House Bill hb0407
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Florida House of Representatives - 2002 HM 407
By Representative Allen
1 House Memorial
2 A memorial to the Congress of the United
3 States, urging Congress to pass the "Retired
4 Pay Restoration Act of 2001," which permits
5 retired members of the United States Armed
6 Forces with service-connected disabilities to
7 be paid both military retirement pay and
8 veterans' disability compensation.
9
10 WHEREAS, veterans of United States Armed Services live
11 with an injustice every day that has long needed correction,
12 and
13 WHEREAS, that injustice is an inequity in existing law
14 which precludes career military personnel who have become
15 disabled while serving in the military from receiving both
16 retirement pension benefits and disability pension benefits,
17 and
18 WHEREAS, unfortunately, an outdated law passed in 1891
19 continues to penalize the very men and women who least deserve
20 such treatment: the men and women of the United States Armed
21 Forces who have served their country with careers of more than
22 twenty years and have incurred permanent disability in doing
23 so, and
24 WHEREAS, the Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2001,
25 currently before the 107th Congress, addresses and corrects
26 this 110-year-old inequity for more than 560,000 of our
27 nation's veterans, and
28 WHEREAS, it has long been argued that retirement
29 pension benefits and service-connected disability pension
30 benefits are two separate and distinct classes of
31 compensation, one awarded for making a career of federal
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Florida House of Representatives - 2002 HM 407
741-107-02
1 public service, the other to redress debilitating, enduring
2 injuries caused by the rigors of military life, and
3 WHEREAS, yet under the law as it currently exists,
4 veterans of military service are the only group of federal
5 retirees who must waive a portion of their retirement pay in
6 order to receive Veterans Administration disability
7 compensation, and
8 WHEREAS, currently before Congress is legislation that
9 will remedy this inequity, the Retired Pay Restoration Act of
10 2001, S. 170 and H.R. 303, which will permit retired members
11 of the United States Armed Services who also have a
12 service-connected disability to receive both military
13 retirement pay and disability compensation, simultaneously,
14 and
15 WHEREAS, this legislation has the strong support of
16 many military and nonmilitary veterans service organizations
17 and bipartisan support in Congress, with 64 cosponsors for S.
18 170 and 300 cosponsors for H.R. 303, and
19 WHEREAS, with the passage of the Retired Pay
20 Restoration Act of 2001, Congress would put an end to a
21 grossly unfair practice of penalizing retired, disabled
22 American servicemen and servicewomen, and
23 WHEREAS, today our armed forces are struggling to meet
24 even modest recruiting goals and having even more difficulty
25 retaining qualified men and women to serve in the armed
26 forces, and
27 WHEREAS, it is therefore a matter of national interest
28 that the Federal Government reform existing law in such a
29 manner that young Americans will be attracted to career
30 service in the nation's military, and
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Florida House of Representatives - 2002 HM 407
741-107-02
1 WHEREAS, even more important to the passage of this
2 legislation is the fact that every day in America 1,000
3 veterans of World War II die, many of whom would benefit from
4 the passage of the Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2001, and
5 WHEREAS, it is for these reasons that the 107th
6 Congress needs to address this legislation in 2001, thus
7 bringing to an end the indefensible practice of forcing brave
8 men and women who have fought for our country and are disabled
9 as a result of their service to choose between retirement pay
10 and disability compensation, NOW, THEREFORE,
11
12 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14 That the Congress of the United States is requested to
15 pass H.R. 303 and S. 170, the "Retired Pay Restoration Act of
16 2001," which permits retired members of the United States
17 Armed Forces with service-connected disabilities to be paid
18 both military retirement pay and veterans' disability
19 compensation.
20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
21 sent to the President of the United States, the President of
22 the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States
23 House of Representatives, and to each member of the Florida
24 delegation to the United States Congress.
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