During the House Appropriations Committee’s Full Committee Markup of the Department of Defense (DoD) FY 2023 bill, Representative Mike Garcia (CA-25) once again took the lead in calling for a base pay raise for servicemembers.

Garcia’s proposed amendment would require the Secretary of Defense to increase base pay to a minimum of $15 an hour ($31,200 per year) for all servicemembers.

“Some 23,000 servicemembers, many of whom also provide for their families, rely on food stamps just to make ends meet. No servicemember should be asked to defend our country and struggle near or even below the poverty line. If the government is paying for our servicemembers to live on food stamps, we may as well pay them through base pay on the front end instead,” said Garcia. “The raise I’m calling for is the least we can do for our servicemembers given the current inflationary period that is putting further strain on these patriots.”

While the amendment was ultimately shot down by the Democratic majority despite receiving bipartisan support, Congressman Garcia will fight tirelessly to secure a base pay raise for servicemembers in the final FY2023 Defense Appropriations package.

Click here to watch Garcia’s remarks during the hearing.

Click here to learn more about Garcia’s efforts to support military families.