Farmington 411 Information Resource

Dear Friends,

Earlier this afternoon, I welcomed news from the Office of the Secretary of Defense that long overdue bonus pay will be received by members of the Minnesota National Guard by March 19.

The announcement follows my questioning of Defense Secretary Robert Gates regarding when the 2,500 Minnesota soldiers whose deployments to Iraq were extended involuntarily would receive their long overdue bonus pay. I am pleased to see decisive action to rectify this unacceptable situation. Our brave men and women in uniform can finally have confidence that they will receive the benefits they have earned.

According to the announcement by OSD, the majority of soldiers still in service will receive their pay via electronic remittance on March 15-19. The majority of those who have already left the service will receive a check issued during the same period.

For two years I have joined my Minnesota Congressional delegation colleagues in bipartisan, bicameral efforts asking the Department of Defense to expedite bureaucratic delays. In October, the national defense bill was signed into law with a provision I supported to authorize funding for the Post Deployment & Mobilization Respite Allowance (PDMRA) benefits and fix the bureaucratic glitch. Earlier this month, I pressed Sec. Gates for answers regarding when the Red Bulls will receive their overdue pay, and today, he provided finality to this troubling issue.

I will continue to closely monitor this situation in the coming days and weeks until the paychecks are in our soldiers’ hands once and for all.

Dear Friends,

One year ago, more than 1,000 members of the Minnesota National Guard were deployed to Basra, Iraq, where the Guard’s 34th Infantry Division took command and control of 14,000 U.S. troops in nine of Iraq’s 18 provinces. Having served admirably in answering our nation’s call, they are now returning to the families, friends, and communities they left behind.

Among the many challenges returning soldiers face, some of Minnesota’s Red Bulls are waiting for thousands of dollars in “bonus pay” promised as long as three years ago. In January 2007, the Post-Deployment Mobilization Respite Absence (PDMRA) program was implemented to offer extra pay and allowances to those military members whose service was involuntarily extended during deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Because of unexplained administrative delays, more than 2,500 Minnesota soldiers – and nearly 23,000 National Guard members nationwide – have still not received a single PDMRA payment.

It is outrageous that any individual who bravely served our nation is forced to wait three years to receive their benefits. Last week, in a House Armed Services Committee hearing, I pressed Secretary Robert Gates regarding when Minnesota’s Red Bulls will receive their overdue pay bonuses. (Click here to view the video). While the Secretary didn’t provide a definitive answer, my office was assured by the Office of the Secretary of Defense that our soldiers can expect to receive their long overdue payments “in the next two months.”

I fully expect the Secretary to provide details in the coming days regarding precisely when our Minnesota troops can expect to receive the benefits they have earned. For more than two years, I have worked with Minnesota Congressional delegation colleagues to expedite delays. I will continue to pursue a resolution to this unjust treatment of our Red Bulls and will not rest until the paychecks are in our soldiers’ hands.

Last month, the President spoke often of ‘fiscal responsibility’ – both during his State of the Union address and again in a meeting with House Republicans – yet last week, Speaker Pelosi passed the largest one-time increase in the debt limit in our nation’s history. Minnesotans are tired of the reckless, runaway spending that has become all too common for this Congress. I agree with the overwhelming majority of constituents who want to end the growth of this massive mountain of debt.

I joined bipartisan opposition to raising the debt limit to $14,294,000,000,000 ($14.3 trillion). The bill narrowly passed in the U.S. House of Representatives by a 217-212 vote. The new debt limit increase of $1.9 trillion amounts to an increase of $6,157 per person and $16,214 per household – and a total debt burden of $46,319 per person or $121,982 per household.

It has been eight weeks since majority leadership in Congress last voted to increase the debt limit – raising it by $290 billion on Dec. 16, 2009. In that time, Speaker Pelosi and majority leadership have:

• Passed seven resolutions congratulating sports figures or teams;
• Passed 23 resolutions honoring individuals, entities, or causes;
• Passed five bills naming post offices;
• Authorized $50 million to construct a new National Park in the Virgin Islands; and
• Passed ZERO bills to reduce spending or lower the deficit.

MinnPost: Kline leads effort to oppose raising debt ceiling

Listening to the views and concerns of constituents in Minnesota’s Second District is fundamental to representing them. On Friday, Feb. 19, I will host a town hall meeting at the Faribault High School in Faribault.

If you are unable to attend next Friday but would like to share a question or concern, there are a variety of ways you can reach me. You can click here to sign up for a future telephone town hall meeting, call my district office at (952) 808-1213, or visit my virtual 24-hour online office at kline.house.gov

One of the most rewarding responsibilities I have as a member of Congress is nominating the future leaders of the United States Armed Forces.

As a retired Marine Corps Colonel and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I believe these students are well qualified to represent Minnesota and serve our nation.

Earlier this month, I honored several residents from Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional district at a ceremony in my Burnsville office to recognize the young men and women I nominated to the U.S. Service Academies.

Students interested in applying for a 2011 nomination can receive more information online by clicking here, or by calling my district office at (952) 808-1213.

Each year, I invite high school students who live in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional district to participate in the Congressional “Artistic Discovery” competition, a nationwide art contest that provides Members of Congress an opportunity to showcase the talents of high school students in their districts and acknowledge our nation’s gifted young artists. I continue to be impressed with Minnesota’s young artists, and I look forward to proudly displaying the winning entry in the U.S. Capitol.

All artists who enter the competition receive certificates of participation and will have their entries publicly displayed in several locations around the district. Art entries must be received by April 16. For more information, please click here.

Dear Friends,

Throughout the Administration’s first year, Americans repeatedly have voiced their concerns about the dangerous path our federal government is taking. For months, Minnesotans have been telling me that they are concerned with skyrocketing debt caused by runaway spending. They are troubled over the President’s go-it-alone strategy – the consequences of which have been an ineffective non-stimulus package and a wildly unpopular plan to put the government in control of health care. As working families and small businesses have been forced to cut back and make tough choices to live within their means, the federal government has gone on a historic spending spree.

After listening to the President’s remarks tonight, I remain concerned by his inability to recognize that the private sector – not the federal government – should be creating jobs. Prior to taking office, the President promised he would go ‘line by line’ through the federal budget to identify and eliminate wasteful pork-barrel spending. Instead, he has proposed a 51 percent increase in federal spending over the next decade. While I welcome his call for a spending freeze, Congress should do more and pass strict budget caps that will limit federal spending each year. Unless we change course, the President’s economic policies will add more than $14 trillion to our national debt over the next 10 years.

As the senior Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, I agree with the President that we need to reform our federal education laws, and I am anxious to enact policies that empower parents, teachers, and communities to provide a quality education for all our nation’s students. While I welcome responsible investments in programs that improve educational opportunity, this Administration has demonstrated a troubling pattern of new federal mandates and intrusions in exchange for new education dollars. We don’t know how much money will go to special education and other existing, unmet needs – what we do know is that they’re putting more than $1 billion more into federal programs that haven’t been tested. With an eye toward educational innovation and flexibility, we must understand that the road to reform does not begin or end in Washington.

As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, a veteran of the Marine Corps, and a father whose son will soon return to the Middle East region for a third tour, I was pleased to hear the President reiterate his commitment to winning the war against Islamist Extremists despite his decisions to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and try terrorists in U.S. civilian courts. Al-Qaeda and its affiliated networks remain formidable enemies of our country and democracy worldwide – and we must treat them accordingly.

I look forward to receiving the President’s budget next week, and I encourage the Administration and Congressional Democrats to heed the calls of the American people and work toward commonsense solutions that will provide security and freedom for our country, grow the economy, and put Americans back to work.