Sean Patrick Maloney: “I join her and many of my colleagues, well over 366 colleagues, to be specific, in calling for an end to the disabled…”

“I join her and many of my colleagues, well over 366 colleagues, to be specific, in calling for an end to the disabled veterans tax. The government decided many years ago, in 1891, to take disability benefits from retirees, to take it away from our veterans when they retired. It was wrong then, it is wrong now, and we need to change it. Common sense tells us that there is a tremendous difference between what you receive for retirement and what you receive for a disability. If you are disabled, you have an injury. You may live in pain for the rest of your life, and you are entitled to that disability benefit. Veterans are likewise entitled to their retirement. To show how outrageous this policy is, you could have a veteran who was injured and they decide to retire because of that injury. They then get disability benefits. But if another veteran who is injured decides to serve 20 years before he retires, when he or she retires, they only get their retirement. They do not get the disability benefit. In the private sector, if you have a disability, you get a disability benefit. If you retire, you get your retirement. So this is a tremendously unfair policy, particularly when there are so many men and women risking their lives for our security.”