Correcting Miscalculations in Veterans' Pensions Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4431, the Correcting Miscalculations in Veterans' Pensions Act and urge all of my colleagues to support this important legislation.

I introduced this legislation after one of our veteran constituents in the First Congressional District of Georgia brought his own story to my office. In this case, he was a veteran who, after his service in the military, continued to serve our country by working in the Federal Government. Veterans who work for the Federal Government can have their Active Duty time in the military count toward their civil servant retirement pension if they pay a military service deposit.

In the case of our constituent, the employing agency made a mistake in calculating his military service deposit, but the Federal Government did not notice the mistake for more than 10 years. Years later, the Office of Personnel Management, OPM, told the constituent that he must pay the miscalculated amount plus the mistakenly accrued interest on the military service deposit that the employing government agency had miscalculated.

When he tried to fight the situation, the employing agency said that they had no ability to either waive the payment or pay it on behalf of the veteran employee.

We have found multiple occurrences just like this one for veterans working in our Federal Government. More often than not when these situations happen, the costs balloon to tens of thousands of dollars, leaving our veterans on the hook to pay. This legislation seeks to improve this situation by clarifying that the Federal agencies, in the case of a miscalculation, are able to pay the interest that accrues on the military service deposit on behalf of the veteran, which, over time, ends up being the bulk of cost.

Our veterans risked their lives to protect our country, and they deserve the best when they return home.

It is unfortunate to me that our Federal Government cannot follow through with this commitment for even its own veteran employees. It is even more worrisome that these Federal agencies are putting off their responsibility, instead making their own employees--veteran employees-- take the huge financial hit.

With this legislation, we can support our veterans working in the Federal Government.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source