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Deal provides $534M in stop-loss bonuses
Deal provides $534M in stop-loss bonuses
By KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press Writer Kimberly Hefling, Associated Press Writer Thu Jun 11, 7:54 pm ET
WASHINGTON – The House and Senate have worked out a compromise to give a $500 retroactive bonus to soldiers for every month they were forced to stay in the military beyond their enlistment term since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The chairman of a key subcommittee that funds the military, Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, says that the $534 million has been allocated, and that 185,000 military members qualify.
Earlier this year, Congress funded similar payments to about 12,000 troops who were under "stop-loss" orders, but those payments weren't retroactive beyond Oct. 1.
The Army has said it will start cutting back on the unpopular practice, though it has called "stop-loss" a valuable tool to maintain continuity in a unit at war.
The deal has to be approved by the House and Senate
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"There are more instances of the abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations"
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