Senator Cornyn: Mistake to Not Fix Military Pensions

Ive heard at least two of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle say that, well we can come back and do this next year. Well, why do it next year if we could do it now?

The Majority Leader made clear he wasnt going to allow any other amendments, except of his own choosing, thus denying the minority any opportunity to help amend and improve the defense authorization bill, one of the most important pieces of legislation this body takes up every year.

Now in the waning days right before the Christmas holidays, the Majority Leader seeks to jam through this bill that was agreed upon by basically four people behind closed doors and denied me representing 26 million Texans and denied those of us who care about calling a spade a spade when it comes to terrorism an opportunity to offer an amendment on the defense authorization bill. And it’s a mistake. No less a mistake than denying an opportunity to fix the mistake of discriminatory treatment of our service members whose pensions are being cut as a result of the budget negotiation.

I hope members of both parties can put politics aside for one minute, come together and address the needs of our military families and those who have worked so hard and sacrificed so much to preserve our freedom.