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I applaud the House’s action in approving HR 5122 which includes a 2007 pay raise of 2.7 percent for members of the military—higher than the 2.2 percent proposed by the administration. The 2.2 percent raise proposed in the president’s budget falls far short of the rate of inflation and minimizes the contributions of those who serve the public, whether as members of the military or as part of the federal civilian workforce. The military clearly deserves a larger increase, as do government’s civilian workforce. Their proposed 2007 raise, also slated at 2.2 percent, should be raised in line with the House action on military pay. That would reflect the growing bipartisan congressional understanding of the need for military-civilian pay parity. NTEU will work for continuation of the principle of pay parity that serves the nation so well by enhancing and supporting federal agency recruiting and retention efforts and I am confident that there will be bipartisan support for this action. A 2.2 percent increase, which would be the smallest federal pay raise since 1988, would fail even to keep pace with inflation and private sector pay, much less reward employees for their continuing contributions to the country. The federal government should use all the tools at its disposal to attract and retain the high-quality employees the public wants and expects it to have. Fair and competitive pay clearly is a major component in that competition. It is a shame that each year, members of the military and federal employees have to fight for a decent pay raise.