01.11.05

Cantwell Meets With Members of the Washington State Reserves to Discuss New Reports of Pentagon Plans to Extend Deployment Times for Reservists

Cantwell calls for congressional hearings on changes in deployment policiesand asks Defense Secretary Rumsfeld to clear up matter

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell is meeting with members of the U.S. National Guard, Reserves, family members and the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve to discuss concerns about recent news reports of the Pentagon's plans to change their deployment policy so the Department of Defense can call up reserves more frequently and for longer periods of time. Cantwell is sending a letter today to Department of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld expressing her concerns about the possible changes in policy and asking for clarification on the DoD's plans. She is also requesting congressional hearings on the matter.

"We need some answers because our country owes it to our soldiers and their families to be open and honest with them during these trying times," Cantwell said. "Extending deployment times for Reservists hits them, their families, and their employers hard. Reservists deserve to be treated like the brave men and women they are and not left hanging with all this uncertainty."

In a letter Cantwell sent to Secretary Rumsfeld today, she wrote, "I have long been concerned that Reservists are being used heavily to fill key military support jobs, particularly in specialty areas… Allowing a well-placed, but nameless ‘senior Army official' to announce that deployment policy changes may be under development will only bring about further recruitment backlash and sends the wrong message to our already deployed troops and their families."

Cantwell also called for congressional hearings on any proposed changes. She told the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services in a letter also sent today, "The Senate should conduct hearings so that clear and detailed information is available to those who are risking their lives for our freedom. Their service and that of their families, demands nothing less."