Political Quotes

“Retired pay and disability are separate. That is a fact. Our veterans should not be penalized further merely for choosing a career in the military, which is exactly what has happened. Nondisabled military retirees pursue second careers after service to supplement their own income, thereby justly enjoying the full reward for the completion of the military career retirement, and then going to work and earning extra money if they are able to do so. In contrast, military retirees with a service-connected disability do not enjoy the same full earning potential. Their earnings are reduced based on the degree of service-connected disability. Some of the injuries may be modest by some standards, and others have lost limbs or been paralyzed or suffered other injuries which severely limit their ability to make a living. This debate has gone on for a number of years. I will not go into all the details as to the reasons these military retirees deserve this. They have earned this. No veteran should ever be left behind. This compromise assumes sufficient funding to accommodate an increase in the military retiree pay that a veteran can collect. The compromise reached before we came back with this legislation was that only 60 percent would be compensated, not everyone. That is not fair. We had all of the Senators and Congressmen in both the House and Senate supporting the full compensation for everyone: Whether you had a 10-percent disability or 100-percent disability, you got the dollars.…”