Veterans Frustrated by Compromise
By Andrew Kosow
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2002–John Walsh, a disabled veteran from Norwalk, is upset with Congress because of a compromise reached Wednesday night that he and many veterans groups say put too many limits on a new enhancement of benefits for injured veterans.
“I am disappointed,” said Walsh, an Army and Navy veteran who took part in five major land battles in Europe during World War II with the 320th infantry division. “It is an injustice, but half a loaf is better than none.”
Veterans groups said they were originally told that President Bush would veto enhanced benefits, known as concurrent receipt, because of the program’s cost. A veto now seems unlikely.
The provision for veterans in this year’s defense authorization bill would alter a century-old law that requires a deduction in a veteran’s pension check equal to the amount of any disability payment. The new approach would allow veterans wounded in combat and those with service-connected injuries who are 60 percent disabled to receive both benefits in full.
“For more than a century, the law has unfairly forced disabled retirees to fund their own disability compensation,” Norm Ryan Jr., president of the Retired Officers Association, said in a press release. “We intend to track implementation closely…and continue to fight to expand eligibility.”
For example, if a retired veteran of 20 years – the minimum to receive a pension – was injured in combat and was entitled to a disability payment of $300 a month from the government, the $300 would be deducted from his pension check. This new bill would allow eligible veterans to keep the disability payment.
Agreement on the benefits was the last hurdle to congressional passage of a $393 billion defense authorization bill. The pension provision is a compromise between the Senate and House versions. The Senate had originally asked for full compensation.
There are no reliable estimates as to the cost because of the maze of new criteria that determine whether a veteran is eligible for the benefits.
The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that there are 33,500 disabled combat veterans in the United States. It is unclear how many will be affected by the new bill. But Richard Fuller, the national legislative director of the Paralyzed Veterans Association, said that every injured veteran should receive the special compensation.
“This bill is just a tip of the hat by Congress to this issue,” he said in a telephone interview. “This is just another injustice for military retirees, and we will fight it. He indicated that the guidelines are so stringent that no more than 10,000 veterans might be eligible for the increases.
A spokesperson for Rep. Chris Shays (R-4th) said he supported full benefits for all combat-disabled veterans, but that the bill as approved would be an improvement for veterans.
Payments were expected to start six months after the legislation was signed into law.
Published in The Hour, in Connecticut.
