Garcia Calls For Pay Raise For Military Personnel

Congressman Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, called for a military pay raise Tuesday.

Garcia argued for an amendment to a Department of Defense bill increasing military base pay to $15 an hour during a House Appropriations Committee meeting on July 13.

“I personally think it is a travesty and an insult to our military members and their families that they have to serve approximately three years and gain the rank of E4 before they are at or above what many states consider to be minimum wage,” Garcia said. “And that assumes they are working 40 hours a week, which we know most of our junior enlisted members are actually not. They are usually working anywhere from 50 – 60 hours a week given the operational tempo.”

The Santa Clarita representative offered an amendment that would require that the Secretary of Defense increase base pay to ensure that all service members are making at least $15 an hour, or about $31,200 a year, in base pay, representatives for the legislator said.

During the House Appropriations Committee Meeting, Garcia highlighted the food insecurities many service members are currently facing.

“If the government is paying for these service members to be on food stamps, we may as well be paying for them through the base pay or sustenance allowance on the front end,” Garcia said.

While Garcia’s amendment was not included in the current legislation, he secured the commitment from Subcommittee on Defense Chairwoman Betty McCollum, D-Minnesota, that she would create a working group to find a way to address the necessary military pay raise in Conference negotiations with the Senate.

“I thank you very much for bringing this up,” McCollum said to Garcia during the hearing. “We need everybody working on this, and it is great to find an ally in you,”

Representatives for Garcia say he will continue to advocate for a pay raise for servicemembers and work in Congress to make sure the pay raise is included in the final FY2022 Defense Appropriations bill.

To learn more about Garcia’s actions regarding the military, click here.

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