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Source: Omaha World-Herald
WASHINGTON — Defense legislation passed this week by the Senate included many proposals pushed by Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb.
One of those urges the administration to develop benchmarks for assessing U.S. progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“The American people and the men and women serving in Afghanistan and Pakistan deserve to have a set of objective measures for the U.S. strategy in that region, so we can ensure it is the best strategy to achieve stability and success,” Nelson said.
The legislation helps eligible retirees purchase coverage under the military’s TRICARE program, Nelson said.
It also includes a Nelson provision that was inspired by a group of Nebraska National Guardsmen nearly stranded away from home for Christmas 2007.
It would allow the Defense Department to pay for travel if a reserve or guard member is more than 300 miles from home and placed on leave for five days or more because of training suspensions or staffing issues.
The bill also aims to make it easier for military personnel serving overseas to vote in U.S. federal elections.
“We owe it to our men and women in uniform to protect their right to vote,” Nelson said.
Nelson, who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s personnel subcommittee, touted a 3.4 percent across-the-board pay raise included in the legislation and an increase in the overall size of the force.
Nelson also cited the bill’s attempts to improve the military’s mental health resources, including a requirement that the defense department develop and implement a plan to increase the number of military and civilian behavioral health staff by 2013.
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