Valentine’s day came with a lot of love for our Veterans, as a bill to allow disabled vets to receive all of their pay entitlements gained support from nine additional Congress members. This brings the total amount of co-sponsors of the bill to 35! We should keep a watch on this. This could be great for many veterans.
The Bill, H.R. 303 entitled “Retired Pay Restoration Act,” if enacted would allow veterans who have a service-connected disability to receive both their retired veteran pay and their veteran’s disability pay.
Currently, veterans who have a service-connected disability rated at 50 percent or more have their retirement payments offset by their veterans’ disability pay. This bill would change that, allowing them to receive both their full retirement pay and their disability pay concurrently.
In order for a veteran to receive both payments with the law as it is now, they would have had to be in the military for 20 years to be eligible. So for those people who served one, five, even 19 years then became an amputee because they stepped on an IED while fighting for our safety…
Sorry – the law is what it is.
This bill has a long history, and it is especially important that we pay attention to it now. Former Nevada Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has introduced this type of bill year after year with no success. Now Reid has retired and Florida Representative Gus M. Bilirakis (R-Fla.) a previous backer of the bill, has picked up the torch.
Nine senators have added their names to the co-sponsor list as of February 14, 2017, bringing the total to 35, with 10 Democrats and 25 Republicans supporting its passage.
President Donald Trump has stated that he cares about our Veteran’s and has made a promise to:
“Finally take care of our great veterans, who have been so loyal.”
If this bill became law under his presidency that would not only keep his promise, but it will help countless men and women who dedicated their lives and in some cases, limbs, to serve this country.
It is an absolute travesty that veterans, like my own mother, dedicated their lives in service to this country only to have their retirement pay offset because they were injured in the line of duty. This would not happen in other industries. They became disabled because of their job and now have to suffer the loss of their retirement in order to collect their disability payments.
It is inhuman and makes absolutely no sense.
PredictGov rates this bill at a one percent chance at passing, and only 35 representatives support it in the House. However, if we let it go by behind the scenes, it would effectively keep our disabled vets in dire straits.
Maybe more congress members and senators would consider signing on to the Retired Pay Restoration Act if the bill had the support of Senator, General Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.). As a veteran of the Iraqi War, and a double amputee as a result of said war, if Sen. Duckworth hasn’t signed on as a co-sponsor, or even spoken of the bill to offer her support, one has to wonder… What’s the catch?
It is understandable, that a story such as this, without flashy images or hilarious tweets would go unnoticed… Fight against that impulse though. It is that same impulse that lets our veterans’ rights go unnoticed.
Share this story everywhere. The more the people of the United States are aware of bills like this, the more visible the bills become. More visibility increases the chances that change can happen.
Please share, care, and add your voice to this very important discussion. Also, check out the video for more information on how much Trump loves to hurt our vets:
Featured Image By Virginia State Parks Via Flickr/CC-By-2.0.
