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NGAUS and three other National Guard and Reserve advocacy groups have made another urgent appeal to congressional leaders to end the government shutdown or at least take action to pay troops on duty during the impasse.
More than 1.3 million U.S. service members are currently on duty around the world without pay. This includes tens of thousands of Guardsmen and Reservists on federal active duty and those in the full-time Active Guard and Reserve program.
In an Oct. 9 letter, retired Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn, the NGAUS president — along with leaders from the Adjutants General Association, the Reserve Organization of America and the Enlisted Association of the National Guard — asked leaders of the House and Senate to support the Pay Our Troops Act (H.R. 5401) introduced by last month by Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va.
The dispatch went to Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the Senate Majority Leader; Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the Senate Minority Leader; Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., the Speaker of the House; and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the House Minority Leader.
“While negotiations continue for the [continuing resolution], servicemembers are projected to miss their initial paychecks on October 15th,” the letter said. “This will impose undue hardship on both servicemembers and their families.”
H.R. 5401 would ensure all active-duty service members and Department of War civilian employees are paid on time until regular appropriations are passed into law.
The bill has 148 co-sponsors, as of Oct. 8.
The correspondence follows a Sept. 29 letter to congressional leaders on the need for a quick end to the government shutdown.
The four associations last week sent letters asking key members of Congress to support the Pay Our Troops Act.
One letter went to Reps. Tom Cole, R-Okla, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the committee’s ranking Democrat.
House leaders had referred H.R. 5401 to the House Appropriations Committee for initial action.
A second letter went to Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the chairs of the Senate National Guard Caucus.
The Guard and Reserve associations asked their Senate supporters to introduce and pass a Senate companion bill to H.R. 5401.
The shutdown also impacts traditional, part-time Guardsmen and Reservists. Many of their weekend training assemblies will be cancelled, which means a loss of valuable training, readiness and a paycheck.
