The following post by Military.com's Bryant Jordan, offers more insight into why the Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act has not yet been voted on. The "Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act" would ensure that members of the United States Military get their paycheck on time in the event of a Federal shutdown.
President -GOP Fiscal Fight Could Hit Military Pay
Militay.com / Bryant Jordan
As happened several months ago, when administration and GOP lawmakers faced off over passing the current budget, military pay is again a pressure point being used by the two dies as the deadline nears to raise the debt ceiling – or not.
In an interview with CBS News on July 12, President Barack Obama said he could not promise that the federal government will be cutting checks as usual if the debt ceiling is not raised, while the Treasury Department flatly states that the U.S. would “have to stop, limit, or delay payments on a broad range of legal obligations, including … military salaries.”
In response, Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, is again pushing legislation ( the Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act HR 1297) that he first proposed last March when differences over passing the 2011 budget threatened a shutdown that threatened to send federal employees home from work, cut services, close public parks and, it was said, have servicemember work – and fight – for no pay. An 11th hour deal by Republicans and the White House ended the stand-off with no disruptions.
Fellow Republican and Texan Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, introduced similar legislation (S. 721) into the Senate in April. That version is also still in committee.
Gohmert now intends to file a so-called "discharge petition" in the House that would get the bill, currently still in committee, onto the floor for a vote with our without the approval of Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner.
During a recent press conference this afternoon, Gohmert accused the White House of “fear mongering” over the debt ceiling issue. He even took Boehner to task, claiming he’s acting on “bad advice” by arguing that the debt ceiling has to be passed by Aug. 2.
"I guess the problem with the speaker … is that he listened to the President,” Gohmert said. I'll urge the speaker not to believe the president anymore."
Stay Tuned...
