Clinton, Leahy, Kennedy, Introduce Bill To Preserve Critical Quality Of Life Services For Members Of The Armed Forces And Their Families

WASHINGTON – Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduced legislation today to protect critical military services such as on-site elementary and secondary schools, commissary stores, and recreation retail facilities.  Under the “Military Family Morale and Welfare Protection Act of 2003” the Secretary of Defense would not be permitted to close any of these quality-of-life initiatives without authorization from Congress.  It also requires a GAO report on the criteria used by the Department of Defense for the closure of commissaries and Department of Defense dependent elementary and secondary schools. 

“Right now we are calling on the men and women of our armed services to sacrifice so much. The least we can do to honor their profound sacrifices is to provide for their families while they are gone,” Senator Clinton said.  “Just as we require Congressional authorization to close bases that are critical to our national security, Congress should have a say in any closure of commissary or school that serves military families.  For New York, closure of the Commissary in Scotia or the school at West Point could have a significant impact on military families.  West Point’s school is a critical part of the academy’s efforts to recruit and retain quality faculty and the Scotia Commissary is relied on by military families for hundreds of miles around.”

“We count on our soldiers and their families to make sacrifices, and that’s just what they are doing,” said Senator Leahy.  “But it should be a two-way street.  They need to know they can count on their country to maintain the basic functions that go with our all-volunteer military, including commissaries and quality schools.  The idea of closing them during wartime is doubly offensive.  Right now we are actively considering raising the overall size of our forces.  This is a time to be thinking about ways to appropriately increase the benefits package, instead of shrinking it.”

"It's unconscionable for the Bush Administration to close schools and services for military families here at home while their loved ones are in harm's way on the other side of the world," said Senator Kennedy.  "Our troops have enough on their minds without worrying about their children's education and their family's grocery bills.  I'd hate to think that the schools at Fort Bragg, or the commissaries at Camp Pendleton could suddenly be shut down."

Over the last year, Senators Clinton, Kennedy and Leahy have repeatedly called on Secretary Rumsfeld to abandon Department of Defense plans to close more than 50 schools and as many as 40 commissaries in bases across the nation.  In a letter to the Secretary last year, the Senators questioned the appropriateness of steps that would erode the home-front morale and welfare of troops and their families during wartime. 

Department of Defense domestic elementary and secondary schools provide high quality education.  Closing these schools would force the sons and daughters of military personnel to commute long distances to attend schools that may not have the capacity to absorb the DOD student population.  Furthermore, closing commissaries would considerably undermine the morale and welfare of troops and their families.  These facilities allow service members access to essential goods and service, often at bases in locations that are remote and far from other stores. 

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