Congress supports concurrent receipt

VFW Magazine, August, 2002 by Tim Dyhouse

The House and Senate versions of the 2003 Defense Authorization Act contain options restoring full military retiree pay to veterans receiving VA disability compensation, also known as concurrent receipt.

The House version (H.R. 4546) would give military retirees who are 60% or more disabled their full pay by 2007. The White House budget office says it would cost $29 billion over nine years. But the Senate version (S. 2514) would give all disabled retirees their full pay. The office said it would cost $78 billion over 10 years.

The Bush Administration does not support either plan. The budget office noted in a June statement that senior White House advisers would recommend vetoing any version of the bill altering the current 111-year-old system, which reduces retiree pay by the amount vets receive from their VA disability compensation. VFW Commander-in-Chief James Goldsmith was outraged by the Administration's position.

"No other category of federal employees, to include Congress and the executive branch, is required to relinquish a portion of their earned retirement pay simply because they are also receiving VA disability compensation" Goldsmith said. "It is inconceivable to us that the President would perpetuate such an injustice for the sake of achieving a balanced budget."