Secretary of Defense William Cohen gave thumbs down to a proposal floated
earlier this week to disqualify the lowest-paid soldiers from receiving
government assistance, adding that instead he would push for a policy to
do just the opposite.
On Wednesday, WorldNetDaily reported
that Bernard Rostker, an Army undersecretary nominated to become the
Pentagon's top personnel official, had devised a plan to work with the
U.S. Department of Agriculture to raise the minimum qualification
standards for receiving government food stamps and other welfare
benefits for military personnel.
Rostker's plan, which he said he would implement if his nomination is
confirmed, would count the value of on-base housing and utilities as
income, thereby "substantially" reducing the number of military families
currently receiving government assistance by tightening eligibility
requirements.
Cohen, however, said in a three-page statement released on Wednesday
that he would strike a deal with the Agriculture Department to try to
get a change in the way eligibility is counted so that low-paid soldiers
could take full advantage of government assistance programs.
"I support military men and women receiving every federal benefit to
which they are entitled," Cohen said on Wednesday, adding that after the
story broke over Rostker's plan, military personnel from across the
spectrum began voicing strong complaints about it.
Though its approval is uncertain, the defense secretary said he would
seek a change in the way eligibility is calculated for soldiers so
housing allowances paid to people off-base would not be counted in their
income. That would mean that some soldiers will appear to be paid less
than now appears on paper, and would, therefore, become eligible for
food stamps.
In an interview with defense news editors
this week, Vice President Al Gore, the presumptive Democratic Party
nominee for president, said that despite a Clinton administration
addition to the 2001 Defense budget giving military personnel a 4.8
percent pay increase -- the largest in decades -- some 9,000 military
personnel still qualified for government aid.
Gore told editors during the weekend interview from his home at the
U.S. Naval Observatory that, if elected, he would continue the current
administration's lead in providing more base pay for soldiers, adding
that he would not wait until the next administration to push for ways to
reduce the number of military families on welfare.
The vice president said Wednesday that he also opposed the plan to
reduce the number of servicemen eligible for benefits, but added that he
was considering his own recommendations to "eliminate the kinds of
conditions that require soldiers to make ends meet by relying on food
stamps."
Estimates vary on the number of military personnel receiving federal
aid benefits.
Officials in the presidential campaign organization of Texas Gov.
George W. Bush said they have research data suggesting that up to 12,000
military personnel still qualify for food and other government aid. And
the Pentagon says about 6,300 people in the military were on food stamps
in 1998, compared with 12,000 in 1995.
During his campaign, Bush has criticized the fact that any U.S.
serviceman would be paid such a low salary as to qualify for, or have to
rely on, government assistance to get by.
Since floating his plan, Rostker has been criticized for attempting
to hide or eliminate a problem that has been embarrassing for the
Pentagon -- the image of having uniformed people in the service of the
country forced to seek outside help to feed their families.
Rostker said at a Senate confirmation hearing last week that he was
only attempting to rectify an inequity with the way housing and other
allowances are currently calculated for military personnel and their
families.
Under the present system, personnel living off-base are given money
to help offset the costs of housing, and that money is added to their
base pay to calculate their total income. However, those soldiers living
on-base are not given the allowances because they receive free housing.
That discrepancy, Rostker said, makes them look poorer on paper and thus
eligible for federal benefits.
"The issue here is equity," Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said
Wednesday. He provided a detailed explanation that 60 percent of food
stamps go to those living on-base as part of the current system.
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