09.29.23

Democrats Block Sullivan’s Legislation to Pay Military During a Shutdown

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), and Ted Cruz (R-TX) attempted to pass the Pay Our Military Act of 2023 on the Senate floor Wednesday, but the legislation was blocked by Senate Democrats. Authored by Senator Sullivan, the legislation would ensure America’s military service members—Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Coast Guard and Space Force—are paid in the event of a government shutdown in Fiscal Year 2024. 

Prior to requesting the legislation be passed by unanimous consent, Sen. Sullivan delivered remarks on the Senate floor. He emphasized that before the last full government shutdown in 2013, Democrats and Republicans had come together to unanimously pass similar legislation. 

“There is precedent--very strong precedent--on this very bill, this commonsense bill that has historically received the strong support from both sides of the aisle and in both Houses,” Senator Sullivan said. “Facing an imminent government shutdown in 2013, which ended up lasting 16 days, this bill, the Pay Our Military Act, was passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate and unanimously by the U.S. House and signed by the President. Congress recognized then the importance of uninterrupted military pay for our military members and their families.”   

“The political makeup, actually, was the same. You had a Democrat in the White House. You had a Democrat-controlled Senate, and a Republican-controlled House. So it is simple.  While I urge my colleagues to put aside their differences and come together in a spirit of unity to support this bill, I am a little concerned. . .  

“I sure hope that we can do that again, and I sure hope people who want to try to use the military as political pawns leading up to a shutdown are not going to be tempted to object to this bipartisan, much-needed bill that 10 years ago had the support of everyone.” 

Senator Sullivan also vowed to try and pass the Pay Our Military Act again in the near future.

FULL REMARKS BY SENATOR SULLIVAN:

 Mr. President, I am going to speak about a really important bill that I am hoping we are going to pass right here on the Senate floor. It was passed, by the way, previously. It is called the Pay Our Military Act.  It is pretty simple. In the event of a shutdown--and right now, we are all working hard to make sure we avoid it--we need to make sure that the men and women who protect us get paid. That is it, simple--really, really simple.  I know back home in the great State of Alaska, there is a lot of frustration with our government. It seems like every day the Biden administration has another order to shut down Alaska, lock up our lands, put people out of work.  

There are skyrocketing prices on everything from gas to food. Interest rates are at 40-year highs. Illegal immigration, which is just flooding across the southern border, is a literal invasion happening right now. A lot of people are frustrated with what is happening. The potential of a government shutdown is not going to help any of that, in my view.  But this is something that every Member of the Senate should agree on. If there is a shutdown--a lot of us are working hard to avoid that--we need an insurance policy for our military personnel.  

The brave men and women who are serving on the frontlines right now, at home and abroad--dangerous work to keep us safe--they need nothing less than the unwavering support of the U.S. Senate. For the men and women who protect us, often at great personal sacrifice, the least we can do as their representatives is to ensure that they receive their hard-earned pay, regardless of the political circumstances that may unfold.  My Pay Our Military Act is not about partisan politics. It is not about ideological differences. It is about fulfilling the solemn obligation to our troops and their families, and it is about providing them the stability and peace of mind that they need to do their jobs.   

Regardless of what happens here, they will continue to serve, to deploy, to train. We have seen, in the last couple of weeks, that training can also be very dangerous. We had some marines recently killed down in Australia in an Osprey accident. The last thing these men and women need to worry about is whether or not they are going to get a paycheck next week, whether or not they are going to be able to support their families next week in the event there is a government shutdown.  I want to emphasize again that I hope this bill is unnecessary, but the fact remains that this certainly could happen, a government shutdown, and, if it does, we need to pay our military right now.   

There is precedent--very strong precedent--on this very bill, this commonsense bill that has historically received the strong support from both sides of the aisle and in both Houses.  Let me be specific. Facing an imminent government shutdown in 2013, which ended up lasting 16 days, this bill, the Pay Our Military Act, was passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate and unanimously by the U.S. House and signed by the President. Congress recognized then the importance of uninterrupted military pay for our military members and their families.   

The political makeup, actually, was the same. You had a Democrat in the White House. You had a Democrat-controlled Senate, and a Republican-controlled House. So it is simple.  While I urge my colleagues to put aside their differences and come together in a spirit of unity to support this bill, I am a little concerned.  

My colleague and friend Senator Cruz and I came down to the floor last week to pass another related bill. This would have guaranteed Coast Guard members got paid in a government shutdown. We did that because, in 2019, the only branch of the military services that didn't get paid when there was a government shutdown was the Coast Guard. Everybody else got paid. The Coast Guard didn't. Senator Cruz and I came down here last week and said: Hey, in the event of a shutdown, we have to make sure the Coast Guard gets paid.   

Well, it was blocked. It was blocked. I still don't know what my colleague from Washington State was talking about when she blocked it--something about, well, the authority of the Appropriations Committee. What? Nobody cares about that. Do you support our troops or not?   

This bill is even more simple. Our bill, the Pay Our Military Act, covers all branches, including the Coast Guard and civilians that the Department of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security believe are necessary also to pay. Again, I hope that, like in 2013, this is going to pass unanimously.  As I mentioned, last week, my colleague from Washington State objected to the Pay Our Coast Guard bill. It was confounding, particularly because she was a cosponsor of the exact same bill in 2019. As a matter of fact, here is what she wrote in 2019, when there was a government shutdown and we were trying to pay the Coast Guard:        

It's absolutely unacceptable-- This is the Senator from Washington State-- that our Coast Guard families went without their paychecks during the shutdown. We need to make sure President Trump doesn't put them through this again.  Whoa. That was the Senator from Washington State during the last shutdown. I wish she would have said that last week.  So I am very hopeful that what happened in 2013--the Senate and the House unanimously came together when there was an imminent shutdown and said: Hey, we might not be able to figure out how to keep the government open, but here is one darn thing we are going to do; we are going to pay our military. I sure hope that we can do that again, and I sure hope people who want to try to use the military as political pawns leading up to a shutdown are not going to be tempted to object to this bipartisan, much-needed bill that 10 years ago had the support of everyone. 

###