United States Senate Carl Levin, Michigan
Committee on Armed Services Chairman
_____________________________________________________________________
SR-228 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC
20510 202-224-3871
_____________________________________________________________________
MEDIA CONTACT: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tara Andringa October 25, 2002
Senator Levin's office
202-224-1471
Statement of Senator Carl Levin
Chairman, Committee on Armed Services
Conference on the National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2003
In response to media inquiries on the status of the
conference on the National Defense Authorization Bill
for Fiscal Year 2003, Senator Carl Levin ,
Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
issued the following statement:
"Prior to the election recess, the conference on the
National Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year
2003 was stymied on one point: the White House's (and
therefore the House Republican leadership's)
opposition to legislation authorizing concurrent
receipt of VA disability payments and military retired
pay by disabled military retirees.
The concurrent receipt provisions before the
conferees, which were included in both the House and
Senate-passed bills, would permit retired members of
the Armed Forces who have a service-connected
disability to receive both military retired pay earned
through years of military service and disability
compensation from the Department of Veterans' Affairs
based on their disability. Currently, military
retirees who receive VA disability pay have their
military retired pay offset by the amount of their VA
disability pay.
Both the House and Senate versions of the Budget
Resolution for Fiscal Year 2003 included funds to
begin paying both military retired pay and VA
disability pay to military retirees with a VA-rated
disability of 60% or greater. The House version of
the National Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal
year 2003 included legislation authorizing concurrent
receipt for military retirees with 60% disability or
greater. The Senate version of the bill authorized
concurrent receipt for all military retirees with any
VA-rated disability.
At the time the Senate debated this bill in June, the
Office of Management and Budget issued a Statement of
Administration Position indicating that if the final
Defense Authorization Bill included legislation
authorizing concurrent receipt, 'the President's
senior advisors would recommend that he veto the
bill.'
At the end of the conference, the House Republican
leadership would not agree to either the Senate-passed
provision or the House-passed provision in the
conference.
On October 10, the House voted 391 to 0 to instruct
the House conferees on the National Defense
Authorization Bill to agree to the Senate position on
concurrent receipt in conference. That unanimous vote
meant that the House leadership and all of the members
of the House Armed Services Committee went on record
voting for a motion to agree to the Senate position on
concurrent receipt in conference. But not only would
a majority of House conferees still not agree to the
Senate position on this matter, they wouldn't even
agree to adopt the House position in conference.
Unfortunately, in the week before adjourning for the
elections, it became clear that there was no Defense
Authorization Conference Report containing either the
House or Senate concurrent receipt provision that the
House leadership would allow the House conferees to
sign before the election recess because of the
opposition of the White House. But for this
opposition to concurrent receipt from the White House,
the conference would have concluded, and would have
approved legislation authorizing concurrent receipt.
Every year for the last forty years, Congress has
enacted a National Defense Authorization Act to
enhance our national security.
As Chairman of the Armed Services Committee and of
this year's Conference, I am committed to completing
action on the Defense Authorization Bill. I will do
my very best to work with my colleagues on the
conference to find a solution to this matter so that
Congress can vote on the Defense Authorization
Conference Report early in the lame duck session.
There is simply too much legislation critical to our
national security in this bill, including important
legislation concerning pay and benefits for our
troops, for Congress not to complete action on it."