[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 12, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S915]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RESTORING EARNED PENSIONS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, as I just mentioned, today we hope we can 
act on two vital pieces of legislation. On this side of the aisle, as 
we say, we are ready to move. We want to move to a measure to restore 
earned retirement pay to our Nation's heroes--retirees of the U.S. 
armed services. Dozens of major veterans organizations have written us 
in support of this legislation which was passed by the House of 
Representatives yesterday.
  I commend the sponsors of the Senate bill to restore veterans' 
pensions--Senators Pryor, Shaheen, Hagan, and Begich, among others--
forcing Republicans in the House and the Senate to take this issue very 
seriously and take it seriously now. Without their leadership we would 
never have reached a compromise that protects our Nation's heroic 
veterans and reached it so quickly. The Senate's unanimous vote on 
Monday to move forward with the bill to restore veterans' pensions 
forced the House to understand that we are serious about this and 
secured a resolution that protects veterans.

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