutional obligation to provide for the common defense. As a member of the Readiness Subcommittee within the House Armed Services Committee, I am concerned that current deployment policies are putting the military, and therefore the nation, at risk. If there were a major crisis elsewhere in the world, it would be very difficult for today’s U.S. Army to respond.
We are privileged in this country to be able to attract dedicated, high-caliber young people to military service. These young men and women join the military knowing they may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice, but they are also confident that their military leaders and the American people will look out for them and their best interests. Our all-volunteer military has developed a professionalism and expertise that is unmatched around the world and in U.S. history. In order to preserve this standard for excellence, we must do what we can to retain our young officers, NCOs and enlisted troops. Repeat deployments of over 12 months with inadequate recovery and training time in between puts stress on military professionals and their families, has a demonstrated correlation with higher levels of post-traumatic stress disorder, and is leading to lower recruiting and re-enlistment rates. I am proud to vote to require adequate time between deployments – for our troops and their families, for the combat readiness of our military, and for our national security.