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Legislative Update

This is TROA's Legislative Update for Friday, September 27, 2002.

Issue 1: Legislators Losing Appetite for Lame Duck

If it looks or sounds like a lame duck, most legislators don't like it. Congress has bitten off a bigger agenda than it can chew this year, and legislators can't finish all 13 departmental appropriations bills (only 3 have made it through the House and Senate so far).

With the end of the fiscal year looming on Monday, they passed a stopgap continuing resolution (CR) to fund government operations through October 4. But Congress' work won't be done by then, either, so another CR is already in the works to provide funds through October 11 - the target date Congressional leaders originally set for adjournment. Normally, a continuing resolution allows continued operation at the level of funding approved the previous year. If the House and Senate already have approved different appropriations bills for a particular department, but haven't yet reached agreement, the CR allows funding at the lower amount approved by the House or Senate.

Most expect Congress to pass the FY2003 Defense Appropriations Act before adjourning, to provide Pentagon funding for current and impending missions. But many in Congress want to curb other departmental appropriations to help offset the Defense increase - and that means major battles ahead. Congress faces two unpleasant options: come back after the election for a lame duck session to pass the other appropriations bills, or try to get agreement on one big CR that extends into February or March of 2003.

Leadership seems to have settled on the latter approach as the lesser evil. But it would double next year's work, since the next Congress would have to negotiate final appropriations for both FY2003 and FY2004. Look for a last-minute deal in mid-October, once legislators start worrying more about getting home to campaign than about backroom negotiations in Washington.

Issue 2: Defense Bill Negotiations Drag On

We had hoped that House and Senate leaders would wrap up the final FY2003 Defense Authorization Bill this week, but it looks like it will take a few more days. Armed Services Committee leaders hope to file their conference report by next Friday.

If you haven't contacted your legislators on concurrent receipt in the last week, now is the time to do that. TROA members and others have used TROA's Web site to send 33,000 messages to Congress on this subject in the last week, but you never know how many it takes. Visit http://capwiz.com/TROA/home/ and click on the "Concurrent Receipt Message to Congress" link to get another oar in the water.

Issue 3: DoD Misleading on Concurrent Receipt

Meanwhile, DoD officials continue to fight the concurrent receipt initiative with misleading data and arguments, most recently in a Defense News Service interview with the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Force Management Policy) that was sent to all military installation newspapers. Let's correct the record here:

The DoD argument that retired pay and disability compensation are "two pays for the same event" is simply not true. Military retired pay is earned for a career of arduous service in uniform, whereas veterans' disability compensation is for pain, suffering and loss of future earnings potential due to a service-connected disability. A retiree shouldn't have to forfeit part or all of his or her earned retired pay for also incurring a service-connected disability. Likewise, their assertion that if concurrent receipt passes, "1.2 million veterans could qualify" for extra payments is simply not credible. The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs previously told Congress that about 550,000 disabled retirees would qualify if the Senate plan were approved. Would additional members apply for a disability rating if this were enacted? Certainly. How many? No one knows, and Pentagon officials admit that. But most of those with the best cases have already applied. For otherwise responsible Pentagon officials to speculate that an additional 700,000 might apply, and all might be approved, is patently ridiculous.

Their argument that funding for concurrent receipt will hurt current servicemembers is also misleading. Congress isn't interested in cutting other personnel funding to pay for concurrent receipt, and its enactment won't cause servicemembers to live in substandard quarters, as some Defense leaders try to claim. Congress will appropriate the money to pay for it, and if the funding proves inadequate, the Defense Department leaders have the capability - and the obligation - to seek supplemental funding for that purpose. Finally, the assertion that veterans who would benefit from concurrent receipt are already doing well financially is hokum. The Pentagon has acknowledged that its studies of retiree income included very few seriously disabled retirees. Further, the studies inappropriately covered total household income, including spousal income and other sources. How much a retiree's spouse might make has zero bearing on whether the member earned and deserves his or her military retired pay.

Our hope and expectation is that, within a few weeks, this kind of misguided rhetoric will be rendered irrelevant, because we expect 90% of Congress to reject it and do what they have acknowledged is right -- pass a concurrent receipt provision.

Issue 4: Help Out on Election Day

The November elections are fast approaching, and TROA members will join their fellow citizens at the ballot box as they fulfill their civic voting duty.

But many states are in dire need of capable and reliable poll workers, and the Director of the Defense Federal Voting Assistance Program has asked TROA and other associations if we can help.

This may be a great opportunity for TROA chapters and individual members to help their communities. Election officials can be paid for their services, but the amount varies from state to state. If you're interested, contact your local election officials - usually city or county clerks - in the jurisdiction where you are registered to vote.

If you have questions regarding the content (ONLY) of the update, please send an email to legis@TROA.org (subscriptions and changes will NOT be processed through this address).

Copyright © 2002, The Retired Officers Association (TROA), all rights reserved. Part or all of this message may be retransmitted for information purposes, but may not be used for any commercial purpose or in any commercial product, posted on a Web site, or used in any non-TROA publication (other than that of a TROA affiliate, or a member of The Military Coalition) without the written permission of TROA. All retransmissions, postings, and publications of this message must include this notice.

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President's Page

By Al Garcia

Thanks for the outstanding attendance to our general membership meeting on Friday, Sept 20. It was a great to see so many of you there. We had a chance to meet three prospective members and I believe that all three were impressed with your hospitality and friendship. I believe all three will join.

There are many things we can do to make the Chapter grow in membership. Larry and Peggy have been a successful recruitment team. The growth during the past year has been mostly due to their efforts but we all meet new folks everyday. A good example, Bill A. Hall, met LTCOL Rod Hunt, USAF, at the Farmington City MOC and persuaded him to join. Larry send Rod the application form and we will get to meet him and his wife at our October 4, luncheon meeting. Larry and Peggy appreciate any leads any of us will give them.

The name change was approved by the vote of the majority of TROA National members. After 01 January, we will be called the Military Officers Association of America (MOA). We will have some changes to make but for us it means getting used to calling ourselves by the new name. Colonel Jim Pauls, Director of Chapter Affairs, TROA, will be here in Farmington on 04 October. He has agreed to meet with us at a luncheon meeting at the San Juan Country Club. He is bringing information we want to know about. General Nelson has vacated the office of TROA President. Colonel Pauls will introduce his replacement. The Association has been lobby congress in several areas. He will bring us up to date on that. I know he will discuss the name change.

Please come with questions you have wanted to ask a TROA National staffer. The Officers and Board of Directors hope to have a great response on October 4.