Charles Norwood: “Every year since coming to Congress in 1995, I have made a point to bring to our attention the sacrifices made by our…”

“Every year since coming to Congress in 1995, I have made a point to bring to our attention the sacrifices made by our veterans to defend our country. Each year, we call for our Nation to honor those who have served. Yet each year, we continue to ignore the promises made to our veterans and military retirees concerning health care benefits. In my mind, it is impossible to honor someone while at the same time refusing to honor commitments made to that person. It is time to stop honoring our veterans with just words, ladies and gentlemen, instead let us honor them with action. Retirees that entered the military prior to 1956 were promised that if they served 20 years, they would receive free health care for life for both themselves and their dependents. For those who signed up after 1956, they were told that they would receive free health care at military facilities or supplemental health insurance. Today both groups are pushed out of the military health care system entirely and enrolled in Medicare, the same plan they would have received had they never served a day. On September 28, I introduced the Keep Our Promises to America's Military Retirees Act, H.R. 3573, along with the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Shows), as a nonpartisan restoration of the health care benefit we owe our retirees.”