Adequate Military Compensation Urged

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) introduced a measure Tuesday to create a national commission to figure out how to prevent U.S. military personnel and their dependents from needing food stamps or other government assistance programs.

The commission would determine the extent to which military families are relying on government aid to remain above the poverty line and to find ways to ensure that their compensation would make such assistance unnecessary.

More than 17,000 members of the military and their families depend on food stamps and other federal assistance programs to survive, according to the Defense Department.

In Ventura County, $63,509 in food stamps was redeemed in the Port Hueneme Seabee base commissary last year, a 27% increase from 1992. More than $5,700 in food stamps was turned in at Point Mugu last year. And vouchers worth $32,000 were redeemed through the aid to women with infant children program at the two bases combined.