Ten years ago the Pentagon offered reenlistment bonuses and loan repayment to service members to fulfill the needs of our nation's overseas deployments. Some of these bonuses were improperly used and given to service members that did not qualify. The responsible parties that committed the fraud have pleaded guilty and served their sentence. Now the government is attempting to collect the bonuses back from the service members that received them plus a penalty, even though they have already completed their service as they agreed to, many still suffering from the wounds of battle, visible and otherwise.
I call on congress to forgive the debt of these service members, as they are also victims of this fraud and should not be held responsible or punished for the crimes of others.



