Letter to The Hon. Ashton Carter, Secretary of the Department of Defense - Repayment of Enlistment Bonuses

Letter

As a federal representative from the State of California, I write to express my strong objection
to the California National Guard's outrageous decision to punish nearly 10,000 current and
retired veterans for the incompetence and wrongdoing of others.
On October 22, 2016, the Los Angeles Times reported that nearly 10,000 soldiers in the
California National Guard have been ordered to repay enlistment bonuses of $15,000 or more
that they were granted, in return for enlisting or reenlisting in the Guard during the peak of the
wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Due to extreme mismanagement of this bonus program that was
discovered in subsequent years, the Department of Defense has decided to renege on its
commitment and order the repayment of these enlistment bonuses.
This is a debt that veterans who enlisted and went to war in the service of our country simply do
not deserve. Although California Guard officials have pledged to work with veterans that wish
to file appeals to the National Guard Bureau and the Army Board for Correction of Military
Records to clear these debts, this is insufficient. Accountability demands much more. This is
not how any veteran should be treated.
The Department of Defense should immediately halt the retrieval of these debts, and when
Congress returns in November, I will insist this issue be permanently resolved with language in
the National Defense Authorization Act awaiting final passage in both Chambers.It is unconscionable that the burden of bureaucratic malfeasance and corruption over a decade
ago is being borne by heroes who stepped forward, put themselves in harm's way and fought to
keep our nation safe.
Please immediately inform our offices, in addition to the appropriate Congressional committees
of jurisdiction, of the steps you will be taking to promptly fix this problem -- and in a way that
makes whole every one of these veterans.

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