FOR RELEASE:  October 15, 2002

EVANS WARNS CONCURRENT RECEIPT
UNDER ATTACK

House Appropriations Bill Would Prevent Military Retirees From Receiving VA Service-Connected Disability Compensation

Washington, DC – Congressman Lane Evans (D-IL) today said, “before Congress has given final approval to Concurrent Receipt legislation, the important measure is under attack.”  Evans, the senior Democratic member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, directed his comments to a House Appropriations Committee approved measure to deny military retirees service-connected disability compensation.  Evans called the Appropriations Committee action “shameful.” 

Evans called H.R. 5605, the “Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2003,” a blatant and deliberate attempt to sabotage concurrent receipt legislation should Congress enact it.  Section 114 of the bill recently approved by the House Committee on Appropriations would prohibit the VA from expending any appropriations “for the adjudication of any claim for disability benefits filed after the date of the enactment of a new concurrent receipt law by a veteran who is entitled to retired or retainer pay based upon service in the uniformed services if the Secretary determines that, if compensation under the claim is awarded to the claimant, the veteran will, by reason of the new concurrent receipt law, be entitled to payment of both compensation under the claim and some amount of such retired pay. . . .” [Emphasis supplied.]

“This is a disgraceful attempt, prior to passage of any new concurrent receipt legislation, to ignore the legitimate claims of military retirees who are statutorily entitled to service-connected VA compensation benefits if they have a disability which was incurred or aggravated by military service,” said Evans.  Without authority to expend the resources necessary to adjudicate their claims, VA would simply dump the claims of disabled veterans into a “black hole.”

Although it is doubtful such legislation could withstand a court challenge and constitutional scrutiny, Evans urged all Members who support concurrent receipt to oppose this provision.  In the event that this measure is brought to the floor, “I intend to use all available means to block passage of such legislation,” the Illinois lawmaker pledged.

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