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Due to your efforts, we have just passed another milestone on the road to concurrent receipt legislation. The Senate adopted the Reid-Hutchinson amendment to the defense authorization bill, S. 1438, to provide for concurrent receipt of military longevity retired pay and veterans' disability compensation. Senators received thousands of e-mail messages on this issue from DAV's website. Many of you also contacted your Senators by telephone, regular mail, or office visits.
When the Senate and House conferees meet to work out the differences between the defense authorization bill passed by the Senate and the defense authorization bill passed by the House, they will be confronted by two competing provisions for concurrent receipt. They will have the Senate version, which will authorize concurrent receipt of military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation, and they will have the House version, which will kill concurrent receipt legislation, at least for this year. The DAV vigorously opposed the House provision and vigorously supported the Senate provision in the Reid-Hutchinson amendment.
This puts us at a crucial point in our quest for concurrent receipt legislation. Whether justice will finally be done or whether disabled military retirees will again see Congress kill this measure depends on whether the conferees adopt the Senate provision or the House provision. This will be a test to show who in Congress really does support veterans and who does not. We must make every possible effort to see that the conferees adopt the Senate provision. This is the last battle in this campaign to get concurrent receipt legislation enacted. We must intensify our efforts and make the strongest possible last push for this legislation. We must tell the congressional leadership in emphatic terms that it is time to do the right thing.
Contact Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert to urge that he instruct his House conferees to agree to inclusion of Senate concurrent receipt provision in the final bill. Contact Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle to urge that he instruct his Senate conferees to insist that the Senate concurrent receipt provision be included in the final bill. Contact the Speaker of the House by telephone (202-225-0600), mail (H-232 Capitol Building, Washington, DC 20515-6501) or the prepared e-mail message on DAV's website at www.dav.org. Contact the Senate Majority Leader by telephone (202-224-5556), mail (S-221 Capitol Building, Washington, DC 20510-7020), or the prepared e-mail message under the corresponding alert for the Senate on the DAV's website. If you have access to the Internet, also send an e-mail message to your House member to urge support for the Senate concurrent receipt provision. You may access this prepared e-mail message by clicking on the legislative alert titled "CONCERNS ABOUT CONCURRENT RECEIPT LEGISLATION."
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JOSEPH A. VIOLANTE
National Legislative Director
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