TITLE (Senate Amendment 2001):
An amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2008 to establish minimum periods between deployments for units
and members of the Armed Forces for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation
Enduring Freedom.
SUMMARY:
The Amendment states that if a unit or member of a regular component of the Armed Forces deploys to Iraq or Afghanistan, they will have the same time at home before they are redeployed. No unit or member of a Reserve component, including the National Guard, could be redeployed to Iraq or Afghanistan within three years of their previous deployment.
The Amendment provides for fair and reasonable waivers. In event of an operational emergency posing a vital threat to national security interests, the President may waive the amendmentÕs limitations by certifying to Congress that the deployment of the unit or member is necessary. The military departments also are provided waiver authority for individual volunteers who seek to redeploy before the expiration of the mandated time between deployments.
RATIONALE:
After more than four years of combat operations, we must provide our troops and their families with a more predictable operational tempo with adequate time at home between deployments.
We are burning out our ground forces. We are seeing it in falling retention of experienced combat veterans and an increase in mental health issues arising from multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The constitutional authority for Congress to act is clear: Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution empowers Congress Òto make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.Ó There are many precedents for Congress acting in this way when it was obliged to address the welfare of our troops. The current strategy does not justify extending deployments repeatedly without an equal amount of time at home.
CURRENT CO-SPONSORS (as of Tuesday, July 10th, 2007, 5:17 P.M.):