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AMVETS OPPOSES WOUNDED WARRIORS ACT
Presents stance on pending legislation to Senate Veterans Affairs Committee
WASHINGTON, May 8, 2008—During this morning’s testimony before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, AMVETS vocally opposed the American Wounded Warriors Act, S.2674, which proposes a complete overhaul of the VA and Department of Defense disability-rating systems.
AMVETS National Legislative Director Ray Kelley testified that the bill, which is based on the recommendations of the Dole-Shalala Commission, would actually prevent wounded warriors from receiving all of their earned benefits and entitlements.
“In each of the titles there are provisions that are either incomplete, unnecessary because of redundancy, or are a detriment to our disabled veterans’ financial security,” said Kelley. “The biggest concern AMVETS has with [the bill] is that a statute will be put in place that will require the [VA] Secretary to reevaluate all veterans who are receiving compensation.”
The current version of the Wounded Warriors Act would subject veterans currently receiving disability compensation to mandatory reevaluation, potentially eliminating “permanent and total” status for certain disabled veterans. This review would force dependents and surviving spouses of these veterans to forfeit their VA education and health care benefits.
In addition to this provision, the bill would commission a study to determine the loss of earnings for veterans who seek disability compensation. AMVETS believes this is redundant, since the VA has already approved a contract for a similar study through Economic Systems, Inc. AMVETS is also opposed to the proposed study’s assertion that each veteran’s age should be considered when calculating lost wages.
“If compensation is adjusted for age a young veteran would be compensated at a higher rate than an older veteran,” said Kelley. “If age is used as a factor for loss of earnings then it must only be used to find the median loss of earnings over a life time and not as a sliding scale that will change the amount of compensation a veteran receives over their life time.”
During the hearing, Kelley also noted that AMVETS remains a vocal supporter of Sen. Jim Webb’s proposed GI Bill. While AMVETS agrees that the Republican’s counterproposal contains some beneficial provisions, Webb’s bipartisan bill presents the most comprehensive solution to provide for the future of post-9/11 veterans.
AMVETS also voiced support for S.2768, a bill that would increase the limit on VA home loans to reflect the current housing market, and a bill introduced by Sen. Max Baucus of Montana that would address geographic inequality in VA disability payments.
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