20892 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS July 31, 1980 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS MILITARY EDUCATION It is with the above in mind that I critical skill shortage at intermediate BENEFITS have introduced two bills that are the enlisted personnel levels. companions to those introduced re­ Fourth, the fourth option provides HON. G. WILLIAM WHITEHURST cently by my distinguished Senate col­ that an individual may pass his/her OF VIRGINIA league from Virginia, Senator JOHN W. 36-month educational assistance pro­ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WARNER. The Veterans Educational In­ gram on to a spouse or to a child if 16 centive Act <H.R. 7795) and the GI years have been devoted to active Thursday, July 31, 1980 Educational Extension Act <H.R. 7839) duty. e Mr. WHITEHURST. Mr. Speaker, are specifically designed to improve The program is proposed to begin in without question, one of the major the rate of recruiting and retainment fiscal year 1981, with no costs incurred problem areas our Nation's Armed in the various branches of the Armed until 1985. Forces presently face is recruiting and Forces. The second bill I have introduced, retaining high quality individuals. And The Veterans Educational Incentive the GI Educational Extension Act, I share the opinion of many others Act is needed for various reasons. As would extend the time available for that a primary reason for the failure Senator WARNER recently stated: educational assistance to eligible veter­ of the All-Volunteer Force can be Career military personnel, whether per· ans. Under the current law, no educa­ traced directly to the steady decline in sonally in combat or not, have made a time tional assistance will be provided to military pay and benefits in recent commitment to their country's service. The any eligible veterans after December time spent in the early stages to their mili­ 31, 1989. Senator WARNER and I believe years. tary service may have been used instead for With regard to educational assist­ career preparation had not they been in the that as a consequence, thousands of ance afforded to those individuals in­ military. We must assure our military per­ our active duty personnel are faced terested in entering the Armed Forces, sonnel that time spent in their country's with resigning from the service in in 1977 education assistance under the service does not deny them the opportunity order to take advantage of their edu­ GI bill was discontinued. I submit that to prepare for a career. cational benefits. One only has to look educational assistance historically has · Second, educational assistance should be at current retention rates in the Navy been the single most visible benefit for also viewed as one element of a benefit to get an understanding of the critical package together with other features that junior enlisted personnel. As a conse­ this Congress is addressing, such as the situation our country faces in retain­ quence, recent surveys point up dis­ Warner-Nunn proposal. Thus, educational ing highly skilled personnel. In the turbing evidence that the quality of assistance is a benefit which we can provide months of May and June of this year, volunteers in several branches of the to military personnel who make the commit­ the reenlistment rate continued a rate Armed Forces is steadily declining. ment to their nation to serve as career per­ of steady decline. First-term reenlist­ Half of the recent Army volunteers sonnel. ments dropped from 48.3 percent in have reading skills at eighth grade or Senator WARNER and I believe that May to 28.3 percent in June. Similarly, lower levels, and the quality of Navy the Veterans Educational Incentive second-term reenlistments fell from volunteers is not much better. Only Act will improve the quality of the 60.3 percent in May to 41 percent in the Air Force and the Marine Corps career force by providing educational June; third-term reenlistments continue to attract an educationally assistance that will attract high school dropped from 92.4 percent in May to acceptable volunteer. What we are graduates or those with equivalent ex­ 91.1 percent in June; and, total reen­ seeing more than ever before is that perience who want help in acquiring listments fell from 7 4.5 percent in May our Armed Forces volunteers are over­ additional education. to 58.5 percent in June. representative of the poorer and least Under the Veterans Educational In­ As Senator WARNER has stated: educated segments of our Nation's centive Act, the following four basic Not since World War II has our country population. educational assistance options would been threatened so dramatically on so many Many others believe as I do that be made available: fronts. We find ourselves not only losing our ending educational assistance under First, the first option is specifically military parity in the strategic and conven­ tional force arenas, but also subject to the the GI bill is the chief r.eason why the designed as an incentive for recruit­ emerging threat of revolutionaries and ter­ Armed Forces are now recruiting a dis­ ment. To qualify for educational as­ rorists. proportionate number of disadvan­ sistance, an enlistee must make a com­ At this time the availability of highly taged youth into service. The GI bill is mitment of time and service. After 3 trained personnel in critical job skill areas clearly a major inducement to enlist years of active duty and with a 3-year may well be the most important issue affect­ for many motivated and competent commitment to the Active Reserves, ing the readiness of our forces. We must young people. And while our Nation's the individual qualifies for 18 months assure that our men and women in uniform present high rate of unemployment of educational assistance. view the military as an attractive career. will temporarily result in an increase Second, the second option is analo­ The severity of the retention rate of volunteers into the various gous to the original GI bill in concept among noncommissioned officers and branches of the service, these gains, I and is designed as an incentive for junior officers cannot be overempha­ fear, will come in the form of quantity both recruitment and retention. sized. Their reenlistment rate has rather than quality. To continue this Thirty-six months of educational as­ dropped from over 80 percent in the unhealthy trend places our country's sistance would be provided to those mid-1970's to 68 percent in 1979. At defense in jeopardy at a time we can who make the time and service com­ present, the Navy is short 20,000 petty ill-afford to do so. Military life is be­ mitment of 4 years of active duty, officers and the Army lacks over coming increasingly complex and it along with a 4-year service in the 50,000 midlevel sergeants. cannot be assumed that it is a life that Active Reserves. The GI Educational Extension Act is can be adjusted to by all, particularly Third, the third option provides 36 an attempt to curb the flight from the those possessing severe educational de­ months of educational assistance to armed services of the people we can ficiencies. Moreover, it seems to me those individuals who remain on active least afford to lose. This legislation that a serious question of social justice duty 6 years before taking advantage would amend section 1662(e) of title 38 arises when our Armed Forces are of the GI bill. The Active Reserve of the United States Code to assure largely made up of the poor, the disad­ commitment is waived. The 6 years of that the deadline for educational as­ vantaged, and minorities. active duty should help relieve the sistance is extended beyond December e This "bullet" symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by the Member on the floor. July 31, 1980 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 20893 31, 1989, to a date 5 years after the problems represent a classic situation Hon. NEIL A. GOLDSCHMIDT' veteran's last discharge or release of an industry experiencing severe eco­ Secretary of Transportation, Department of Transportation, from active duty. nomic hard times due to Government Washington, D. C. I urge that the House of Representa­ policies of economic contraction and DEAR MR. SECRETARY: We at Mack Trucks, tives give these proposals full and yet being faced with the prospect of Inc. are mindful of our responsibilities as a prompt attention to assure that our new, more stringent rules related to major producer of motor vehicles to envi­ Nation's defense remains strong and in environmental controls. Many thou­ ronmental quality, through responsible im­ capable hands.e plementation of engineering advancements sands of jobs in my own Lehigh Valley geared toward lessening the undesirable ef­ district and other truck producing fects of air, water, and noise pollution. Our H.R. 7152 areas are at stake. commitment is clear-however, we are con­ For example, in the last 6 months, cerned about recent regulatory intentions announced by the Environmental Protec­ HON. CARDISS COLLINS the heavy-duty truck industry has tion Agency, and the severity with which OF ILLINOIS been buffeted by several serious eco­ they will impact the heavy-duty truck in­ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES nomic developments. At this time, the dustry. We are concerned that optimum ef­ Thursday, July 31, 1980 industry is having as serious, if not fectiveness will be undermined by regula­ greater, problems than that of the tory efforts that are ill-conceived and eco­ e Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois. Mr. automobile industry. The heavy duty nomically unrealistic-thus rendering the Speaker, on July 21, the House consid­ programs' objectives virtually unattainable.