[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 20333-20338]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 MOTION TO INSTRUCT CONFEREES ON H.R. 4546, BOB STUMP NATIONAL DEFENSE 
                 AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2003

  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer the motion to 
instruct that I presented yesterday pursuant to clause 7(c) of rule 
XXII.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). The Clerk will report the 
motion.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Mr. Taylor of Mississippi moves that the managers on the 
     part of the House at the conference on the disagreeing votes 
     of the two Houses on the House amendment to the Senate 
     amendment to the bill H.R. 4546 be instructed to agree to the 
     provisions contained in section 641 of the Senate amendment 
     (relating to payment of retired pay and compensation to 
     disabled military retirees).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 7 of rule XXII, the 
gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor)

[[Page 20334]]

and the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) each will control 30 
minutes.
  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that debate on this 
motion be limited to 30 minutes, 15 minutes on each side.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) 
and the gentleman from New York (Mr. McHugh) each will control 15 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor).
  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, today almost 300 of us voted to give the President the 
authority to wage war, and a sad consequence of that is that there will 
be, if there is hostile action, young Americans coming home who have 
lost their arms, their legs, their vision, their ability to speak.
  Traditionally, there has been a system where they are compensated for 
that loss. Unfortunately, for those people who have served our Nation 
for 20 years or more, that compensation comes at the expense of the 
retirement benefit they have already earned. A lot of us do not think 
that is fair.
  The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) has been for 17 years 
pushing legislation to address this inequity, to allow those people who 
served our Nation honorably in the military for 20 years or more to 
collect their full pension benefits and be compensated for whatever 
injuries they incurred on active duty, because it has very much so 
reduced their ability to make a living in their post-military life.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Bilirakis), the person who has worked so hard on this issue for 17 
years.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Florida.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) 
is recognized for 6 minutes.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlemen for yielding me 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in reluctant support of the Taylor motion to 
instruct conferees on H.R. 4546, the Bob Stump National Defense 
Authorization Act. I say reluctant not because I did not support the 
Senate provision to provide for the full concurrent receipt of military 
retired pay and VA disability compensation but because this motion 
should not even be necessary.
  My legislation to completely eliminate the offset between military 
retired pay and VA disability compensation has received strong 
bipartisan support in both Houses of Congress. In fact, more than 90 
percent of the Members of the House of Representatives and more than 80 
percent of the Senate have cosponsored legislation to repeal the 
current offset.
  This is the People's House, Mr. Speaker, and this is a Republic. The 
people, by way of their Representatives, want concurrent receipt, 
concurrent receipt based on two separate episodes, one having served 
20-plus years and the other having suffered a service-connected 
disability. It is not double dipping.
  The last Congress took the first steps toward addressing this 
inequity by authorizing the military to pay a monthly allowance to 
military retirees with severe service-connected disabilities rated by 
the Department of Veterans Affairs at 70 percent or greater. These 
provisions were expanded to include retirees with ratings of 60 
percent.
  Earlier this year, I was very pleased when the House took the next 
step in our fight to eliminate the offset by including funding for a 
partial repeal of the offset in its fiscal year 2003 budget resolution. 
Specifically, the budget resolution earmarks over $500 million as a 
first step in fiscal year 2003, with increasing amounts over the next 5 
years, providing a cumulative total of $5.8 billion. I want to 
acknowledge and thank the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle) for this.
  I repeat, Mr. Speaker, the money is in our budget. The money is in 
our budget. For years I have been told by the authorizers, get the 
money in the budget and we will authorize it. The money is in the 
budget. It will not come out of the military readiness allotment. The 
funding falls short of the funding needed to completely eliminate the 
current offset, but it will provide for a substantial concurrent 
receipt benefit.
  The House Committee on Armed Services incorporated the budget 
resolution proposal into its authorization bill. As approved by the 
House, H.R. 4546 includes a provision to authorize military retirees 
who are 60 percent or greater disabled to receive their full retired 
pay and VA disability compensation benefit by fiscal year 2007; not 
complete elimination of the offset, but providing for concurrent 
receipt for the more seriously disabled.
  Until the program is fully implemented, the bill establishes a 
transition program through which retirees will receive increasing 
amounts of their retired pay. Transition payment levels will increase 
annually until fiscal year 2007, when all retirees with a disability 
rating of 60 percent or greater will receive their full retired pay and 
VA disability compensation.
  During its consideration of the authorization bill, the Senate 
approved an amendment to authorize full concurrent receipt immediately. 
While I would obviously prefer the Senate language because it does 
mirror my bill, H.R. 303, I recognize it may be difficult to achieve 
this goal in one step and that an incremental approach such as the 
House language may be necessary.
  I am extremely disappointed, Mr. Speaker, by recent efforts by the 
Department of Defense to derail our progress on the concurrent receipt 
issue. I believe the arguments against concurrent receipt being used by 
the Defense Department are baseless and designed to be intentionally 
misleading.
  I want to remind my colleagues of a quote by our first Commander-in-
Chief, George Washington. He said, ``The willingness with which our 
young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, 
shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of 
earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.''
  We are at war, Mr. Speaker, and our first President's words are more 
applicable than ever.
  At a time when our Nation is calling upon our Armed Forces to defend 
democracy and freedom, we must be careful not to send the wrong signal 
to our military service members. For those of them who have selected to 
make their career in the U.S. military, they face an additional unknown 
risk in the fight against terrorism. If they are injured, they will be 
forced to forgo their earned retired pay in order to receive their VA 
disability compensation. In effect, they will be paying for their own 
disability benefits with their retirement collection.
  We must include a substantial concurrent receipt provision in a final 
defense authorization bill, and I urge my colleagues to support the 
Taylor motion to instruct conferees. The time has come to do what is 
right and support the elimination of the current offset between 
military retired pay and VA disability compensation.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, let me begin by thanking my friend from Mississippi (Mr. 
Taylor), both for bringing this question to the floor at this time, 
well, maybe not at this time, but at all, and join in his very gracious 
and I think very appropriate comments about the previous speaker, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), who clearly has been, amongst 
many defenders and many fighters, the number one champion on behalf of 
this issue. All veterans and, indeed, all Members of this House and all 
people who live under the blanket of security and freedom provided by 
our military Armed Forces owe him a great debt of thanks.
  This is obviously a very troubling issue. It has been a perplexing 
one for this House for a number of years. But it is not a new issue in 
terms of confronting Members of Congress.
  This is a policy that has been in place for some 100 years. As the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) so

[[Page 20335]]

clearly stated, the House has taken some very definitive steps, and I 
think thanks are due to, as the gentleman from Florida said, the 
gentleman from Iowa (Chairman Nussle) of the Committee on the Budget, 
the leadership on the Committee on Armed Services on both sides of the 
aisle and Members again on both sides of the aisle who have fought for 
and have been concerned about this for some time.
  It is interesting to note, Mr. Speaker, that when the House provision 
was adopted in H.R. 4546, the vote on the floor was 359 to 58. Clearly 
every Member, Democrat and Republican, have expressed great concern and 
great support for trying to take an important step towards righting 
what most of us feel is a very clear wrong.
  The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) also pointed out some 
realities in conference with respect to what we were able to achieve. 
The fact of the matter is, the Senate provision over 10 years costs 
nearly $46 billion. Maybe equally important is the fact that, over 10 
years, $15 billion of that $46 billion amount is discretionary 
spending, money that would have to come out of the military services 
budget, money that would diminish the appropriations that we provide to 
do all kinds of good things in support of those very brave men and 
women that we all care so much about.
  The House version, on the other hand, compared to the Senate version, 
is more affordable and less expensive; not $46 billion, but nearly $18 
billion. Again, as the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) so 
correctly stated, it has, regrettably, caused a great deal of concern 
and expressions of opposition from the department and one that has 
placed the entire authorization bill into a great state of flux.
  I want to give compliments to the leadership of the other body. They 
are working in the conference, Senators Levin and Warner particularly, 
to try to find a way in which we can do all that is humanly possible in 
the confines of the bill at hand to right this wrong. They have been 
joined by the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter), with the great 
support, of course, of the gentleman from Arizona (Chairman Stump) and 
the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), the ranking minority member, 
and all of the members of the committee to try to see what we can do 
to, as I say, make this situation better for every deserving veteran.
  There is no disagreement tonight between myself and the objective 
that the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) has defined. I would 
certainly suggest, respectfully, to all of our Members that the 
objective of this motion to instruct is a very laudable and a very 
worthy goal that all of us support; and I certainly would not urge a 
single Member to vote against it.
  Let me again give my appreciation to the gentleman from Mississippi 
(Mr. Taylor) and to all those other Members who have fought so long and 
hard to try to take a step in the right direction on this.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), a senior Democrat member of the 
Committee on Armed Services and a father of two members on active duty 
in the United States military.
  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
  Mr. Speaker, my fellow Missourian Mark Twain once said, ``The more 
you explain it to me, the more I don't understand it,'' and I have a 
difficult time in understanding why we cannot go forward with this 
issue.
  The motion by the gentleman from Mississippi is well taken, and I 
thank him for it. I associate myself with the gentleman from Florida 
and with the gentleman from New York in their views. We in Congress 
need to ensure that our military retirees who have become disabled as a 
result of military service receive all the benefits to which they are 
entitled because of service-connected disabilities.

                              {time}  2245

  This is not brain surgery. This is what is fair; this is what is 
decent. They are the ones who made the sacrifices for our wonderful 
country, and the least we can do is to ensure that we repay the debt 
that we truly owe them.
  Now, the House version of the authorization bill would authorize the 
payment of military retiree pay and VA disability compensation for all 
military retirees who are at least 60 percent disabled. The Senate 
version, more expensive. The Senate version of the bill would authorize 
both the military retiree pay and the VA disability compensation of any 
retiree who has been determined to be disabled at any percentage.
  Well, out of all of this, there ought to be a compromise that we can 
live with. Unfortunately, the President has threatened a veto, to veto 
this conference bill in a time of war, with a lot of very, very 
important items in this bill such as pay raise, benefits; many, many 
items that they need with which to conduct the war against terrorism. I 
would simply say that we need to follow the dictates of this House as 
it has happened and voted before.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I proudly yield 1 minute to the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Cunningham), a Member of this House that certainly 
knows firsthand about the sacrifices of the men and women of the 
military, and a gentleman who is a former member of the Committee on 
Armed Services and then moved over as a member of the Subcommittee on 
Military Construction of the Committee on Appropriations.
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this 
resolution. Remember the movie ``Born on the 4th of July'' with Ron 
Kovic? Remember Agent Orange, Desert Syndrome. These are folks that 
fought for our country. Some of them died, some of them came back with 
afflictions and they need this resolution. It is important. I would 
hope every Republican and every Democrat comes together on this 
particular bill, and I laud my colleagues who are supporting the bill.
  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the 
gentleman from Alexandria, Virginia (Mr. Moran).
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, we are talking about people who 
have watched their families struggle all their adult lives because of 
their service-connected disability. Now that they are eligible for 
military retirement, they are being punished because they are eligible 
for both; and like most military retirees who are able to enhance their 
military retirement pay, because of their disability, they have not 
been able to.
  It is only fair that they receive their military retirement and their 
service-connected disability. On the day that we voted to send more 
troops to war, this is the day we ought to fix this injustice. Let us 
do the right thing. Let us pass it.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood).
  Mr. NORWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in very, very strong support of this 
motion, and I would take this opportunity to congratulate the gentleman 
from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) for years of work.
  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Shows), someone who has worked very 
hard for the veterans for his duration of his time here in Washington.
  Mr. SHOWS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the gentleman's motion 
to instruct.
  The gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) and I have been working 
together to help restore the broken promise of health care for our 
country's military retirees. Our failure to make good on what is known 
as a concurrent receipt is one of those broken promises.
  One of those promises is a pension when they retire, if they serve a 
career in uniform, at least 20 years. Another promise is that VA health 
care would be provided if they become disabled in the line of duty.
  They do not know about the archaic law that requires them to deduct 
service-connected disability pay from their

[[Page 20336]]

pensions. No other Federal employee has to do that. All other Federal 
employees earn VA health care benefits if they are service-connected 
disabled.
  Some may argue that we cannot afford to pay for full concurrent 
receipt. I would argue that we cannot afford not to authorize full 
concurrent receipt. How can we expect to recruit troops for the 
conflict we are about to wage if we continue the cycle of broken 
promises?
  Earlier this year, the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) and I 
offered an amendment that would include a full concurrent receipt in 
the Federal budget and it was paid for. We are already on record 
supporting full concurrent receipt. H.R. 303, which would institute 
full concurrent receipt, 402 cosponsors. It is long overdue.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to instruct the defense authorization conferees 
to do the right thing and insist they support full concurrent receipt.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to yield such time as he may 
consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Chambliss), the 
distinguished member of the Committee on Armed Services.
  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in strong support of 
the motion to instruct from the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. 
Taylor).
  This law is over 100 years old. It is time we fixed it. It is time 
that we recognize a disability as a disability and a retirement as a 
retirement. I urge strong support of the motion to instruct.
  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Bartlett), someone who has been a great 
help on this issue.
  Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, I want my colleagues to 
imagine two brothers. They are twin brothers, they joined the military 
at the same time, they go to war, they are both wounded, they are 60 
percent disabled. One of them chooses to stay in the military and serve 
his country; the other leaves the military and gets a job in the 
private sector.
  The inequity begins right now, because the person who leaves the 
military starts drawing disability pay, and it continues until he 
retires in the private sector. When he retires in the private sector, 
the private sector retirement is not cut by his disability pay. But 
that brother, that twin brother who chose to stay in the military does 
not collect any disability until he retires, and even when he retires 
and after the disability pay, they tell him that it has to be deducted 
from his retirement.
  Mr. Speaker, it is obvious how inequitable this is and how wrong it 
is; and the fact that it is going to cost money to fix it is just more 
testimony of how egregious this treatment has been of our disabled 
veterans. We should have fixed this a long time ago. We do not need to 
do it tomorrow. We need to do it today.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I have no requests for time at this time, so 
I will reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Maloney), a great member of the 
Committee on Armed Services.
  Mr. MALONEY of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) for yielding me this time. I want to associate 
myself with his remarks in urging the House to instruct the conferees 
to adopt the Senate's concurrent receipt provisions in the fiscal year 
2003 defense authorization bill.
  The Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for 2003 contains a 
provision to authorize military retirees who are 60 percent or greater 
disabled to receive their full retirement pay as well as disability 
compensation benefits by fiscal year 2007. The Senate bill, however, S. 
2514, authorizes the concurrent receipt of retired pay and veterans 
disability compensation immediately and for all disabled military 
retirees with at least 20 years of service.
  Concurrent receipt cannot come soon enough for the veterans of 
Connecticut. Veterans have made possible the very existence and 
continuation of our country and our way of life. Disabled veterans have 
made a great personal sacrifice to the security of the United States 
and are entitled to their due compensation as well as their retirement 
benefits in full. So I join with the veterans of my State and my 
colleagues on the House Committee on Armed Services in urging support 
for this stronger, timely, and comprehensive Senate language.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), a true gentleman and my neighbor 
and friend from my home State, the dean of our conference and the New 
York State delegation and a former chairman of the Committee on 
International Relations.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time, and I rise in strong support of the Taylor motion to instruct. I 
think this is a long-overdue measure to provide equity for all of our 
veterans who have had retirement and disability benefits, and I urge my 
colleagues to fully support this measure.
  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Phelps).
  Mr. PHELPS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Mississippi for 
his leadership on this issue.
  Just a few hours ago, I gave in good faith my full-fledged support to 
the President to deal with Iraq in whatever manner possible. With that 
commitment I also pledged my support for those in the military, the men 
and women who have given their service with that commitment for 
whatever action necessary, and I also pledged support to those that are 
serving now. But also we should recognize even more those who have 
already served. It is not right that we would penalize them. We should 
be rewarding those who have disabilities because of their connection in 
service, not penalizing them and their pensions because of their 
service. Whose side are we on?
  It is simple and clear. How can we ask those who serve that we are 
asking to commit now, with new action possibly coming about soon, and 
those who have already served that come back with injuries and who 
barely escape losing their lives, and tell them that we cannot afford 
to pay them what we owe them? That is a sad commentary on this country.
  I stand with the gentleman from Mississippi and his motion to 
instruct, and I hope all of us can unite in this one action.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman 
from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson), another great Northeasterner who, as 
every Member of this House understands, has been a constant leader in 
health care issues for both veterans and the civilian community.
  Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
New York for yielding me this time.
  I rise in strong support of this motion. Nothing is more humiliating 
to me than to sit with a constituent whom I know is being treated in a 
grossly unfair manner, and I have sat with disabled veterans who have 
high costs associated with their disability, health care costs, 
accommodation costs, and their disability has imposed limits and 
hardships on their families. For them not to receive both their 
military pension and their disability pension is indeed simply unfair, 
and it is time we corrected that injustice; and I commend the members 
of the committee on doing that here tonight.
  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis).
  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the veterans of 
San Diego County, I want to thank all of the people that worked on this 
issue so hard over these years.
  Mr. Speaker, during a Memorial Day breakfast last year, the President 
remarked, ``America's veterans have earned not only honors, but 
specific benefits, and those only become more necessary with the years. 
My administration will do all it can to assist our veterans and to 
correct oversights of the past.''
  I believe that those were sincere words, and we must work together to

[[Page 20337]]

turn them into reality. Over 400 Members have pledged their support to 
legislation to right an injustice and provide veterans with their well-
deserved benefits. I hope both the Congress and the administration will 
accept the final version of the fiscal year 2003 National Defense 
Authorization Act.

                              {time}  2300

  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker I yield 45 seconds to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez).
  Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time 
to me.
  Mr. Speaker, let me urge colleagues on both sides of the aisle, this 
is embarrassing. We need to do the right thing. It is not going to be 
enough just to show the votes that are out there, we have to make it 
happen.
  I know I get sick and tired when I go back, because I know we are 
doing the wrong thing. Those veterans are still approaching me and 
asking me. I can tell them that we did the language, and the President 
is supposed to do this and that, but we need to make it happen now.
  I ask both Democrats and Republicans, let us vote on this. Let us 
make sure we do the right thing. I ask the conference committee that, 
after they look at this vote, that they go out there and stick to their 
guns and make it happen.
  The reality is that these veterans have fought; they have been there. 
It is the fair thing for us to do. They have been our heroes. If we can 
declare war, this is the time for us to stand up. This is the time to 
make it happen.
  I ask very seriously after this vote and after we make it happen, let 
the conference committee take a stand, and let us support them.
  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the 
gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hooley).
  Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding 
time to me.
  Just a few hours ago, this body overwhelmingly voted to give our 
President the authority to go to war in Iraq. The least we can do is 
give the same level of overwhelming support to our veterans.
  It is time to keep our promises to the men and women in our Armed 
Forces, the men and women who made a career of the military service, 
the men and women who have paid their taxes and were promised a 
pension. It is time to keep our promises.
  If Members want a list of offsets, I would be happy to go over those. 
The bottom line is, it is time to do what is fair. It is time to keep 
our promises to our veterans.
  Mr. McHUGH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, the hour is late. Obviously, the sentiment of this House 
and its Members is, as I have suggested in my opening remarks, very, 
very clear. It is a sentiment we all join in.
  As a member of the Committee on Armed Services, as a conferee, as I 
know the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) understands, we are 
working on both sides of the aisle in both Houses of Congress to do all 
that we possibly can within the fiscal as well as the political 
realities of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, finally, I urge all of my colleagues to vote for this 
motion as a very clear indication of our ultimate objective.
  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of 
the time.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank all of the Members for their help tonight, 
Democrats and Republicans. We will send a message to the conferees: It 
is time, after 17 years of the efforts of the gentleman from Florida 
(Mr. Bilirakis), to do the right thing for those people who were 
injured serving us.
  They paid the price for us; it is time for us to pay what is due to 
them.
  Ms. CARSON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, Concurrent receipt is the 
offsetting military retired pay, dollar-for-dollar, by the amount of 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) service-connected disability 
compensation.
  I am appalled that this Congress has not been able to grant veterans 
what they have earned. The Senate version of the Defense Authorization 
bill completely eliminates the current offset between military retired 
pay and VA disability compensation.
  Our men and women who have given of themselves deserve more for their 
sacrifices than an excuse about funding.
  How dare those people who accept the freedom these brave people 
declare that any reason is good enough to deny them their due.
  Four hundred and two House members have cosponsored H.R. 303, a 
bipartisan bill that would permit concurrent receipt in precisely the 
same manner as the Senate language to the Defense Authorization. The 
Taylor Motion appropriately insists that the House conferees accept the 
Senate provision which would eliminate the current offset entirely and 
allow veterans to collect full retirement pay and disability 
compensation to which they are entitled.
  I am sure there is overwhelming support for veterans. Vote in favor 
of this motion to instruct.
  Let's prove our appreciation for the veterans who preserved the land 
of the free.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, I rise today to express my 
support for the so-called concurrent receipt provision in the Senate 
Defense Authorization Act that would allow all disabled military 
retirees to receive both their military retired pay and their VA 
disability compensation. As we know, current law requires that the two 
are offset so, in effect, our disabled veterans are paying for their 
own disability! We must correct this unfair practice.
  I am extremely dismayed with the word we have been hearing that the 
Administration is threatening to veto this bill if this concurrent 
receipt provision is included. Thousands of our disabled veterans are 
being cheated out of the pensions and disability compensation they have 
earned and that are their due!
  I urge all members to, first, support concurrent receipt of military 
retired pay and VA disability compensation and, then, to contact the 
President and impress upon him the importance of this legislation.
  Disabled veterans did not hesitate when called to serve. Disabled 
veterans returned home with wounds they did not have when they were 
called to duty. It is imperative that we meet our obligation to these 
brave men and women who have given so much to our nation. Please do 
what is right and support concurrent receipt.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Taylor 
motion to instruct conferees on the Defense Authorization bill. Many of 
our retired military personnel have made tremendous sacrifices while 
defending our nation. As Congress debates entering a new military 
conflict, I find the timing of the Administration's reluctance to 
support this provision ill-chosen. Under current regulation, veterans 
must essentially pay their own disability compensation out of their 
retirement benefits. No other profession restricts the concurrent 
payment of disability and retirement benefits
  One of my constituents, who served in the Army for nearly 20 years 
and fought in Vietnam where he was injured, must deduct his $864 
monthly disability compensation from the $1650 monthly retirement 
benefit for which he is eligible. The Senate language would put $864 
more dollars into this veteran's pocket each month. I am aware of many 
veterans who would benefit from this change.
  I urge the conferees to include the Senate-passed language which 
would immediately assist the veterans in my district. They cannot 
afford to wait another four years for full relief. We owe it to these 
individuals to provide the entire compensation they deserve.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). Without objection, the 
previous question is ordered on the motion to instruct.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct 
offered by the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor).
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 391, 
noes 0, not voting 40, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 463]

                               AYES--391

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Akin
     Allen
     Andrews
     Armey
     Baca
     Bachus
     Baird
     Baker
     Baldacci
     Baldwin
     Ballenger
     Barcia
     Barr
     Barrett
     Bartlett
     Barton
     Bass
     Becerra
     Bentsen
     Bereuter
     Berkley
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilirakis

[[Page 20338]]


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     Blumenauer
     Boehlert
     Bonilla
     Bono
     Boozman
     Borski
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
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     Brown (SC)
     Bryant
     Burr
     Burton
     Buyer
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardin
     Carson (IN)
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     Costello
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     Crane
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Cunningham
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     DeMint
     Deutsch
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Emerson
     Engel
     English
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Everett
     Farr
     Fattah
     Ferguson
     Filner
     Flake
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     Foley
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     Frank
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     John
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     Shows
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     Simpson
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     Smith (NJ)
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     Tauzin
     Taylor (MS)
     Terry
     Thomas
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     Upton
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     Vitter
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     Watts (OK)
     Weiner
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     Weller
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     Whitfield
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     Wilson (NM)
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     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--40

     Berman
     Blagojevich
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonior
     Clay
     Combest
     Cooksey
     Coyne
     DeLay
     Diaz-Balart
     Dicks
     Dooley
     Ehrlich
     Fossella
     Ganske
     Gephardt
     Gillmor
     Gutierrez
     Hoeffel
     Houghton
     Jenkins
     King (NY)
     LaFalce
     Lipinski
     Manzullo
     Matsui
     McKinney
     Murtha
     Ortiz
     Oxley
     Reyes
     Roukema
     Smith (MI)
     Stark
     Stump
     Sununu
     Taylor (NC)
     Waxman
     Young (AK)

                              {time}  2325

  Mr. MORAN of Kansas changed his vote from ``no'' to ``aye.''
  So the motion to instruct was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________