[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 26 (Tuesday, March 8, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2258-S2259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REID (for himself, Mr. Biden, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Murray, 
        Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Salazar, 
        Mr. Bingaman, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. 
        Lincoln, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Lieberman, and Mr. Durbin):
  S. 558. A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to permit 
certain 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; to the Committee 
on Armed Services.
  Mr. President, I rise today to again introduce a bill along with my 
colleagues Mr. Biden, Ms. Mikulski, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Nelson of Florida, 
Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Salazar, Mr. Bingaman, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. 
Jeffords, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Lincoln, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Lieberman, and 
Mr. Durbin.
  Nothing is more important than keeping America safe. The key to our 
security is a professional, well-trained military. And in order to 
attract the dedicated soldiers we need, we must honor our commitment to 
America's veterans. Most everyone in the Senate knows about the ban on 
concurrent receipt . . . and our veterans certainly know about the 
hardship it causes.
  This is the outdated and unfair policy that prevents disabled 
veterans from collecting both their military retirement pay and 
disability compensation at the same time. Under current law, a retired 
disabled veteran must deduct from his retirement pay, dollar for 
dollar, the amount of any disability compensation he receives.
  In many cases, this totally wipes out the veteran's retirement pay. 
The end result is that the disabled military retiree loses all of the 
value of his 20 or more years of service to our Nation. We don't 
subject any other Federal retiree to this kind of offset, only our 
disabled military retirees. So this policy amounts to a special tax on 
our disabled veterans . . . men and women who have already sacrificed 
so much for our Nation.
  When this situation was first brought to my attention a few years ago 
by a veteran from Nevada, I could hardly believe it. It seemed too 
outrageous to be true. And to this day, I can't understand why it has 
taken so long to correct the problem. Because to me, it just goes 
without saying that we should treat our disabled veteran with honor . . 
. with dignity . . . and with respect.
  The members of this Senate share my feelings. For the past years, the 
Senate has passed measures to end the ban on concurrent receipt. I want 
to especially thank Senators Levin and Warner for their support of this 
issue, year after year. Thanks to their strong leadership we have made 
some progress each year.
  In 2003 we passed a measure to allow concurrent receipt for those who 
are 100 percent disabled. Last year we made that change immediate, 
instead of being phased in over 10 years. This will benefit as many as 
50,000 severely disabled veterans. But there are still hundreds of 
thousands of disabled veterans who need our help.
  We would not dream of leaving a soldier behind on the battlefield. 
And we should not walk away from our disabled veterans now, when they 
need our help. Frankly, I can't understand why the administration is 
even debating whether this policy should be changed for veterans whose 
disabilities make them unemployable. The fact is, many veterans with a 
disability rated at less than 100 percent cannot get or hold a job 
because of their disabilities.
  And a 10-year phase-in simply isn't fair for these veterans, because 
many of them will never live to see the benefits. They deserve 
immediate help. We have to take care of these veterans--now. If the 
administration doesn't want to do it, then Congress will be forced to 
legislate the necessary changes. Taking care of veterans is the right 
thing to do because we must never forget the sacrifices they made to 
protect our freedom.
  Taking care of our veterans is also a key to winning the war on 
terror. In our all-volunteer military, it is critical to attract and 
retain professional, dedicated soldiers.
  These people serve because they love America. They don't expect to 
get rich in the military but they do expect that we will honor our 
commitments to provide health care and other benefits for them and 
their families.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of this 
legislation be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 558

       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 
     of 2005''.

     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 every year 
     to progressively expand eligibility criteria for relief of 
     the retired pay disability offset and further 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

[[Page S2259]]

     qualifying retirees with 100-percent disability ratings and 
     all 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 Nation 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.--Section 1414 of title 10, United States Code, is 
     amended by striking paragraph (2) of subsection (a).
       (b) Repeal of Phase-in of Concurrent Receipt of Retired Pay 
     and Veterans' Disability Compensation.--Such section is 
     further amended--
       (1) in subsection (a), by striking the final sentence of 
     paragraph (1);
       (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 
     subparagraph (4).
       (c) Clerical Amendments.--
       (1) 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) 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, 2006, 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 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
       ``(2) has a combat-related disability''.
       (b) Amendments to Standardize Similar Provisions.--
       (1) Clerical amendment.--The heading for paragraph (3) of 
     section 1413a(b) of such title is amended by striking 
     ``rules'' and inserting ``rule''.
       (2) Specification of qualified retirees for concurrent 
     receipt purposes.--Subsection (a) of section 1414 of such 
     title, as amended by section 2(a), is amended--
       (A) by striking ``a member or'' and all that follows 
     through ``retiree')'' and inserting ``an individual who is a 
     qualified retiree for any month'';
       (B) by inserting ``retired pay and veterans' disability 
     compensation'' after ``both''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(2) Qualified retirees.--For purposes of this section, a 
     qualified retiree, with respect to any month, is a member or 
     former member of the uniformed services who--
       ``(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 also entitled for that month 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'' in paragraph 
     (1) 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, 2006, and shall apply to 
     payments for months beginning on or after that date.
                                 ______