The pressing health care needs of military retirees, who must continue coverage under a Tricare program that is inadequate for many of them, must be addressed. Tricare essentially offers health care to retirees at military treatment facilities on a "space available" basis; they can receive treatment if there is room for them at a military base. But with downsizing and base closures, access to military health care is difficult. Therefore, I have cosponsored the Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act of 2003(HR 58). The bill seeks to allow retirees who are not well served by Tricare to participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP).

Furthermore, in January 2004, President Bush signed into law an appropriation measure that increased funding for veterans medical care by $2.5 billion over the previous year, a 10 percent increase.

The issue of concurrent receipt has always been one of my top priorities. Military retirees are the only group of federal retirees who must waive retirement pay in order to receive VA disability compensation. If a veteran refuses to give up his retired pay, he will lose his VA disability benefits. Retirement pay is based on the number of years a service member has on active duty service and is earned for at least 20 years of service. VA disability compensation replaces the loss of earnings attributable to a service-connected injury. Retirement pay and disability benefits are different.

The 106th Congress, with my support, took the first steps toward addressing this inequity by authorizing the military to pay a monthly allowance to military retirees with severe service-connected disabilities rated by the Department of Veterans Affairs at 70 percent or greater. The 107th Congress went further by authorizing the military to pay a monthly allowance to military retirees with severe service-connected disabilities rated by the VA at 60 percent or greater. So far, the 108th Congress has ensured that military retirees with a 50 percent or greater service-connected disability will no longer lose part of their pension as an offset against their disability benefit. 250,000 more veterans are now protected. However, we must build upon this record of accomplishment.

As an original cosponsor of the Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2003 (HR 303), I have worked hard to ensure that all disabled military retirees can collect the benefits they are entitled to. HR 303 would allow disabled military retirees to collect their retirement pay and disability benefits with no offsets.

We must also make sure that benefits for veterans’ widows are protected. When a member of the military retires, he or she may join the Survivors Benefit Plan (SBP). After paying a premium for many years, the retiree expects that his or her spouse will receive 55 percent of the retired military pay when that veteran dies, as stated in the literature when they signed up.

This is not the case, however. Most of the survivors who receive SBP benefits are military widows. When these widows who are receiving SBP benefits turn 62, a Social Security offset causes their benefits to be reduced from the 55 percent to 35 percent of their husband's military retired pay.

The Military Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2004 (HR 3763), which I have cosponsored, would repeal the annuity computation system applicable for surviving spouses under the SBP for retired members of the Armed Forces so that there is no reduction when the beneficiary becomes 62 years of age.

We must ensure that the government fulfills its commitments to our veterans and protects their interests as they protected their country's interests while in the line of duty. We must honor our commitment to veterans by recognizing their service and ensuring access to the finest health care available with the dignity and respect they deserve.

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