Main Heading Goes Here Subheading Goes Here

TROA Legislative Update (continued from page 4)

This is a special TROA alert for Wednesday, October 16, 2002.

VA-HUD Bill Would Bar Disability Benefits for New Retirees. We are stunned and extremely disappointed that the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, and subsequently the full Appropriations Committee, last week approved language in the FY2003 VA-HUD Appropriations Bill (H.R. 5605) that would bar current and future retired service members from filing any new disability claims if Congress authorizes an end to the disability offset to military retired pay.

Defense Appropriations Subcommittee chairman James Walsh (R-NY), whose VA-HUD appropriations "mark-up" contained the provision in question, is one of the few remaining House members who has not cosponsored the concurrent receipt bill (HR 303). Neither has House Majority Whip Tom Delay (R-TX), who also sits on the Subcommittee. But 12 of the remaining 13 members of the subcommittee are on record as HR 303 cosponsors. And 58 of the 65 members of the full Appropriations Committee are HR 303 cosponsors.

How can so many concurrent receipt supporters vote to bar all retirees from making any future application for VA disability compensation? The Committee report on the VA-HUD bill says the Committee was concerned that the VA would be overwhelmed by new applications if Congress approves concurrent receipt. But it's incomprehensible how people who support authorizing concurrent receipt could seek to deny any new applicants.

Many representatives on the Appropriations Committee are longstanding supporters of the military community. We prefer to believe many didn't realize this provision was in the VA-HUD bill. TROA has written each Committee member asking them to validate their support for concurrent receipt in two ways: first, by voting to remove the offending language when the VA-HUD bill comes to the floor; second, by convincing House leaders to include concurrent receipt authority in the final Defense Authorization Bill. (View the TROA letter at www.troa.org/Legislative/HACLtr.asp )

A list of Appropriations Committee members is provided below, along with their co-sponsorship status on HR 303.

If your legislator is on this list, please use TROA's toll-free hot line to Capitol Hill (1-877-762-8762) to ask: (1) how your representative could have voted for the VA-HUD plan to bar retirees from applying for disability pay, and (2) how your representative will back up his or her stated support with action and not just words.

The House already has voted twice to authorize concurrent receipt. Now leadership is balking, and opponents are sliding through more roadblocks while our cosponsors are looking the other way.

Legislators can't have it both ways. If they want credit at the polls for supporting fair treatment for disabled retirees, we need action now - not just words - to get leadership off the dime, get this provision into law, and provide the money to fund it.
Please use TROA's web site (visit http://capwiz.com/troa/home/ and click on "Action on Concurrent Receipt") to send every representative this message, whether or not your legislator is on the list below.
House Appropriations Committee Members (cosponsor status in parentheses)

Republicans Democrats

KS04 Todd Tiahrt (YES) Dennis Moore
Jim Ryan

(10-18-02)
Issue 1: Senate Passes Appropriations Act. Wednesday, the Senate approved the FY2003 Defense Appropriations Act, sending it to the President for signature. This is different from the FY2003 Defense Authorization Act, which is still hung up in House/Senate negotiations over the concurrent receipt issue.

Issue 2: Don't Let Representatives Escape Accountability. Legislators can't have it both ways. 402 House cosponsors of Rep. Mike Bilirakis' concurrent receipt bill tell their military and veteran constituents they're all for concurrent receipt. But the vote that counts has been delayed until after the election. Military and veteran voters need to ask the candidates some pointed questions before Election Day.

Issue 3: 2003 COLA Will Be 1.4%. Earlier this week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the cost-of-living adjustment for various federal programs, including Social Security and military retired pay (payable in the checks that will be received on January 2, 2003).

Issue 4: Defense funding is safe for another year. On Wednesday, the Senate approved the FY2003 Defense Appropriations Act (H.R.5010) by a vote of 93-1 (Sen. Russell Feingold, D-WI, was the lone "no" vote). Since the House had already approved it, the measure now goes to the President for signature.

This is an awkward situation for the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, whose FY2003 Defense Authorization Bill (H.R.4546) is still hung up in negotiations over the concurrent receipt issue. The authorization bill is what formally authorizes service manning levels, pay raises, procurement, benefit changes, and everything else in the defense budget - including, hopefully, authority for concurrent receipt of military retired pay and VA disability compensation. The appropriations bill normally follows afterward to provide the funds to implement those things. This year, the legislative cart is before the horse, a situation Armed Services Committee leaders hate. They're supposed to be driving the train, but the out-of-sequence action leaves them frustrated in the caboose.