Congressional votes on a controversial veterans bill that would increase benefits for medically retired disabled vets and survivors have been delayed amid push back over elections legislation that is a top priority for President Donald Trump.
The Take Care of America’s Veterans bill, a Republican-backed proposal that contains 62 measures aimed at increasing benefits for veterans and survivors has stalled as the House wrestles with the president’s demands to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act, legislation that would require voter identification and reduce mail-in ballots.
The House was expected to take up the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, H.R. 9267, this week. The legislation would greatly expand benefits for hundreds of thousands of veterans and survivors, albeit by covering the cost by reducing disability compensation for two conditions, tinnitus and sleep apnea, for future veterans.
Trump canceled his signing of a popular housing bill earlier this week over the SAVE Act, and votes on all bills in the House have been halted as a result of an impasse between Congress and the president.
During a press conference on H.R. 9267 Thursday, Democrats celebrated the delay after they had raised objections to the proposed method of paying for the bill.
According to veterans advocacy groups, 1.5 million veterans receive disability compensation for tinnitus and more than 1.3 currently get compensation for sleep apnea.
While the reductions would not affect veterans currently receiving that compensation, the changes could generate $57 billion in future savings that would cover the cost of the bill.
“Veterans benefits should not be looked at as offsets,” said Rep. Mark Takano of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, during the press conference.
Democrats instead want to pass the most significant portion of the legislation, the Major Richard Star Act, by unanimous consent. The Major Richard Star Act does not include any provisions for covering its cost.
Major pieces of the legislation, including the Major Richard Star Act, which would give combat veterans who medically retired full access to their retirement pay and VA disability compensation, and the Love Lives On Act, which would allow military widows and widowers to retain benefits if they remarry before age 55, have widespread support in Congress. However, many lawmakers also insist that there be a way to pay for proposals to rein in the federal budget.
On Tuesday, House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., said the Take Care of America’s Veterans bill would “give the House a serious responsible path to promoting real change for veterans.”
The bill also includes the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act, which would increase disability compensation for families of veterans with catastrophic injuries and payments to survivors; it would raise VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation for the survivors of veterans with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; and it would allow the VA to send traveling physicians to U.S. territories and Pacific Island nations to treat resident vets.
Patricia Kime is a senior writer covering military and veterans health care, medicine and personnel issues.