Vets Forward urges Senate to reject gutting veterans’ benefits after House vote

Shelly Burgoyne

Submitted photo/VetsFWD

To contact U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, visit senate.gov and pull down the menu at the top of the page to Arizona, then click on Contact under their names for an email form, office locations and phone numbers.

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OPINION — Following the U.S. House of Representatives’ controversial Veterans Day “voice vote” on H.R. 9237, the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, Vets Forward calls on the U.S. Senate to reject the legislation in its current form.

While the package includes several long-overdue provisions, funding them by slashing roughly $60 billion in future Veterans Affairs disability compensation for tinnitus and sleep apnea balances the federal budget on the backs of wounded service members.

On Veterans Day, the House used a procedural sleight-of-hand to push through massive cuts to veterans’ earned injury compensation without putting a single member of Congress on the record. We must not steal from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom combat veterans, who may submit a claim, to pay for future legislation.

The Senate must not let this bill pass without stripping out these harmful sleep apnea and tinnitus benefit cuts.

The Senate must not let this bill pass without stripping out these harmful sleep apnea and tinnitus benefit cuts.

H.R. 9237 contains welcome expansions, such as the Major Richard Star Act and enhanced Gold Star family benefits. However, the bill pays for these programs by permanently eliminating standalone disability ratings for tinnitus and severely restricting compensation for service-connected sleep apnea. It also raises VA home-loan refinance and assumption fees for veterans purchasing homes.

Vets Forward opposes the bill’s cruel offset structure. We urge Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego to:

• Protect disability ratings — Remove provisions that eliminate standalone ratings for tinnitus and restrict future claims for sleep apnea.

• Eliminate veteran fee hikes — Reject increases to VA mortgage refinance and loan assumption fees.

• Hold an open, recorded vote — Ensure every senator goes on the record regarding any legislation that alters earned veterans’ benefits.

Tinnitus and sleep apnea are among the most common, life-altering conditions resulting from military service. Kelly and Gallego know this. We urge the Senate to stand with veterans and pass a clean bill that funds earned benefits without cutting others.

Former U.S. Army officer and Operation Iraqi Freedom I and III combat veteran Shelly Burgoyne is Southern Arizona director for Vets Forward, a nonprofit grassroots advocacy group. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to azopinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.