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ARMED FORCES NEWS |
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Key legislation affecting military retirees and survivors took a back seat late last week due to a ruling by the Senate Parliamentarian that the issues were "not relevant." The ruling was crafted behind the scenes to avoid a spate of last-minute amendments to the fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill before the Memorial Day holiday. The Military Officers Association of America states that, although they understand the need to expedite the authorization bill, "it's just flat wrong to refuse to even let these important initiatives come to the floor for consideration." Some measures that fell victim to the "relevancy" rule are: An amendment by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., to provide concurrent-receipt equity to several hundred thousand military retirees with VA disabilities who are not eligiblefor the new Combat Related Special Compensation (however, see item about American Legion actions). A plan by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to extend eligibility for CRSC to certain combat-disabled Reserve Component retirees; and A proposal by Sen Mary Landrieu, D-La., to phase out the 27 percent slash in SBP benefit payments (from 55 percent to 35 percent of the base amount) that military spouse survivors currently confront when reaching age 62. |
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