[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 154 (Friday, September 29, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14743-S14744]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. JEFFORDS:
  S. 1294. A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to repeal the 
requirement that amounts paid to a member of the Armed Forces under the 
Special Separation Benefits Program of the Department of Defense, or 
under the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program of that Department, be 
offset from amounts subsequently paid to that 

[[Page S 14744]]
member by the Department of Veterans Affairs as disability 
compensation; to the Committee on Armed Services.


                     title 10 amendment legislation

 Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I reintroduce a bill to change 
current law that requires amounts paid to a member of the Armed Forces 
under the Special Separation Benefits and Voluntary Separation 
Incentive Programs be offset from amounts subsequently paid to that 
individual by the Department of Veterans Affairs as disability 
compensation.
  Since the end of the cold war, our country has called on military 
personnel to participate in several dangerous military operations, most 
recently in the Persian Gulf, Somalia, and Haiti. These personnel have 
served our country well. Unfortunately, due to language in the 
Department of Defense [DOD] Authorization Act for fiscal years 1992 and 
1993, veterans who participate in the Department of Defense's 
downsizing by selecting one of two options, either a special separation 
bonus [SSB] lump sum payment or a voluntary separation incentive [VSI] 
monthly payment, are prevented from receiving both disability 
compensation from the VA and benefits from the SSB and VSI programs 
until the separation compensation is offset completely. My bill will 
address this injustice by repealing these provisions and allow for 
concurrent receipt. It will also be retroactive to December 5, 1991, so 
service members not able to receive payment concurrently since 1991 
will be reimbursed for their lost compensation.
   Mr. President, SSB and VSI benefits are for services rendered as 
well as compensation for the veterans' participation in the DOD's 
downsizing. VA disability pay is compensation for mental or physical 
disabilities incurred in that service. These are two separate 
compensations serving two very different purposes. Therefore, it is 
unfair to the veteran to offset one payment with another.
  Aside from the unfairness of offsetting the costs of unrelated 
compensation benefits, many veterans who returned from the Persian Gulf 
war have come down with strange illnesses which are believed to be 
related to their service in the Persian Gulf. Individuals who have 
accepted SSB or VSI payments are suffering both physically and 
financially, as many cannot work under the conditions from which they 
are suffering. Repealing the offset will help ease this financial 
suffering.
  I urge the Congress to correct this injustice to our Nation's 
veterans and provide these veterans with the proper care and 
compensation they deserve.
                                 ______