[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 303 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 303

  To amend title 10, United States Code, to permit additional retired 
members of the Armed Forces who have a service-connected disability to 
 receive both disability compensation from the Department of Veterans 
Affairs for their disability and either retired pay by reason of their 
years of military service or Combat-Related Special Compensation and to 
 eliminate the phase-in period under current law with respect to such 
                          concurrent receipt.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 8, 2009

Mr. Bilirakis introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 10, United States Code, to permit additional retired 
members of the Armed Forces who have a service-connected disability to 
 receive both disability compensation from the Department of Veterans 
Affairs for their disability and either retired pay by reason of their 
years of military service or Combat-Related Special Compensation and to 
 eliminate the phase-in period under current law with respect to such 
                          concurrent receipt.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Retired Pay Restoration Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) For more than 100 years before 1999, all disabled 
        military retirees were required to fund their own veterans' 
        disability compensation by forfeiting one dollar of earned 
        retired pay for each dollar received in veterans' disability 
        compensation.
            (2) Since 1999, Congress has enacted legislation to 
        progressively expand eligibility criteria for relief of the 
        retired pay disability offset and reduce the burden of 
        financial sacrifice on disabled military retirees.
            (3) Absent adequate funding to eliminate the sacrifice for 
        all disabled retirees, Congress has given initial priority to 
        easing financial inequities for the most severely disabled and 
        for combat-disabled retirees.
            (4) In the interest of maximizing eligibility within cost 
        constraints, Congress effectively has authorized full 
        concurrent receipt for all qualifying retirees with 100-percent 
        disability ratings and all qualifying retirees with combat-
        related disability ratings, while phasing out the disability 
        offset to retired pay over 10 years for retired members with 
        noncombat-related, service-connected disability ratings of 50 
        percent to 90 percent.
            (5) In pursuing these good-faith efforts, Congress 
        acknowledges the regrettable necessity of creating new 
        thresholds of eligibility that understandably are disappointing 
        to disabled retirees who fall short of meeting those new 
        thresholds.
            (6) Congress is not content with the status quo.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that military 
retired pay earned by service and sacrifice in defending the United 
States should not be reduced because a military retiree is also 
eligible for veterans' disability compensation awarded for service-
connected disability.

SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENT OF BOTH RETIRED PAY AND VETERANS' 
              DISABILITY COMPENSATION FOR CERTAIN ADDITIONAL MILITARY 
              RETIREES WITH COMPENSABLE SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES.

    (a) Extension of Concurrent Receipt Authority to Retirees With 
Service-Connected Disabilities Rated Less Than 50 Percent.--Subsection 
(a) of section 1414 of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Compensation'' in the subsection heading 
        and all that follows through ``Subject'' and inserting 
        ``Compensation.--Subject''; and
            (2) by striking paragraph (2).
    (b) Repeal of Phase-In of Concurrent Receipt of Retired Pay and 
Veterans' Disability Compensation.--Such section is further amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), as amended by subsection (a) of this 
        section, by striking the final sentence;
            (2) by striking subsection (c) and redesignating 
        subsections (d) and (e) as subsections (c) and (d), 
        respectively; and
            (3) in subsection (d), as so redesignated, by striking 
        paragraphs (3) and (4).
    (c) Clerical Amendments.--
            (1) Section heading.--The heading for section 1414 of such 
        title is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 1414. Members eligible for retired pay who are also eligible for 
              veterans' disability compensation: concurrent payment of 
              retired pay and disability compensation''.
            (2) Table of sections.--The item relating to such section 
        in the table of sections at the beginning of chapter 71 of such 
        title is amended to read as follows:

``1414. Members eligible for retired pay who are also eligible for 
                            veterans' disability compensation: 
                            concurrent payment of retired pay and 
                            disability compensation.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect as of January 1, 2010, and shall apply to payments for months 
beginning on or after that date.

SEC. 4. COORDINATION OF SERVICE ELIGIBILITY FOR COMBAT-RELATED SPECIAL 
              COMPENSATION AND CONCURRENT RECEIPT.

    (a) Eligibility for TERA Retirees.--Subsection (c) of section 1413a 
of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking ``entitled to 
retired pay who--'' and all that follows through the end of paragraph 
(1) and inserting ``who--
            ``(1) is entitled to retired pay, other than a member 
        retired under chapter 61 of this title with less than 20 years 
        of service creditable under section 1405 of this title and less 
        than 20 years of service computed under section 12732 of this 
        title; and''.
    (b) Amendments To Standardize Similar Provisions.--
            (1) Clerical and conforming amendments.--Section 1413a of 
        such title is further amended--
                    (A) in the heading for paragraph (3) of subsection 
                (b), by striking ``rules'' and inserting ``rule''; and
                    (B) in subsection (f), by striking ``Subsection 
                (d)'' and inserting ``Subsection (c)''.
            (2) Specification of qualified retirees for concurrent 
        receipt purposes.--Section 1414 of such title, as amended by 
        section 3, is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) by striking ``a member or'' and all 
                        that follows through ``retiree'' and inserting 
                        ``an individual who is a qualified retiree for 
                        any month''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``retired pay and 
                        veterans' disability compensation'' after 
                        ``both''; and
                    (B) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the 
                following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Qualified retiree.--The term `qualified retiree' 
        means a member or former member of the uniformed services who, 
        with respect to any month--
                    ``(A) is entitled to retired pay, other than in the 
                case of a member retired under chapter 61 of this title 
                with less than 20 years of service creditable under 
                section 1405 of this title and less than 20 years of 
                service computed under section 12732 of this title; and
                    ``(B) is entitled to veterans' disability 
                compensation.''.
            (3) Standardization with crsc rule for chapter 61 
        retirees.--Subsection (b) of section 1414 of such title is 
        amended--
                    (A) by striking ``Special Rules'' in the subsection 
                heading and all that follows through ``is subject to'' 
                and inserting ``Special Rule for Chapter 61 Disability 
                Retirees.--In the case of a qualified retiree who is 
                retired under chapter 61 of this title, the retired pay 
                of the member is subject to''; and
                    (B) by striking paragraph (2).
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect as of January 1, 2010, and shall apply to payments for months 
beginning on or after that date.
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