Dems score win as vets, military pay measure passes

2007-07-26

Source: The Hill

Senate Democrats scored a crucial pre-recess legislative win Wednesday, as a veterans’ healthcare measure and military pay raise previously attached to the stalled defense authorization bill passed unanimously.

Republicans sought to add the 3.5 percent pay increase to the healthcare bill, dubbed the Wounded Warriors Act, before allowing immediate passage of the package. Passing the pay raise outside of the delayed defense authorization, however, may make Democrats’ quest to avoid a presidential veto of that bill even more difficult when it returns to the floor later this year.

“Just as treating our Wounded Warriors is of urgent importance, so is passing this pay raise before the Senate moves on to the defense appropriations bill,” Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement.

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