Today, a combat-injured veteran is doing the math on a check that is smaller than it should be. The law forces veterans to trade away part of the retirement pay they earned in order to receive the disability compensation they are owed.
Down the hall, a caregiver is doing their own math, one of the 14.3 million military and veteran caregivers in this country. Their work is worth upwards of $400 billion a year, but they often sacrifice their income and retirement savings to care for a loved one. They have been waiting for needed support, and Congress has left them in this position for years.
A group of organizations that advocate for veterans and caregivers joined forces to support the "Take Care of America's Veterans Act," a bill that addresses the long-standing issue of concurrent retirement pay and disability compensation. This legislation is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to stand with the veterans, caregivers, and survivors who have sacrificed so much for our country.
The bill takes a different path from previous attempts, moving more than 60 long-stalled priorities forward together. It includes major pieces of legislation, such as the "Major Richard Star Act," which ends the offset that has cost more than 59,000 combat-injured veterans part of the retirement they earned.
For the veteran doing the math tonight, this bill is about the distance between what they were promised and what they receive. For the caregiver beside them, and for the surviving spouses, it means the kind of support the country has long owed but rarely delivered.
The bill has drawn questions about how it is paid for, but the Veterans Administration has proposed a rule related to sleep apnea and tinnitus that would generate cost savings. If the rule is not withdrawn, the choice is between allowing the savings to stay with the men and women who earned them and their families, or returning the billions of dollars to the Treasury and funding other causes.
Americans are being asked to honor the full and lasting price of service, not just with words, but with law. The vote in the House and Senate stands between the veteran community and these benefits. Casting a vote in support of this vital legislation would be a crucial step towards making that happen.
The organizations advocating for veterans and caregivers are ready to help both chambers get to this point. The time for tributes has passed, and now it is time for action. The bill is due, and the people behind it are waiting.
