Reid’s veterans benefit bill receives support

Thursday, June 5, 2003 | 9:50 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is on another collision course with the Bush administration over the "concurrent receipt" veterans pay issue.

With a voice vote Wednesday the Senate affirmed its support for Reid's legislation that would allow 20-year military veterans to simultaneously collect the full amount of both their disability and retirement pay. Federal law requires that veterans waive the amount of their retirement pay equal to the amount they receive in disability.

"Correcting this unfair practice is an opportunity to do more than just talk about supporting our military," Reid said.

For four years Reid has tried to change the law that dates to the late 1800s, but he has run into budget officers in the Bush administration who say the estimated cost of $58 billion over 10 years is too high.

Congress long ago took the position that veterans were entitled to one or the other benefit, but not both, Pentagon Undersecretary for Defense Personnel David Chu said in a lengthy interview on the topic with Scripps Howard last year.

"It's always nice to give any group more, but it ought to, for this price tag, be based on a clear problem we're solving, and we don't see the problem we're solving," Chu said.

A Bush administration document last year outlined "strong" opposition to the concurrent receipt measure, offering this reason: "The Administration believes that our current deficit projections necessitate strict adherence to fiscal discipline to ensure the quickest return to a balanced budget."

Reid's legislation was attached to a Defense Department spending bill that is still subject to White House approval.