Senate Resolution 3 - Introduced

PAG LIN





  1  1                SENATE RESOLUTION NO. ___
  1  2            BY  WARNSTADT, BEALL, and KIBBIE
  1  3 A Resolution urging congressional action to allow all
  1  4    eligible veterans to receive concurrently both their
  1  5    full military retired pay and military disability
  1  6    compensation.
  1  7    WHEREAS, those persons who have served in the
  1  8 nation's armed forces should be honored for their
  1  9 service; and
  1 10    WHEREAS, veterans who become disabled while serving
  1 11 our country are rightfully compensated for their
  1 12 disability; and
  1 13    WHEREAS, veterans who have served our country and
  1 14 have earned a military retirement are rightfully
  1 15 compensated for this service; and
  1 16    WHEREAS, legislation in place since the 19th
  1 17 century has required that veterans who are retired and
  1 18 disabled have their retirement pay reduced one dollar
  1 19 for each dollar of disability compensation they
  1 20 receive; and
  1 21    WHEREAS, federal legislation has been introduced
  1 22 for several years seeking to eliminate this
  1 23 inequitable burden on our nation's veterans; and
  1 24    WHEREAS, the federal National Defense Authorization
  1 25 Act for fiscal year 2004 authorized the phaseout, over
  1 26 10 years, of the ban on concurrent receipt of both
  1 27 military retired pay and disability compensation for
  1 28 retirees but only for disabilities rated 50 percent or
  1 29 higher; and
  1 30    WHEREAS, the federal National Defense Authorization
  2  1 Act for fiscal year 2005 further addressed this issue
  2  2 by authorizing, as of January 1, 2005, the full
  2  3 concurrent receipt of military retired pay and
  2  4 disability compensation for 100 percent disabled
  2  5 retirees with at least 20 years of service; and
  2  6    WHEREAS, military retirees with disabilities rated
  2  7 less than 50 percent and military disability retirees
  2  8 with less than 20 years of military service should be
  2  9 just as deserving of relief from the ban on receiving
  2 10 both their military retired pay and disability
  2 11 compensation that they have earned; NOW THEREFORE,
  2 12    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the United
  2 13 States Congress be urged to pass, and the President be
  2 14 urged to sign, legislation to provide full relief for
  2 15 all eligible veterans from the law that requires a
  2 16 dollar=for=dollar offset of military retired pay for
  2 17 disability compensation received by certain veterans
  2 18 from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs;
  2 19 and
  2 20    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That suitable copies of
  2 21 this Resolution, duly authenticated by the Iowa
  2 22 Secretary of the Senate, be transmitted to the
  2 23 Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United
  2 24 States, and to each member of the Iowa congressional
  2 25 delegation.
  2 26 LSB 1134XS 81
  2 27 ec/pj/5