Veterans For America (VFA) strongly applauds Wisconsin Reps. Kagen and Moore for
co-sponsoring H.R. 6205, the Stop-loss Compensation Act, authored by
Rep. Betty Sutton of Ohio. The bill requires that U.S. servicemembers
whose tours of duty are involuntarily extended, commonly known as
"stop-loss," receive special pay for the duration of their extension.

More than 70,000 Soldiers have been stop-lossed since 2002. During the recent Iraq troop "surge," the number of troops stop-lossed
reached 12,235. Such orders harm the morale of our fighting men and
women and are nothing more than a short-term crutch for maintaining
force levels. As Admiral Michael G. Mullen, Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, recently said "we need to move away from [stop-loss]
as rapidly as we can."

Of all the abuses borne by our servicemembers since the beginning
of our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, excessive reliance on stop-loss is
one of the most egregious. Involuntary service negates the promise of
our all-volunteer military. By forcing tens of thousands of troops to
stay in the military, we have broken the contract that our
servicemembers willingly entered into with their country.

VFA applauds Reps. Kagen, Moore and Sutton's efforts to
mitigate the burdens placed on our troops and their families by
stop-loss orders. We encourage their colleagues in Congress to support
this legislation.