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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 9, 2017 09:44 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Francis X. Ryan |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | RESOLUTION – Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2017 - H.R. 303 |
| I plan to introduce a resolution urging the President of the United States and the U.S. Congress to enact H.R. 303, known as the Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2017. American servicemen and women have dedicated their careers to protect the rights we all enjoy. Career military personnel endured hardships, privation, and the threat of death, disability and long separations from their families in service to our country. Those who have made a career of defending our great nation are vital to the success of our military forces, both in peace and at war, from the Revolutionary War to the present day. Career military personnel earn retirement benefits based on longevity of 20 years for honorable and faithful service and rank at time of retirement. Veteran’s disability compensation serves a different purpose from longevity retirement pay and is intended to compensate for pain, suffering, disfigurement, chemical exposure, wound injuries and a loss of earning ability, with a minimum requirement of 90 days of active duty. The prevailing idea that military retirement pay is free is false because there is a contribution to retirement pay, calculated to reduce military base pay and retirement pay by approximately 7% when pay and allowances are computed and approved by the Congress. Traditionally a career military person receives lower pay and retirement than his or her civilian counterpart and has invested a life of hardships and long hours without the benefit of overtime pay. Allowances to dependents of veterans with a 30% disability are increased with the amount of disability. The Department of Defense deducts the entire amounts of dependents' allowances, essentially leaving the disabled military retiree with no dependent allowance, a discrimination which extends to the families of military retirees. It is unfair to require disabled military retirees to fund their own veteran’s compensation by deductions on a dollar-for-dollar basis in the Department of Defense. No such deduction applies to similar Federal civil service personnel or congressional retirement beneficiaries who receive veterans’ compensation. H.R. 303 will correct this oversight in federal law to ensure that America's commitment to national and international goals is matched by a similar commitment to those who sacrificed on behalf of those goals. Please join me in sponsoring this resolution asking the President of the United States and the U.S. Congress to recognize the dedication and sacrifice of these brave military personnel and veterans by enacting H.R. 303 to permit full concurrent receipt of military retired pay and other veteran’s compensation, including dependents' allowances. |
Introduced as HR222