Olympia, WA—Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, and Congressman Don Young (AK-At Large) led 12 Members of Congress on a bipartisan letter urging the Appropriations Committee to raise the base pay for service members. The current base pay doesn’t provide adequate support for service members or reflect their contributions to our country. While military pay is raised incrementally every year, it is imperative that Congress re-asses and raise base pay to ensure that the military remains a competitive place to serve. Strickland and Young were joined in sending the letter by Representatives André D. Carson (IN-7), Scott DesJarlais (TN-04), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Jared Golden (ME-02), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Sara Jacobs (CA-53), Ro Khanna (CA-17), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Kim Schrier, M. D. (WA-08), Gwen Moore (WI-04, Marc Veasey (TX-33), Chris Pappas (NH-1). The letter is attached and below.
“In order for our military to truly be the best in the world, we must ensure that our service members are paid fairly,” said Congresswoman Strickland. “I’ve heard heart-wrenching stories from service members in my district who are struggling to find affordable housing or put food on the table for their families. I’m urging Congress to raise base pay now because our servicemembers and their families deserve our help to meet their basic needs. It’s the right thing to do for the people who keep us safe and our nation secure.”
“Our brave servicemembers put their lives on the line for our nation. As a country, we should be empowering them to do their vital jobs, but too many of our heroes struggle to make ends meet. I am proud to join my friend, Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland, on this effort to ensure our servicemembers have a salary floor, which is especially crucial for junior enlisted soldiers. Military service serves as a viable career path for many young Americans. However, without a basic pay threshold, we hurt recruitment efforts and put our national security at risk. I am calling on the Appropriations Committee to stand by our fighting men and women by raising their base pay. This needed change will help our nation’s military recruit top talent and prevent financial hardship that continues to impact too many military families,” said Congressman Don Young.
The full letter text can be found below.
December 17, 2021
Chair Rosa L. DeLauro
House Committee on Appropriations
H-307, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Ranking Member Kay Granger
House Committee on Appropriations
1036 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Chair Betty McCollum
House Committee on Appropriations
Defense Subcommittee
H-405 The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Ranking Member Ken Calvert
House Committee on Appropriations
Defense Subcommittee
1036 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairs DeLauro and McCollum and Ranking Members Granger and Calvert,
As you develop the Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations bills, we strongly urge you to reassess compensation for service members and set base pay to the equivalent of $15.00 an hour or $31,200.00 a year for new or current service members below this threshold. This pay floor is crucial for junior enlisted service members who are struggling to make ends meet.
The military is a compelling career path for many young Americans – it instills strong values, develops skills, creates robust personal networks, and provides excellent benefits. However, military pay increasingly lags behind other fields. As wages and salaries increase across many industries economy-wide, the military is now falling behind in the competition for quality recruits—in large part to the base pay issue. As the number of qualified and willing people to serve continues to diminish, the ability of our military to recruit top talent is starting to become a national security issue. Congress must address this pay issue now before it becomes a more significant area of concern.
Additionally, we have heard from countless junior enlisted service members (E-1 to E-4) and their families about the financial difficulties they are experiencing, from finding affordable housing to the many families facing food insecurity. It is disappointing that service members often receive advice when they experience financial difficulties is to go to counseling instead of commanders and senior leadership recognizing that there is a problem. While there have been some encouraging steps to improve the quality of benefits and entitlements for the service members, base pay continues to lag.
Some will argue that Regular Military Compensation (RMC), the sum of base pay, basic allowance for housing (BAH), basic allowance for subsistence (BAS), and the federal income tax advantage from tax-free allowances, is the approximate amount of an equivalent salary in the civilian sector. However, not everyone receives full BAH or BAS, which results in many service members having wildly different discretionary incomes.
An E-1 with less than two years of service makes around $1,785.00 per month or roughly $21,420.00 a year pre-tax. It takes at least four years of service and achieving the rank of E-4 to make at least $2,713.50 per month or approximately $32,562.00 annualized pre-tax. Service members will only achieve this if they decide to stay longer than the standard four-year contract. Furthermore, service members are frequently ordered to move, which causes an additional financial burden on families due to spousal unemployment and lack of licensure reciprocity among states. As a result, a service member cannot support a family of two, three, or even four on $20,000.00 a year without depending on other forms of government assistance.
Additionally, it is time to recognize that service members often do not work the standard 40-hour work schedule and may sometimes have a 70-hour week. In deployments away from home, the hours can rise to at least a 12-hour shift, seven days a week. We need to recognize that and work to ensure that their compensation reflects those efforts.
Pay plays a vital role in retaining a ready force. One way to ensure service members and their families remain prepared is to receive the proper entitlement benefits. Service members and their families make an enormous sacrifice for our country, and inadequate compensation should not be one of these sacrifices.
We look forward to hearing from the Committee as you develop the FY23 appropriations bills and work to ensure that service members can provide for their families.
Sincerely,
Marilyn Strickland
Member of Congress
Don Young
Member of Congress
U.S. Representative Marilyn Strickland serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and is the only African-American woman who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. She is a member of the New Democrat Coalition, is one of the first Korean-American women elected to Congress and is the first African-American elected to represent the Pacific Northwest at the federal level.
###