[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 26 (Thursday, March 12, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E364-E365]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           MILITARY RETIREES FAIRNESS ACT OF 1998, H.R. 3434

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LANE EVANS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 12, 1998

  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, on March 11, 1998, I introduced H.R. 3434, 
the Military Retirees Fairness Act of 1998. I am very pleased my 
colleague from Florida, Mr. Bilirakis, a strong and committed advocate 
for veterans and military retirees, has joined me as an original 
sponsor of this legislation. We encourage Congress to enact legislation 
this year to resolve the long-standing problem addressed by H.R. 3434.
  Under current law, men and women who served in our Nation's Armed 
Forces are barred from the concurrent receipt of full military 
retirement pay and the full amount of compensation granted for a 
service-connected disability incurred or aggravated during their 
military service. The Military Retiree Fairness Act will allow military 
retirees to concurrently receive military retirement pay and service-
connected disability benefits.
  Service-connected benefits are paid to compensate a veteran for 
disabilities incurred or aggravated during military service. In 
contrast, military retirement is paid to provide an income to military 
retirees who spent at least 20 years of their lives working for, and 
serving, our country as members of the Armed Forces. The purpose and 
intent of these two programs are distinctively different and should not 
be confused or considered duplicative. Retired military personnel who 
were fortunate enough to have emerged from military service unscathed 
receive the full amount of military retirement pay which they have 
earned by their military service and do not qualify for service-
connected disability benefits. In many cases, these retirees are able 
to earn additional income through post-military employment and thereby 
accrue Social Security or other retirement income benefits.
  Those military retirees who were not so fortunate, are required to 
forfeit all or a portion of their military retirement pay in order to 
receive service-connected compensation which has been granted as a 
result of disability or disease incurred or aggravated during their 
military careers. These veterans, as a result of their service-
connected medical conditions, face diminished post-military service 
employment possibilities and, therefore, a reduced ability to earn 
additional income through non-military employment, thereby losing the 
opportunity to accrue Social Security or other retirement income 
benefits.

[[Page E365]]

  While all veterans who are subject to the concurrent receipt offset 
are unfairly penalized, the Military Retiree Fairness Act would rectify 
the injustice which falls most heavily on our older veterans. Retirees 
who qualify for Social Security disability benefits have those benefits 
offset by monies received under State worker's compensation laws. 
However, the Social Security statute provides that this offset, which 
is similar to the military retirement offset, ends when the worker 
attains 65 years of age. Furthermore, while recipients of Social 
Security benefits who earn income have their Social Security benefits 
reduced as a result of their earnings, this offset is reduced at age 65 
and eliminated entirely at age 70. The Military Retiree Fairness Act 
would promote fairness between military retirees and Social Security 
retirees by reducing the amount of the concurrent receipt offset by 50 
percent at age 65 and eliminating it entirely at age 70.
  Those military retirees who have given so much of their lives to the 
service of our country and suffered disease or disability as a direct 
result of their military service do not deserve to be impoverished in 
their older years by the current receipt offset penalty. I urge my 
colleagues to join this bipartisan effort to promote fairness for 
America's military retirees.

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