Vasquez Keeps Pressure on GOP for Permanent Solution to Pay Our Troops

While Congressional Republicans refuse to act, the stakes couldn’t be higher for military families already struggling to make ends meet. Military spouse Heidi Campbell spoke out: “We are an active duty family, and so we’re directly impacted by missed paychecks…The military is nonpartisan. We show up and we do our job and we honor our oath…it’s a matter of right and wrong. Refusing to pay our military – that’s wrong.”

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Spectrum: Military families worry about next paycheck as government remains gridlocked

• While military families were able to breathe a sigh of relief when the direct deposit registered in their accounts this week, veteran Janet Sanchez says that relief is only temporary.
• “What are we going to do on the next paycheck when we don’t know if it’s going to be there?” she questioned.
• Sanchez… is not just a veteran, but a military spouse and mother. Alongside Heidi Campbell, another military spouse, the pair visited Capitol Hill…to meet with lawmakers.
• “We are an active duty family, and so we’re directly impacted by missed paychecks…” Campbell said. “So that stress is going through our every day…” 
• Last week, Reps. Derek Tran…and Gabe Vasquez…wrote a letter to Speaker Johnson asking him to bring the House back into session to pass a standalone bill to ensure members of the military continue to receive a paycheck. Johnson has declined to do so.
• “Taking money from the Department of Defense Research and Development program threatens our national security…Congress has to do its job,” said Vasquez.
• According to the Military Family Advisory Network, one in four active-duty military families faces food insecurity even when there is no interruption in pay.
• “We’ve got to make sure that as people raise their hand and decide to serve our country, that we honor them with the quality of life and the dignity of serving in the US military. And with a trillion-dollar budget for the Department of Defense, I think we can afford to do that,” said Vasquez.
• Sanchez and Campbell say they hope politics can be put aside…
• “When our military members go on deployment or raise their hand to serve this country, they’re not thinking about any party. They’re thinking about the safety of this country, they’re thinking about supporting their own families…” – Veteran Janet Sanchez
• “The military is nonpartisan. We show up and we do our job and we honor our oath… it’s a matter of right and wrong,” said Campbell. “Refusing to pay our military – that’s wrong.”