Senator Boxer: Working for Disabled Veterans

July 24, 2007

Even as our nation continues to send our young people into combat, veterans are still unable to receive the same type of benefits as civilian workers.  When disabled veterans retire from the U.S. military, they cannot draw on both their retirement and disability benefits.  In contrast, disabled retirees from any other branch of the federal government can draw both their disability pay and their retirement pay.  I don’t believe that this is any way to honor our veterans, and I am pleased to cosponsor the Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2007, authored by Senator Harry Reid, which would correct this injustice.

Under current law, disabled veterans cannot collect disability pay and retirement pay at the same time.  For every dollar of compensation disabled veterans receive as a result of their injuries, they must sacrifice a dollar of their retirement pay.  In many cases this results in a veteran's full retirement pay being erased, despite the fact that he or she has 20 or more years of service.

When you combine this with the sometimes low level of veterans’ retirement pay, those who cannot work can face a real struggle to survive.  Allowing the concurrent receipt of both retirement and disability benefits would give these veterans a significant boost.  No other federal retirees are forced to forfeit their retirement pay--only our disabled military retirees.

In past years, small changes have been made to alleviate this injustice, mostly for the most severely disabled.  However, it is time that we change the entire situation, allowing our veterans to receive all of the benefits they have earned..  Our nation owes so much to our veterans that we should not allow this injustice to continue another day.

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

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