| Veterans
News Flash 
Department Engages Congress for
Full 3.5 Percent Troop Pay Raise
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON,
Dec. 31, 2007 – Military members
will receive a 3 percent pay raise effective tomorrow,
as President Bush urges Congress to revise some
provisions regarding Iraq contained in the fiscal
2008 National Defense Authorization Act.
The president authorized
the 3 percent pay raise in an executive order.
The act includes authorization for a 0.5 percent
additional pay raise for U.S. troops, but the
president has, for now, elected not to sign the
defense authorization bill in its present form
while Congress is adjourned, a practice known
as a "pocket veto."
On Dec. 28, President Bush announced his displeasure
with some language pertaining to Iraq in the current
version of the act, according to White House documents
released that day. The president said he won't
sign off on the bill until it is revised. Congress
is now on its holiday recess.
In a statement, the
president urged Congress "to
ensure that any provisions affecting servicemember
pay and bonuses, as well as provisions extending
expiring authorities, are retroactive to January
1, 2008."
"The (Defense) Department will work closely
with Congress toward the 3.5 percent pay raise
effective Jan. 1, as originally envisioned in the
bill," Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of
defense for military personnel policy, said in
a statement released today.
"Likewise," Carr's statement continued, "we
will work to ensure the final bill features no
interruption of bonus authorities."
SOURCE:
U.S.
Department of Defense
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