[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 2580]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          MILITARY RETIREES ARE WAITING; LET US FINISH THE JOB

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bishop of Utah). Under a previous order 
of the House, the gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to let everyone know of a bill 
I have introduced that will eliminate what we call the Disabled 
Veterans Tax and to provide immediate concurrent receipt of military 
retired pay and VA disability compensation to all deserving disabled 
military retirees.
  H.R. 3730 is called the Immediate and Full Repeal of the Disabled 
Veterans Tax Act of 2004 and does exactly what the title says. It 
eliminates the years of waiting before all disabled military retirees 
receive all the retired pay and compensation they have earned and 
deserve.
  Last year, our Nation's veterans waged a long and determined campaign 
to eliminate this Disabled Veterans Tax. As my colleagues know, we did 
take a step that some say was a legitimate compromise but I call an 
insult to our veterans. That law makes veterans with a disability 
rating of 50 percent or more wait 10 years before their tax is 
completely eliminated. A great number of those veterans are elderly and 
unfortunately may not live to see the day that they get their full 
compensation.
  Even worse, fully two thirds of America's disabled veterans have been 
left behind and will continue to be taxed as before, nearly 400,000 of 
our veterans. Despite the actions of Congress, the Disabled Veterans 
Tax is alive and well.
  Some of the veterans left behind include a veteran of the Kuwait 
theatre who had below-the-knee amputation after being hit by a drunk 
driver while jogging near the Pentagon to maintain physical fitness. He 
does not qualify under the act we passed. Neither does a retiree who 
cannot work on a family farm because of pain, numbness, and 
osteoarthritis of both feet due to exposure of cold during noncombatant 
military service; a veteran who lost an eye when an air hose 
accidentally detached from an airplane being worked on and who cannot 
work as an airline pilot. He still pays the tax; as does a female 
retiree who has weekly panic attacks and chronic sleep disturbances as 
the result of a sexual assault which occurred while on active duty.
  Mr. Speaker, we took the first step towards eliminating the Disabled 
Veterans Tax, but I would give us a grade of incomplete. We did not do 
the ``A'' work that our veterans deserve. During the time I have been 
in Congress, I cannot recall more than one or two other issues where I 
have received so many letters, e-mails, and phone calls. Our veterans 
have been telling us that this is an important issue to them. They 
deserve that we complete our work and do it at an ``A'' level.
  I understand there are costs to concurrent receipt, but I also 
understand that the now disabled veterans did not hesitate when they 
were called to duty. They have returned home with disabilities they 
have had to live with ever since. How can we doubt the imperative that 
we keep our promise and give them what they deserve? They earned their 
military retired pay. They deserve their VA disability compensation. We 
should not make them wait any longer for justice to prevail.

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