Somewhere tonight, a combat-injured veteran who was medically retired before completing 20 years of service is doing the math on a check that is smaller than it should be.The law still forces veterans to trade away part of the retirement pay they earned in order to receive the disability compensation they are owed.Down the hall, someone who loves that veteran is doing math of their own.
This caregiver is one of 14.3 million military and veteran caregivers in this country, and the work they do without pay is worth upwards of $400 billion a year.Many caregivers left their jobs and sacrificed their income and retirement savings to care for a loved one, absorbing costs they were never meant to bear alone.
They have been waiting for needed support too.That was not their choice.Congress made it, and Congress has left it in place for years.
Recently, that pattern repeated.The House was scheduled to vote on this bill that would address this head on, but unfortunately that did not come to fruition.SEN.
BLUMENTHAL, REP.TAKANO: CONGRESS CAN FUND VETERANS’ CARE WITHOUT TAKING BENEFITS FROM DISABLED HEROESWe lead two national organizations that see these families from different sides of the same room.
As the largest veteran service organization, one of us speaks for those who served, living in nearly every community across America.The other speaks for the caregivers who hold them together at home.
On the "Take Care of America’s Veterans Act," we joined 21 other organizations to speak as one because the people we all serve have waited long enough.This legislation is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to stand with the veterans, caregivers and survivors who have sacrificed so much for our country.Congress has a chance to take action on over 60 bills impacting veterans and their families.
(John Moore/Getty Images)For years, Congress has agreed on what these veterans and families are owed and then let the fixes die one at a time, each good bill sent back to the end of a l...