Reid revives his efforts on behalf of disabled veterans

Wednesday, March 9, 2005 | 8:59 a.m.

SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., restarted his efforts Tuesday to help retired, disabled veterans get both both full retirement and disability pay, commonly called concurrent receipt.

Under current law, some disabled military retirees must give up a dollar of retirement pay for every dollar of disability pay they receive.

"The current policy is terribly unfair," Reid said. "In effect, it makes veterans give up their hard-earned retirement money if they become disabled. No other federal employee has ever faced this kind of restriction. It's about time we stopped treating veterans so badly."

Reid introduced a bill that would change the rule immediately for all disabled veterans with more than 20 years of service. Rep. Michael Biliarkis, D-Fla. introduced the same bill in the House.

In 2003, President Bush approved a $22 billion program that would allow retired veterans with a disability rating between 50 and 100 percent to receive percentages of both retirement and disability that would increase to a full benefit in 10 years.

Congress approved an change also proposed by Reid last year that allowed retired veterans with a 100 percent disability rating to receive both benefits as soon as the bill became law, versus waiting through the 10-year phase-in period.