Editorial: Legislation would aid many veterans

Tuesday, April 11, 2000 | 9:25 a.m.

Military veterans are eligible for retirement pay after they've served 20 years. But if they're also receiving disability compensation for injuries in the line of duty, these military retirees are forced to give up the amount of retirement pay that is equal to what they receive in disability compensation. Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, want to end this unfair arrangement. They correctly argue that the net effect of the current situation is to require veterans to pay for their own disability coverage.

So Reid and Inouye -- who was wounded severely during World War II, losing his right arm -- have introduced legislation that would allow about 400,000 veterans across the nation to collect both their full retirement pay and full disability pay. It is estimated the bill would cost $8 billion over five years, but this price is not too high to pay for those men and women who gave so much in defense of our freedom.

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