XXXX Opposed Lowering Retirement Age from 60 to 55 for Members of the National Guard and Reserves. On October 15, 2003, XXXX voted an amendment to reduce the retirement age for members of the National Guard and Reserve from 60 to 55. The change would have allowed an estimated 92,000 reservists that were age 55 to 59 to retire with full benefits. [Vote 381, 10/15/03; Corzine Floor Statement, 10/15/03] XXXX Voted to Call for National Guard and Reserves to Have Access to TRICARE. On July 16, 2003, XXXX voted for a Daschle, D-S.D., amendment to the FY 2004 Defense Appropriations bill. The Daschle amendment would express the sense of the Senate that the National Guard and Reserves play a critical national security role and should be granted access to the TRICARE military health care program. [HR 2658, Vote 282, 7/16/03] XXXX Voted Against Limiting National Guard Deployments. In July 2003, XXXX voted to kill a proposal to limit the overseas missions of National Guard and Reserve forces to six months, once a year. [Vote 277, 7/15/03; AP, 7/15/03] XXXX Supported Expanding Eligibility of Military Health Care. XXXX, on May 20, 2003, voted for the Graham amendment to S.1050, which was an amendment to allow members of the Selected Reserve to enroll in TRICARE, the military health care plan used by active-duty members. Enlisted service members would pay premiums of $330 annually for themselves and $560 for their families, and officers would pay premiums of $380 annually for themselves and $610 for their families. Reservists who elect to retain civilian insurance for their families and who are ordered to active duty would be reimbursed for that insurance. [S 1050, Vote 185, 5/20/03] XXXX Voted Against Cutting Taxes For Active Reservists. In May 2003, XXXX voted against an amendment that allowed a 50 percent tax credit on the salaries employers pay workers who are in the National Guard or Reserves and have been put on active duty. [Vote 163, 5/15/03] XXXX Voted to Kill $1 Billion in Equipment Funding For Troops. Just weeks after the Iraq war began, XXXX voted to kill a proposal to provide $1 billion for National Guard and Reserve equipment. The funding proposal was rejected 52-47. [Vote 116, 4/2/03; AP, 4/2/03] XXXX Voted To Increase Spending On The National Guard And Reserves By $10.5 Billion. On March 26, 2003, XXXX voted to increase spending on the National Guard and Reserves by $10.5 billion over 10 years. The vote was on the Landrieu, D-La., amendment, which offset the spending with a reduction in tax cuts. [S Con Res 23, Vote 105, 3/26/03] XXXX Voted Against Increasing Spending On Military Health Care By $21 Billion. On March 25, 2003, XXXX voted against increased spending on military health care that was offset by a reduction in tax cuts. The amendment increased spending on the TRICARE program by $21 billion over 10 years to give members of the National Guard and Reserves and their families greater access to the health care program. More than 20 percent of those in the National Guard and Reserves do not have health insurance. [Vote 81, 3/25/03; Blanche Lincoln, Floor Statement, 3/25/03] MILITARY PAY RAISES XXXX Voted For Funding for Defense, the Wars, and a Pay Raise for the Troops. In December 2009, XXXX voted for a $636 billion Defense spending bill, the last of the fiscal 2010 appropriations measures. The bill would provide $508 billion for the Defense Department’s regular activities and $128.3 billion for war operations. It also contained a 3.4 percent pay raise for the military. The bill would appropriate $3.8 billion less for Defense programs than the president’s request but $11 billion more than the current level, which includes supplemental spending enacted in June. The bill passed 88-10. [CQ Today, 12/19/09; Vote 384, 12/19/09]  XXXX Voted Against Cloture on Funding for Defense, the Wars, and a Pay Raise for the Troops. In December 2009, XXXX voted against to invoking cloture on the bill (HR 3326) that would provide $508 billion for the Defense Department’s regular activities and $128.3 billion for war operations. Under the 305