Hi,
I am writing you all to enlist your help in getting a bill passed that would
help many retired military veterans. Although some of you may have never
been in the military, or others didn't make a career of the military, I
implore you to see the "problem with this picture."
The issue: Concurrent Receipt of Military Retired Pay and VA Disability
Compensation.
The problem: When a person spends an enlistment in the military, gets out,
and gets a compensable service-connected disability rating from the VA, they
get a check, free and clear, for the rest of their lives (or until their
disability decreases in severity). But, when a person makes a career of the
military, retires, then gets a service-connected disability rating from the
VA, that person's compensation is first deducted from his/her pension check,
then sent as a separate check to the veteran.
The inequity lies in the fact that the retiree is essentially paying his/her
own disability compensation (albeit, tax-free).
There are several bills in Congress that address this issue, with HR303
being the most equitable. It basically permits certain veterans with
service-connected disabilities who are retired members of the uniformed
services to receive compensation concurrently with retired pay, without
deduction from either.
What I would like you to do is to write your Congressperson about the issue.
If your congressional representative has not signed onto the bill as a
co-sponsor, the bill will sit, as it has in past years, and not even get a
hearing. The list of co-sponsors to this bill can be found at the following
sight:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:HR00303:@@@L
If your representative is not listed a co-sponsor, please email or snailmail
them with a message similar to the following:
"Rep. Whatever,
I am distressed that I have not seen your name in support of any of the
bills which have been submitted in the current (and past) sessions of
Congress dealing with the issue of concurrent receipt o VA disability
compensation and military retired pay.
The problem is this: A person spends an enlistment in the military, gets
out with a service-connected disability, and receives a check each month,
without stipulations. Another person spends 20 years or more on active
duty, and upon retirement gets a service-connected disability rating from
the VA. This second person has to take an equal reduction in his/her
retiree pension to the amount they are to receive from VA for the
service-connected disability.
Where is the equality? Why is a military retiree punished, financially, for
making a career out of serving his/her country?
I urge you to support HR303, signing on as a co-sponsor, as soon as
possible.
Respectfully, "
If you would address each of your congressional reps this way, we may be
able to get something done that shouldn't have been an issue to start with.
Thank you, in advance. And if anyone needs an address (email or snailmail)
for your rep, please contact me.
Ed Smith
Lee County Veterans
Service Office
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