Congressman pushes again for Marine Corps to have equal billing with Navy

Rep. Walter Jones is trying again to get the Marine Corps equal billing with the Navy in the name that defines its branch of the armed services.

"This is an issue close to my heart," Jones said. "The Marine Corps is not a subordinate arm under the Navy, but rather an equal member of a team that deserves equal recognition."

Jones offered an amendment to the 2009 National Defense Authorization Act asking to rename the Department of the Navy as the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. It received bipartisan support this week in the House Armed Services Committee and was included in the version approved and passed on to the full House of Representatives for the seventh straight year.

The 2009 National Defense Authorization Act is the legislation that forms the annual policy and funding blueprint for national security activities of the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. It would authorize $531.4 billion for the departments and $70 billion in supplemental funding for current operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the war on terrorists.

The bill includes a 3.9 percent pay raise for all members of the U.S. armed forces in 2009 and guaranteed pay raises in 2010, 2011 and 2012 to reduce the military-civilian pay disparity.

The bill would prohibit increased premiums and co-pays for TRICARE recipients, and prohibit increased user fees for the TRICARE retail pharmacy program.

"This bill demonstrates our gratitude for the exceptional men and women in uniform who loyally serve our nation," Jones said

Jones authored an initiative that would extend the special survivor indemnity allowance to survivors of service members who die on active duty.

That allowance was slightly increased in the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act for some service member and retiree beneficiaries but the new amendment would ensure that survivors of service members who die on active duty also receive an increased benefit.