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Floor Speech

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Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I just left a hearing involving the Veterans of Foreign Wars before the Veterans' Committee. In fact, it was a joint hearing of both the House's and the Senate's Veterans' Committees, where I am the ranking member.

I informed them that I was coming to the floor of the U.S. Senate to seek unanimous consent on the Major Richard Star Act, and there was a spontaneous standing ovation. I dare say that that applause was totally bipartisan--nonpolitical--because there is no more glaring and egregious injustice affecting veterans today--our Nation's patriots-- than the fact that 50,000 veterans and servicemembers are forced to medically retire or to undergo medical separation because of combat- related injuries and are unable to collect both retirement benefits and disability compensation. Right now, the men and women who are in harm's way in the Middle East may be injured--we hope not--but there may be casualties. We know that some have already been injured.

If they retire as a result of those combat injuries with less than 20 years of service--the majority of them have less than 20 years of service--they will be reduced in their retirement pay, dollar for dollar, from their VA disability benefits. Let me just repeat: Right now, combat-injured veterans are getting a dollar-for-dollar reduction of their military retirement pay from their VA disability benefits. So if they have to retire because they have been injured in combat, they sacrifice, dollar for dollar, their retirement pay because of the disability benefits that they receive. They are entitled to both. They have earned both. The Nation promised them both. They deserve both.

The Major Richard Star Act will finally provide some justice to those veterans. It will finally provide these military retirees with their full disability and Department of Defense retirement benefits, righting this longstanding injustice.

It is sponsored by 77 of my colleagues in the Senate, including both Republicans and Democrats. It has similar support in the House of Representatives. We have never been provided with a vote--yes, a vote. If it did receive a vote, it would pass overwhelmingly. The simple request for a vote has been denied. There are a variety of excuses that have been offered like ``It costs too much.''

Well, as the national commander of the VFW said today, in supporting this bill, the costs of providing for our veterans are part of the cost of war. We are in a war right now, real-time, and some of those combat- injured veterans will be sacrificing their disability or retirement pay because of this injustice. And then some have characterized the Major Richard Star Act as providing for double-dipping. Well, our veterans forced to retire because of combat injures have earned both. We can afford to right this injustice. Whatever the estimate on the amount of funding required--and it has varied over the years--it is a pittance compared to the costs of our national defense--close to a trillion dollars now. This country can afford to do the right thing by these combat-injured veterans, and we have a moral imperative to do so.

Veterans who have served more than 20 years already received both the VA and the DOD payments in whole. Veterans who have served less than 20 years because they are combat injured--frankly, for any reason--deserve better.

This week and last, thousands of veterans have flown into our Nation's Capital from every corner of the country to advocate for their top priorities, and collectively, they are calling on Congress--all of them--all of the veterans service organizations, all of the groups that represent our Nation's heroes have told us unequivocally and repeatedly that correcting this injustice is absolutely necessary. The benefits they have earned are the benefits they should be receiving right now, and it will make a huge difference in the lives of all these veterans.

Take, for example, SSG Clayton Smith. He was involuntarily medically retired after 11 years in the U.S. Army because of his combat-related injury. He feels that veterans impacted by this offset have upheld their commitment to serve, but the system fails to recognize its commitment to him--promises made, promises kept, but in this case, not kept. In his words:

Passing the Richard Star Act would not only restore financial fairness, but it would restore confidence among combat-injured veterans that their sacrifice is recognized equally.

It would also help veterans like Dan Nevins from Florida. His military career was ended when an improvised explosive device detonated beneath his vehicle during his deployment to Iraq in 2004. He is a bilateral amputee. He has overcome years of recurring infection and countless surgeries. He says he has no regrets about his service. He joined to serve his country. He believes it is worth fighting for.

These veterans deserve elected officials who will fight for them and deliver the benefits they have earned. In the words of Barry Jesinoski, the DAV's national adjutant and CEO:

Respect without action is meaningless.

A message to my colleagues: Respect without action is meaningless. Rhetoric without action is meaningless. Words without action are worthless. So let's put the politics aside and listen to our veterans. Let's pass the Richard Star Act today.

1032, the Major Richard Star Act; that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

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Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I am saddened, I am angered, and I am heartbroken for the veterans across this great country that the Senate is failing to match their courage and dedication and failing to keep faith with them. I am heartbroken for a nation that can afford to spend tens of billions of dollars, as we are doing right now--perhaps hundreds of billions--in a conflict far away, putting American lives in harm's way, causing deaths--six, at least, so far--and casualties in realtime when we are failing to match their bravery with our own. It is unconscionable. A lot of words, a lot of numbers, a lot of fallback to Senate procedures, process--meaningless--the words and numbers are meaningless to veterans who are deprived of benefits they have earned, benefits they have been promised.

So I regret my colleague's objection to this bill. I believe he is in a small minority of this body. He has a right to object under our rules.

But I would like to offer to him a commonsense middle ground. Even if we don't have unanimous consent to pass the Major Richard Star Act right now and support our combat-injured veterans, let's agree to a vote. Give us a vote. That is our job--to vote.

I have a time agreement here that would authorize the Senate to take a single up-and-down vote on passage of this bill before August, not precipitously--sometime before August--one vote scheduled by the majority leader, Senator Thune, at his discretion. It could start and finish in 45 minutes. It simply guarantees one vote on passage at a 60- vote, filibuster-proof threshold. That is our rule.

And I would offer, most respectfully, that surely this great body can afford a half hour or 45 minutes to give our combat-injured veterans a vote on restoration of their hard-earned benefits.

Let us vote. That is our job. Let us give our veterans an up-or-down vote on a matter of simple justice: benefits they have been promised.

1032; further, that there be up to 2 hours for debate on the bill, equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, and that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the bill be considered read a third time, and the Senate vote on passage of the bill, with 60 affirmative votes required for passage, all without further intervening action or debate and no amendments or motions in order to the bill prior to the vote on passage.

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Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, we have regular order in the Senate, and there is regular order in the military. I will have a hard time looking in the eye of those soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and Coast Guard members who are in conflict, in harm's way, right now in the Middle East, defending the national security of this great Nation. I will have a hard time explaining to them what ``regular order'' means when they are combat injured and they suffer, dollar for dollar, their retirement pay because they are receiving disability benefits when they are injured--right now--in this conflict.

I don't know how I can look them in the eye. I don't know how any Member of the U.S. Senate can look them in the eye and explain: We won't vote because of regular order. That is a mockery of democracy, and it is shameful.

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