Veterans' Group Wants Larger Raise for Military
Concerned that Congress is moving toward providing a 2.2 percent pay raise for the military next year, a leading veterans' group said that with troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, this is not the time to skimp on a raise.</br></br>The House approved a fiscal 2007 defense appropriations bill late Tuesday that would raise military pay by 2.2 percent, effective in January. Senate negotiators have signed off on the raise, but the full Senate has not voted on the spending bill.</br></br>More than just the military raise may be at stake because the military raise usually spills over into the civil service. Congress in most recent years has adopted a "pay parity" policy that calls for equal raises for the two workforces.</br></br>The Military Officers Association of America, known as MOAA, yesterday urged Congress to approve a 2.7 percent across-the-board raise for the armed forces. "As a nation, we ought to do better for our military than we are about to do," said Norb Ryan Jr., president of MOAA and a retired vice admiral.</br></br>MOAA and other military groups made some progress toward a 2.7 percent military raise earlier this year when the House approved it as part of a fiscal 2007 authorization bill for defense programs. The Senate version, however, stuck with the White House's recommendation for a 2.2 percent raise.