Due to the circumstances completely outside their control, approximately 9,700 members of the California National Guard received enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses that were technically in violation of National Guard Bureau policy.
The soldiers who received these bonuses fought in Iraq and Afghanistan over 10 years ago. They did nothing but serve their country and accept the money they were offered to do so.
In 2010 an audit discovered these soldiers had been overpaid, and now the U.S. Government is forcing them to repay the bonuses they erroneously received. Many have had to take out loans and second mortgages to pay back the government.
I ask the Obama Administration and Congress to allow them to keep the bonuses and refund those already reclaimed. They earned them!