U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) voted today to pass a bipartisan bill to protect military retirement pay for America’s servicemen and women who enlisted before January 1, 2014.

“I was proud to vote for this bill today, which restores our promise to the brave servicemen and women and their families who have sacrificed so much to protect America,” said Blunt, who is one of three members to serve on both the defense authorizing and appropriating committees in the U.S. Senate.

Blunt previously co-sponsored U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte’s (N.H.) legislation, “Keeping Our Promise to Our Military Heroes Act,” which would replace the military retiree benefit cuts by making a simple fix to the U.S. tax code. Ayotte’s bill would require filers to have Social Security Numbers in order to qualify for the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC). The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates that this change will save approximately $20 billion over 10 years.

In December 2013, Blunt also co-sponsored a “sense of the Senate” resolution that was introduced by U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (Ga.) and stated Armed Forces retirees should not unfairly bear the burden of excessive government spending, and the Senate should seek alternatives to the military retirement provisions in the budget.