[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 28163]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         DISABLED VETERANS TAX

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, the disabled veterans tax: more than one-
half million disabled veterans, career military, have their disability 
benefits offset dollar for dollar against their retirement. What does 
that mean? It means a retired master sergeant, 100 percent disabled, is 
taxed at a rate of 50 percent.
  Now, the President rushed through relief for millionaires who had to 
pay a tax of 35 percent on the dividends they clipped off their stocks, 
and this House accommodated that, but he says there is no money to help 
out those disabled veterans. We cannot afford, the President says, to 
offset or reduce that tax or eliminate that unfair tax on our disabled 
veterans.
  Well, that is pretty strange when we can do that for millionaires and 
billionaires; but somehow, as Veterans' Day comes upon us, we can only 
give a tiny bit of relief phased in over 10 years to some of these 
veterans who are subjected to this outrageous tax, despite the fact 
that almost every Member of the House is a sponsor of a bill to totally 
repeal it. But they are afraid to put their names from the Republican 
side on a petition to force that bill to the floor of the House.
  Sign the petition. Have the guts to deliver for your veterans.

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