(WASHINGTON, DC) – Congressman Dennis Moore (Third District-KS) announced today he signed a petition to force a House vote on H.R. 303, the Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2003, a bipartisan proposal to immediately authorize full payment of both retirement pay and disability compensation to half a million disabled military retirees.

“As a veteran myself, it saddens me to see how some of our nation's finest citizens are being treated,” said Moore. “It is critical to stop penalizing our disabled veterans, if we are to keep the promise America made to them. Disabled veterans have been waiting years for this proposal to become the law of the land. Our veterans shouldn’t have to wait any longer.”

Currently, veterans who retire with 20 years of honorable service, and who also have a service-related disability, are not permitted to collect both retirement and disability pay concurrently. This petition on concurrent receipts is the only way to gain attention for this measure, which has been bottled up in committee since January. Even though it has 202 cosponsors in the House -- both Republicans and Democrats -- the House Leadership has failed to schedule the measure for a vote.

“As a World War II ex-POW, I feel it is critical for the disabled veteran to collect both retirement and disability pay,” said Don Boyer, Kansas National Legislative Liaison for the American Legion. “Our veterans should not have to wait any longer. They fought for freedom and we all know freedom is not free.

On June 4, the Senate passed an amendment by Senator Harry Reid to H.R. 1588, the National Defense Authorization Act, to restore full retirement benefits for disabled military retirees. This language is identical to the House bill. To become eligible for discharge, 218 signatures are needed on the House petition.

“We must work together from both sides of the aisle to honor our nation’s commitment to care for its defenders,” Moore said. “Signing the petition is the first step in the fight to make sure the House acts to help disabled veterans now.”

Last year, Congress enacted changes known as “Purple Heart Concurrent Receipt” which ensures eligibility for people left out by the original legislation due to dates or administrative problems, liberalizes entitlements of reservists to the special compensation and makes those eligible who were allowed to retire with as few as 15, rather than the usual 20 years of service, as part of the Cold War military drawdown.

This is the latest in a series of actions by Moore to fight for the 245,000 veterans in Kansas.