Kosovo

Floor Speech

KOSOVO

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to express my deep concern over the recent Department of Defense proposal to remove combat status from American soldiers serving in Kosovo. This summer, roughly 400 Minnesota National Guard soldiers who serve in my district will once again answer the call to duty in Kosovo. Almost every one of these 400 soldiers from my district will be going for the second or third time since September 11. In addition to the financial hardship these soldiers and their families will endure, the Department of Defense is asking them to suffer further by reclassifying this mission. Reclassification will cost American soldiers more than just the $225 a month in hazardous duty pay, the payroll tax exemption and the flights home to see their families. We will all pay for this with the loss of morale.

Kosovo suffers from ethnic unrest. The country has unexploded ordnance and American soldiers work to defuse these daily. Mr. Speaker, Kosovo is still a dangerous place. It's revealing that the State Department's assessment is different than the Department of Defense. Foreign service officers receive hazardous duty pay.

Ensuring that this mission remains classified as a combat mission is more than about $225 a month to soldiers. It's about doing right for those who risk their lives in defense of this Nation.

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