Senator Pryor`s Combat Amendment Passes Senate

US Senator Mark Pryor`s plan to improve combat medical equipment and provide more information to the families of wounded soldiers passed late last night as an amendment to the annual defense spending bill. Pryor`s amendment would account for Ten million dollars of a 422 billion dollar spending bill. The total bill could be voted on by Friday. Pryor`s amendment passed unanimously on a voice vote. It`s plan to spend 10 million dollars to upgrade outdated medical equipment was not controversial, but how it planned to offset the cost was cause for concern. Pryor spokesman Rodell Mollineau said Republican leaders approached Pryor and asked him to change the revenue source from a tightening of the Pentagon`s travel budget to a shifting of money from an overbudgeted personnel account. Pryor also met some resistence from the Defense Department when he proposed changes to the way the military reports injuries to soldiers` families. Arkansas families had complained to Pryor that they couldn`t track their soldiers` injury status, and the amendment would force the Pentagon to change that within 120 days.