Sanders Details Sweeping Veterans Legislation: U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, told reporters today that the Senate is expected to soon take up legislation to restore pensions for military retirees as part of the most comprehensive veterans’ legislation to come before the Senate in decades. The measure that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has called a top priority for the Senate also would address a host of other programs for veterans, including expanded health care and dental care and improved education benefits. Sanders (I-Vt.) told a news conference that the measure would rescind a 1 percentage point cut in the annual adjustment for benefits for military retirees under age 62. There has been a groundswell in Congress to undo that provision in the bipartisan budget deal that Congress approved late last year. Other provisions address long-standing concerns of veterans’ and military service organizations and “deliver on the promises that we have made to our service members,” the chairman said. The bill has garnered support from virtually every major veterans’ group in the country, Sanders added. “This massive omnibus bill, unprecedented in our modern experience, would create, expand, advance, and extend a number of VA benefits, services and programs that are important to DAV and to our members,” wrote Joseph W. Johnston, National Commander of the Disabled American Veterans, which represents 1.2 million service-connected disabled veterans who were wounded, injured or became ill while in military service. Continue reading here: sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-details-sweeping-veterans-legislation
Posted on: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 21:20:40 +0000
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