Hudson's Soldier Pay Amendment Heads to Senate

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (NC-08), Fort Bragg’s Congressman, released the following statement after the House passed the bipartisan conference report for the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which included his amendment he authored to ensure soldier pay adequately reflects modern warfare demands:

Rep. Hudson was appointed to serve as a Conferee on the House-Senate conference committee for the NDAA because of his leadership and effectiveness on military issues and his commitment to rebuilding our military and supporting our service members and their families.

As an appointed conferee, Rep. Hudson signed off on the conference report for the FY 2019 NDAA earlier this week.

Traveling through the district and meeting with soldiers and their families, Rep. Hudson became aware of tax and pay problems for service members and is tackling that on multiple fronts. When a soldier is deployed to areas of the world where there are additional risks, they become eligible for special pay benefits including Hostile Fire Pay and Imminent Danger Pay. These are designated areas where soldiers may actively face enemy fire or face the potential to be killed, injured or wounded by hostile actions. Currently, these areas are defined by wide geographic regions. They can be designated as entire countries, such as Iraq, or more precise regions within a country.

However, as our soldiers know all too well, modern conflict does not always fit neatly into geographic regions. With the increase in missions to combat terrorism globally, soldiers are now frequently operating across multiple borders working together with partner forces. Unfortunately, this fluid nature of combat means that sometimes service members are excluded from receiving special pay that they may otherwise qualify for.

Rep. Hudson’s amendment seeks to remedy that situation by exploring the possibility of making these benefits more flexible. It requests a report from the Secretary of Defense on whether the current system of awarding Imminent Danger Pay and Hostile Fire Pay adequately reflects modern warfare demands. It will ask for his recommendation as to whether a system based on mission or authority rather than geography is more appropriate.

This amendment is one part of his efforts to help support our troops and their families. In addition, Rep. Hudson has introduced the Special Operations Forces Tax Cut Act(H.R. 5747).