Lawmaker urges more money for military reserve program

Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner, R-Va., is urging the Senate Budget Committee to uphold the president's recommended $401.7 billion for military spending in the fiscal 2005 budget resolution, which provides more money for a special reserves program.

In a letter sent Monday to Budget Committee Chairman Don Nickles, R-Okla., and ranking member Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Warner recommended that the committee increase mandatory Defense Department funding to provide for a monthly increase in the Montgomery GI Bill for the Selected Reserve.

The bill is an educational assistance program enacted nearly 20 years ago to attract highly qualified people to the military reserves. Warner proposed raising the benefit to $400 per month, an increase of $118 per month over the current assistance program.

"I estimate that this enhanced benefit will cost $120 million in mandatory spending for fiscal year 2005, and approximately $1.3 billion for the 10-year period [fiscal 2005 to fiscal 2014]," Warner wrote.

Warner said that since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, more than 319,000 members of the National Guard and Reserve had been mobilized. Currently, 20,000 are deployed to Iraq and the number is expected to double in the coming months. He said Congress had enhanced Guard and Reserve benefits over the past several years, but that the Montgomery GI Bill was one area that needed more funding.

"Since the inception of this program in 1985, the benefit provided to members of the Selected Reserve has increased by only 7 [percent], while the cost of a college education has increased dramatically," he wrote, adding that an increased benefit would be seen as an "insurance policy" that would promote higher recruiting and retention rates among Guard and Reserve members.

Warner also emphasized the need to repair or replace existing military assets, particularly those used heavily in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to modernize the military's aging infrastructure. He praised the department's ability to meet the demand of recent operations around the world, but cautioned that even the U.S. military has its limits.

"Our military has equipment that has been heavily used in recent operations that must be repaired or replaced, and new capabilities that must be developed and procured to meet future threats," Warner wrote. "The president's budget request for defense has struck a reasonable, prudent balance to accomplish these goals."