Veterans Day; Past, Present and Future
By: U.S. Congressman Lincoln Davis

Tennesseans should be proud of the military service its citizens have rendered to our country. We have a long and storied tradition of valor and service. Heroes like Sgt. Alvin C. York and many like him serve as a reminder to the rest of the country why we are called the Volunteer State. With roughly five-hundred thousand veterans living in Tennessee, we continue to wear that nickname proudly.

Originally known as Armistice Day, November 11th has long been recognized as the day when all of America lifts up its collective voice to show appreciation to our veterans. Armistice Day, deemed a national holiday in 1938, was to recognize those who fought and died in the "war to end wars," World War I. Shortly after Armistice Day was proclaimed a national holiday the Second World War broke out, followed a few years later by the conflict in Korea. Questions soon arose as to how we should honor those who served in all major American operations. That question was answered in 1958 when President Eisenhower signed a bill proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day.

On this Veterans Day, and indeed on every day, I believe that America should honor the debt it owes to its veterans. There are many ways we can celebrate our veterans. One of which is by having Congress pass responsible legislation that would assist them and their families.

Under current law, veterans who retire with twenty-years of honorable service and have a service related disability cannot collect both their military retirement pay and their service connected disability compensation. This policy ultimately places an unfair tax on veterans. Tennessee has more than thirteen thousand retired veterans who receive disability payments. Due to the nature of this tax, those veterans lost seventy-two million last year. I have joined with Rep. Jim Marshall (D-GA) in co-sponsoring the Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2003. This legislation would end the "disabled veterans tax" by permitting retired members of the armed forces with service-connected disabilities to be paid both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation.

Healthcare service is one debt our country owes to those who have given so much to it. Oddly enough, appropriating funds to the Department of Veterans Affairs is done through a discretionary funding mechanism on an annual basis. Mandatory funding is a solution to ensuring that no veteran has to wonder if those services will be there when he or she needs them. The Assured Funding for Veterans Health Care Act guarantees mandatory funding by having the Veterans Affairs budget reflect the number of enrolled veterans in the program.

My hope is that House leadership will take up these bills so we can move forward with making our VA healthcare system more efficient and reliable. America's military veterans were there for us, wherever and whenever duty called. It's our turn to stand up for them.

Congressman Davis is a member of the House Agriculture, Science, and Transportation & Infrastructure Committees.