WASHINGTON - The U.S. House overwhelmingly passed legislation Tuesday ensuring that the Minnesota National Guard and more than 49,000 troops nationwide will get paid time-off benefits they were promised before they were shipped overseas last year.
The Senate is expected to clear the same bill soon.
The House bill, carried by U.S. Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., exempts troops who were deployed before the Pentagon issued new restrictions last October limiting paid time off. Some troops, including members of the famed Minnesota "Red Bulls," faced the loss of as much as a month of paid time.
"This was clearly an injustice. It needed to be fixed," said Kline, a retired Marine colonel.
A spokesman for Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he supported the exemption, but the Pentagon requested congressional action to protect the affected troops.
The non-controversial measure was passed by a unanimous, unrecorded voice vote Tuesday evening. But it was only a bipartisan group of lawmakers from Minnesota -- Kline, fellow Republicans Chip Cravaack and Erik Paulsen, joined by Democrats Betty McCollum and Tim Walz -- who turned up on the House floor to voice support.
The only other member present was Guam Rep. Madeleine Bordallo, who grew up in Minnesota.
"When they went, they were promised a benefit," said Walz, a former National Guard member. "When they returned, it was cut in half."
The measure will help more than 2,000 Minnesota soldiers recoup promised benefits to spend time with their families and seek work at the end of their deployments, which for many ended last month.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said Tuesday that she has secured the support of Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin of Michigan this week and is working to get the bill passed in the Senate.
Kevin Diaz is a correspondent in the Star Tribune Washington Bureau.