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WORK LOAD

When I appeared before this committee a year ago, I stated that the biggest issue affecting Coast Guard enlisted members' quality of life related to increased work load. I explained that it resulted from reducing the work force during streamlining while there was no decrease in the demand for Coast Guard services. Unfortunately, this situation has further deteriorated and it is the number one issue impacting our member's quality of life. The Coast Guard is currently more than 900 active duty enlisted members below post-streamlining authorized strength and our Reserve component is approximately 800 short; yet the operations tempo remains very high. Most people still work extraordinarily long hours, in many cases averaging 80 hours per week. So far, they have sacrificed and done what Coast Guard people always do - perform above all expectations. Their dedication, loyalty, and sacrifice has ensured the Coast Guard's ability to respond in any mission area continues and that the services the American public values are provided. I am, however, apprehensive and concerned about how much longer this effort can be sustained.

The pay, benefits, and other issues I discuss today are extremely important to the Coast Guard's ability to recruit and retain a fully staffed work force.

MEDICAL CARE

During previous testimony, I have described in detail the detrimental impact of being assigned to duty in an area where TRICARE Prime is not available. TRICARE Prime is the most cost effective plan, to the beneficiary, within the TRICARE system of health care. Because Coast Guard duty stations are seldom near other military bases, and, therefore, military treatment facilities, 52 percent of Coast Guard members' families are not afforded TRICARE Prime. In Region 5, which covers the Midwest, TRICARE Prime is not available to 98 percent of Coast Guard members' families. I have

previously requested your support for neutralizing the impact of this situation. The Department of Defense has a solution and is now making plans to introduce a TRICARE Prime Remote Program that will be available to active duty members families. I request your support of this program, which will positively impact Coast Guard members and their families.

CONUS COLA

During testimony the past 2 years, I have attempted to describe in detail how young Coast Guard enlisted families are impacted financially when they are reassigned, often to locations they have not requested. Generally, they are affected by housing costs, medical costs, and cost of living differences. In many situations, their “buying power" is severely affected. As I have just stated, Basic Allowance for Housing and the TRICARE Prime Remote Program should level housing and medical expenses for all members, without regard to where they are assigned.

However, the Continental U.S. Cost of Living Allowance (CONUS COLA) still needs your attention. CONUS COLA is an allowance designed to compensate members for varying non-housing cost of living fluctuations that occur in different areas of the country. CONUS COLA is currently paid to members assigned to areas where the nonhousing cost of living exceeds the national average by the statutory threshold of 8 percent. The Seventh Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (QRMC) recommended the payment of a CONUS COLA to members assigned to areas where non-housing cost of living expenses exceed the national average by more than 5 percent. The QRMC felt that a threshold of 5 percent fairly considered career transfers and career purchasing power. I urge you to support efforts to amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (P.L. 103-337) to reduce the statutory threshold defining "high cost" areas that qualify for a CONUS COLA.

PARITY

Another important Coast Guard issue requiring your support is compensation and benefit parity with the other armed services. The Coast Guard must be able to compete with the other four armed services for America's brightest young people and retain them to continue as the premier maritime service in the world. One specific area I hear a lot about is the Coast Guard Tuition Assistance Program.

Education is a recruiting inducement as many Coast Guard members tell me they joined for the education benefits. Although the Coast Guard Tuition Assistance Program was significantly improved this year, it still offers only $1,000 maximum per member per year in tuition assistance, much less than our Department of Defense counterparts provide for their people. This is an area that will need investment soon.

Parity is crucial to the Coast Guard and I request your support in resolving non-pay compensation.

MONTGOMERY G.L BILL

In my visits to Coast Guard units in the field, I am always confronted by members suffering from the inequity of the recent legislation allowing members enrolled in the Post-Vietnam ERA Educational Assistance Program (VEAP) to enroll in the more generous Montgomery G.I. Bill (MGIB). This legislation was interpreted in a manner that required those enrolled in VEAP to have funds in their VEAP account on October 9, 1996 to be eligible to enroll in the MGIB. This opportunity expired on October 8, 1997. Most service members that enrolled in VEAP were counseled during their careers to withdraw the funds they had in their VEAP accounts, and advised that they would still be eligible to redeposit the funds through their last day of active service. This withdrawal

has now excluded them from enrolling in the MGIB. This is a huge issue for thousands of service men and women and I urge you to support any effort to provide relief.

ANNUAL MILITARY PAY RAISE

In almost every forum I conduct, the issue of the pay gap is brought up. Coast Guard enlisted members are well aware that military pay raises have been capped below private sector pay growth or full inflation in 12 of the last 16 years. The result is that military pay lags a cumulative 13.5 percent behind that enjoyed by the average American worker performing similar work. Coast Guard men and women simply want a fair living wage that will ensure they don't have to rely on public support programs or work second jobs. I believe this issue is beginning to have some impact on retention in the Coast Guard. I request your consideration in supporting full Employment Cost Index pay raises and the development of a multiyear plan to eliminate this pay gap.

DISLOCATION ALLOWANCE

The purpose of Dislocation Allowance (DLA) is to partially reimburse a member for the expenses incurred in relocating the member's household. Members with dependents are entitled to DLA when they relocate, with their dependents, in conjunction with a permanent change of station transfer, without regard to whether their housing is government owned or civilian housing. Members without dependents are only entitled to DLA when they relocate, in conjunction with a permanent change of station transfer, and government quarters are not assigned. Many Coast Guard single members have complained about this inequity. They transfer, with household effects, and incur the same kind of relocation expenses, whether the new housing is civilian or government owned. I request your consideration and support for relief from this inequity.

OFF-DUTY EMPLOYMENT

Section 974 of Title 10, United States Code prohibits an enlisted person from owning a business or being employed in the civilian sector, during off duty hours, if, in doing so, the member interferes with a civilian business or takes a job away from a civilian. Section 974 is an outgrowth of statute enacted in 1916, when private-sector individuals alleged that members of the Army Band, as individuals and groups, unfairly competed with their ability to obtain employment. This prohibition was expanded to include other off-duty employment of enlisted service members with the enactment of section 974.

The prohibitions contained in section 974 have recently caused a Coast Guard member stationed in Alaska to suffer significant financial loss. I believe the impact of further public awareness regarding the provisions of this law, and enforcement requirements, have the potential to be detrimental to enlisted members of the Armed Forces, and their services. I request your support in resolving this discrimination against enlisted members.

STABILITY

Today, more than ever before, Coast Guard enlisted members are exposed to consistent negative rhetoric regarding their pay and benefits. They are just plain tired of worrying about their well being, and that of their families. Many are being affected enough to look for careers outside the Armed Forces.

The single most valuable impact this subcommittee could have on taking care of Coast Guard enlisted members is to lead the way in sending a signal that Congress will provide some stability in pay and benefits. The insecurity caused by the constant churning of threats to benefits creates an environment of stress that takes a real toll on our members,

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