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7345996
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Text of a letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate
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7345996
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document
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Text of a letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
Press Releases
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7345996
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1976-10-01
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1976
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Digitized from Box 31 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 1976
Office of the White House Press Secretary
THE WHITE HOUSE
TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE
PRESIDENT TO THE SPEAKER OF THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
September 30, 1976
Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
In accord with 37 U.S.C. 1009 (c), I am hereby advising
the Congress that I plan to exercise the discretionary
authority provided by 37 U.S.C. 1009 (c), as added by
section 303 of the Department of Defense Appropriation
Authorization Act, 1977 (Public Law 94-361), with re-
spect to adjustments in the levels of compensation for
the members of the uniform services.
The amendments to 37 U.S.C. 1009 made by that act provide
discretionary authority to apply the adjustments (based
on the overall average percentage increase in General
Schedule rates of basic pay, in accord with 37 U.S.C.
1009 (a)) to the basic pay, quarters allowances and sub-
sistence allowances of the uniform services on a percentage
basis other than an equal percentage basis. Those amend-
ments also provide discretionary authority to pay a partial
quarters allowance to bachelors in government quarters, on
field duty and on sea duty.
The current levels of the military allowances for quarters
and for subsistence bear little relationship to the costs
of the services they are intended to procure. Further,
the present system in which entitlement to these allowances
is completely eliminated when these services are provided
in kind fails to recognize the value of military housing,
of food provided in military messes, or of shelter provided
to those at sea and in the field. The Congress has, for
the present, reserved its acceptance of my budget proposal
to initiate a "fair market" rental concept for military
housing. This concept was the basis for my request for
discretionary authority to allocate a portion of military
basic pay increases to the allowances, and to pay to bache-
lors in government quarters, or on sea duty or field duty,
a portion of the quarters allowance.
Considering these aspects of the deficiencies in the
current level of these allowances, and consistent with
the FY 1977 budget, it is my considered judgment that
a reallocation of the October 1, 1976 military basic pay
increase is appropriate. Accordingly, I plan to reallo-
cate 25 percent of that increase, by grade, all to the
basic allowance for quarters, and to pay a partial pay-
ment of the quarters allowance, equal to this reallocation,
to bachelors in government quarters, and to those on sea
duty or on field duty. This action takes a positive step
toward improving the current relationship of the quarters
allowance to the costs of off-post housing and government
quarters on post.
more
2
Specifically, the amount allocated to the element of
monthly basic pay for each grade shall be 75 percent of
the amount that would have been allocated to that ele-
ment under 37 U.S.C. 1009 (b) (3); the elements of monthly
basic allowance for subsistence and monthly basic allowance
for quarters for each grade shall be increased by an amount
which is of the same percentage as the overall average per-
centage increase in the General Schedule rates, except that
the element of monthly basic allowance for quarters shall
be increased by an additional amount by grade equal to 25
percent of the amount that would have been allocated to the
element of monthly basic pay under 37 U.S.C. 1009(b)(3).
Members without dependents, who, under 37 U.S.C. 403(b) or
(c), are not entitled to receive a basic allowance for quarters,
shall be paid a partial monthly basic allowance for quarters
in an amount equal to the additional amount allocated by grade
to the element of monthly basic allowance for quarters under
37 U.S.C. 1009(c).
Sincerely,
GERALD R. FORD
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