A Guest Editorial: Congress should keep its promise to combat-injured veterans – Alexandria Echo Press

A Guest Editorial: Congress should keep its promise to combat-injured veterans  Alexandria Echo Press

From the editorial: Correcting one injustice should not require creating another. By Disabled American Veterans National Commander and Navy Veteran John Donovan When Americans are injured in combat, we have a responsibility to make sure they receive the benefits they earned through their service and sacrifice. For tens of thousands of veterans, we are falling short of that promise. Under current law, many veterans who were forced to retire from the military because of combat-related injuries must give up a portion of their military retirement pay in order to receive disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The bipartisan legislation would correct what DAV and other veterans organizations have long called the “wounded veteran tax.” It would allow eligible combat-injured veterans to receive their full military retirement pay along with the VA disability compensation they earned because of their service-connected injuries.

More than 50,000 combat-injured military retirees could be affected by this change. For them, this is not an abstract debate over federal spending. These are benefits that can help pay the rent, put food on the table, cover medical expenses, provide transportation or purchase adaptive equipment. For veterans living with serious service-connected disabilities, compensation can help make independence possible. The Major Richard Star Act has strong bipartisan support and when the House returns from recess in November,