Archived Issue: November/December 2007

Defense Authorization Bill Moves to Conference

The annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a mammoth bill. It contains all the authorizations for Defense procurement, personnel and policy. It holds the issues of manpower, munitions, meals, MRAPs and all means in between.

As reported previously, this year’s House consideration of the NDAA, H.R. 1585, was a welcomed spectacle of legislative coordination and agreement. The bill passed out of Committee with full approval, 58 to 0. And when brought to the floor shortly after Committee consideration, the bill was discussed in one day and decided on the next on a nearly unanimous May 17 vote of 327 to 27.

And to its credit, the Senate Committee on Armed Services completed its markup of the NDAA early in the year and on time on May 25. As in the House, the Senate Committee unanimously voted to report out the bill, 26 to 0, in full bipartisan agreement.

Having begun with great unanimity, the bill was brought to the Senate floor for debate and passage, which began in earnest on July 7. At this point and until completion two months later, the largest, most complex and most important bill to come before Congress every year was sidetracked in a back and forth on “the way forward” in Iraq and Afghanistan and a number of other issues totally unrelated to Defense.

NAUS recognizes that there are going to be differences on the war, and we respect the fact that not everybody is going to agree on what is best for American interests. But as difficult as it sometimes may be to work out these issues, we count on our elected members of Congress to set our priorities and get them straight, especially on defense and especially when our courageous men and women are in combat.

And for the record, our position on Iraq and Afghanistan is simple and direct: any one who goes into harm’s way under the flag of the United States should be deployed with the best our nation can provide. We need to give our men and women everything they need to prevail and do it on a timely basis. And we must never cut off funding for our troops in the field.

Finally on Oct. 1 after months of debate and the addition of several extraneous measures, including a provision to extend hate-crimes legislation to crimes potentially motivated on the basis of sexual orientation, the third longest debated annual Defense authorization bill in Senate history was approved 92 to 3.

(The two other annual Defense authorization bills that required longer to pass occurred in the Vietnam War period, 1969 and 1970.)

At press time, the Defense authorization conference between the House and Senate has begun. But with many differences between the two bills, it is difficult to project when a resolution can be found and a final bill, acceptable to the White House, can be produced.

Now let’s take a closer look at some of the key provisions yet to be decided in the House-Senate conference, such as military health care, concurrent receipt and survivor issues.

TRICARE Fees Remain Unchanged and Troop Pay to Increase – As we said many times, protecting your hard earned health care is our number one priority. We have many friends in Congress who understand what you have gone through to earn this benefit. We are especially pleased to see both the House and Senate go into conference having rejected the outrageous TRICARE fee increases recommended earlier this year by Dr. Chu and DoD.

Both the House and Senate go into conference on the Defense authorization bill with two key provisions in full agreement:

1. Total rejection of the second administration attempt to raise TRICARE fees and pharmaceutical copays for military retirees and their families; and
2. Provision for an across the board 3.5 percent pay hike for military personnel.

NAUS thanks Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Chuck Hagel for their successful amendment to reject DoD fee increases. Their amendment, submitted during floor consideration of the bill and accepted as part of the manager’s amendment into the full bill, changed the original Senate Committee position that asked to delay action on beneficiary cost-shares until consideration could be given to the Dec. 1 recommendations of the hand-picked, DoD Task Force on the Future of Military Health Care.

The House agrees with the Senate on TRICARE fees, so there is little to sort out other than how to word the rejection of the DoD plan, which seeks to dramatically increase TRICARE fees and prescription copays on under age 65 military retirees and their families.

Regarding the pay raise, the conference is in agreement to authorize a pay raise for members of the uniformed service of 3.5 percent effective Jan. 1, 2008. The across-the-board increase is a half percent larger than the 3 percent requested last January by the administration. The increase recognizes the outstanding service and sacrifice of the men and women of the armed forces and their families. Since it is included in both versions of the bill, there is little to sort out in conference on this issue.

Special Federal Pricing in Retail Pharmacy Network – Both the Senate and House bills also recommend federal pricing discounts for any prescription filled through the TRICARE retail network. NAUS prefers the Senate language because unlike the House measure it does not allow DoD to exclude certain drugs. NAUS urges conferees to make certain that this commonsense policy is enacted into law.

Concurrent Receipt – Also added to the Senate bill is the amendment, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, to accelerate the phase-in of full concurrent receipt so disabled veterans rated unemployable can get the full benefit they deserve. The House is silent on this issue, so conferees will have to work out final details.

Concurrent receipt is one of our highest priorities. We were pleased that the fiscal 2006 Defense authorization bill reduced the waiting period for full benefits from ten-years to five-years. But we can do better and that’s exactly what the Reid amendment would do.

The legislation fulfills a NAUS goal that corrects previous action to allow all retirees rated 100 percent disabled, including those rated Individually Unemployable by VA, to receive both disability compensation and full retirement pay.

NAUS agrees with Sen. Reid who said, “We have an opportunity to show our gratitude to our veterans. While our Nation is at war, there is no better honor we could bestow upon them than to pass this legislation.”

Chapter 61 Retirees – Congress appears to be ready to step in the direction of another key NAUS-goal to provide concurrent receipt to Chapter 61 disability retirees with fewer than 20 years of service. These are the men and women forced to leave military service due to a service-connected injury or illness prior to reaching 20-years, the threshold for regular retirement.

The Senate version of the Defense authorization would open eligibility for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) to all Chapter 61 retirees who have combat disabilities, regardless of the length of service. The House, on the other hand, voted to extend CRSC to Chapter 61 retirees who served at least 15 years and have a combat-related disability rated at 60 percent or more.

While we support the broader Senate version, NAUS is working to ensure that the discussion includes the Veterans’ Disability Benefits Commission (VDBC) recommendation on this matter. The VDBC considered the plight of Chapter 61 retirees and recommended that those separated from service for medical reasons with less than 20 years of service should also be able to receive military retirement and VA compensation without offset. The Commission also asserted that there should be no distinction made between combat-connected or service-connected disability.

Survivor Benefit Plan and Paid-Up Premiums – Another important amendment adopted by the Senate is the amendment, sponsored by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), on the inequity in the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP). The House did not vote like the Senate. Instead, the House gave a piecemeal, token provision providing a $40 increase in monthly payments to offset the more than $1,000 SBP/DIC reduction.

Under current law, servicemembers pay for survivor benefits once they retire. It is like an insurance policy. There is also a program under the Department of Veterans Affairs for benefits provided to a survivor called the Dependency Indemnity Compensation. Unfortunately for a widow, when the loved one passes away, those two eligibilities are denied. The benefit of one is subtracted dollar-for-dollar from the other, and, as Nelson’s amendment in effect says, “that is not the way we ought to be treating widows and orphans.”

NAUS agrees with the Senate amendment. Taking care of widows, in fact, is a cost of defense, a cost of war. To cancel one benefit, purchased as an annuity for a loved one, is not the mark of a great nation, and it is time for us to correct this inequity.

Part two of the essential Nelson amendment is a one-year acceleration of paid-up premiums for the survivor benefit program. The amendment would make the date for eliminating premium payments, for those over age 70 who have paid premiums for 30 years, effective Oct. 2007 instead of Oct. 2008. There is no similar amendment attached to the House version, so this one has to be won in conference.

The elimination of these inequities has actually been approved as part of previous Defense authorizations, only to be rejected in the final product by House conferees. Last Congress, for example, the Senate approved it on a roll call of 92 to 6, but the House was unmoved, which is why we are at it again.

Both provisions will likely hang, as a conference item, on the question about money. A few years ago it was estimated that it would cost an additional $9 billion over 10 years. That is now down to somewhere in the range of about $7 billion or $8 billion over 10 years. So despite the fact that this is a new Congress with new leadership, when we get into the conference committee, NAUS and its supporters need to find a way for members of the conference to get it right this time.

The Wounded Warrior Provisions in the NDAA – Both the House and Senate Defense authorization bills include versions of the Wounded Warrior Act to address the care and treatment of our wounded warriors. The packages differ and conferees will have to work out the details, but when finished the measure will give sustained support to wounded warriors who return from injury to face the challenges of recovery.

As part of the wounded warrior discussion, NAUS wants conferees to end the inconsistent ratings awarded for the same disabilities by DoD and the VA and provide for seamless transition from DoD to VA care by requiring the Secretaries of the DoD and VA to develop a comprehensive plan. Another provision we urge members of the conference to agree upon is an elimination of the deduction of severance pay from disability compensation for disabilities incurred in a combat zone or combat-related operations.

Reduce Reserve Retirement Age – U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) secured a provision in the main text of the Senate bill that would lower the retirement age for members of the National Guard and Reserve. There is no similar provision in the House bill, so this matter will have to be reconciled in conference.

Currently, after 20 years of service, men and women in the National Guard or Reserve can begin receiving retired pay when they reach age 60. Chambliss’ amendment reduces the age requirement by 3 months for every 90 days of active service a Reservist performs in support of a contingency operation in a fiscal year, retroactive to September 2001, and sets the minimum age to collect retired pay at 50.

This amendment is important because it bases an earlier retirement pay on the amount of time spent in a contingency operation. NAUS has a strong commitment to upgrading the benefits provided our National Guard and Reserve. We urge readers to contact House and Senate conferees to make this important improving quality of life upgrade for our guardsmen and reservists.

National Guard and Reserve GI Bill – The House-Senate Conference will also work out provisions to improve the Reserve Montgomery GI Bill. The House bill approves the transfer of oversight for the GI Bill to the Department of Veterans Affairs from the Department of Defense. NAUS supports this provision because it would increase the visibility of Reserve bill benefits and result in an improved coordination between the regular GI Bill, which VA already has jurisdiction over, and the Reserve version, which is controlled by DoD and has lagged in purchase power. The Senate bill does not contain this provision, however, it would extend the ability to use the Reserve GI Bill up to 10 years after leaving service. NAUS supports this provision, too, because current law ends access to these education benefits at separation. The conference will work out details of the final agreement and we urge conferees to include both proposals.

Guam Specialty Care – Another NAUS-endorsed provision up for decision in the conference is contained in the House passed version of the bill. The House provision would provide space-available category 4 level seating priority to retirees requiring specialty care at off-island medical facilities.

This specialty care provision addresses our shared concern with Representative Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Chairman Ike Skelton and Ranking Member Duncan Hunter about medical care for our military retirees and their families who live on Guam.

The provision, unfortunately, is not found in the Senate bill. So we have our work cut out for us to achieve responsive attention to the needs of retirees on Guam reliant on the TRICARE system for their health care. We encourage NAUS members to contact their Senators and elected representatives to support this provision.

Free Mail Privileges for Military Families – The House version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 contains a NAUS-supported amendment to provide military families free mail privileges to send letters and care packages to active duty service men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan and those hospitalized due to injury or disease. VFW and the American Legion also support Congressman Vito Fossella’s amendment. Though offered by Sen. Hillary Clinton, a similar measure did not make the final cut in the Senate version, so it must be adopted in conference if it is to succeed.

The House amendment provides a voucher every two months to the family of any soldier on the ground and participating in either Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom to cover the full cost of mailing one package up to 10 pounds or one letter up to 13 ounces. It would boost morale and help fellow Americans share the cost of mailing a package to our servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As we have said many times, it is an inexpensive way to help make life better for our soldiers and to ease the financial burden on those back home. And we urge our NAUS members to help get it over the finish line. Contact your members of Congress and tell them this is a simple way to bring a touch of home to America’s heroes overseas.

Defense Appropriations Awaits Final Consideration

On Oct. 3, two days after the start of the new fiscal year, the Senate passed by voice vote its $459.6 Defense appropriations bill. The bill had cleared the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee 20-days earlier on an uncontested, unanimous 20 to 0 roll call vote. The House approved 395 to 13 its Defense appropriations bill on August 5.

Regarding the key issues of TRICARE and troop pay, both bills are closely similar. NAUS has fought the Pentagon plan to increase TRICARE fees from the first day they were proposed two years ago. And we’re pleased to see both the House and Senate reject the proposed increases in TRICARE fees for under-65 retirees and their families for the second year in a row.

Both bills also include the appropriate level of funding for a 3.5 percent pay raise for the military, half a point more than wage inflation.

The House and Senate bills are closely similar, especially in total expense, but they do contain differences in program areas such as the Army’s Future Combat System and the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship programs. The Senate bill also includes an amendment to provide $3 billion of emergency funding for border security to help curb illegal alien entry to the United States, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) successfully added.

NAUS will continue to press for speedy action on this critical funding bill. We recognize that there can be a difference in Congress on the war, but we will not stand by and allow these differences to stand in the way on funding of our men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan or elsewhere around the globe serving under the flag of the United States. We call on congressional leadership to act without further delay on the security of our citizens and the defense of our nation.

Veterans and Military Construction Spending Bill Awaits Action

The House passed the Military Construction/Veterans Affairs appropriations, H.R. 2642, in June on a roll call vote of 409 to 2. And the Senate passed its version of the spending bill in Sept. by a vote of 92-1.

Unfortunately, the bill still sits awaiting congressional decision.

Money in this bill is critically important. It will help address the health needs of our veterans and increase critical funding for the treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans; fund new claims processors to address the VA’s backlog of 400,000 benefits claims; invest in VA repair and maintenance needs to prevent a Walter Reed type situation in the VA system; and fund military construction to improve training and quality of life facilities for active duty troops and members of the Guard and Reserves.

Differences between the House and Senate versions of the funding bill are relatively minor and could be sorted out in a simple conference and sent to the President for his approval without too much delay. And though the bill is $4.1 billion more than requested, the President has already indicated that he would sign it despite some concerns with the bill.

The holdup beyond the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, however, is because congressional leadership cannot find enough common ground for passage of a number of other appropriations measures unrelated to defense and veterans. Therefore, appropriations on veterans and defense are being held hostage in an end-game strategy aimed at leveraging conference reports that have a great deal less consensus for passage.

NAUS is disturbed to see congressional leaders play the defense and veterans funding bills as bargaining chips to achieve passage of a larger omnibus package on spending. Veterans and the men and women in uniform should not be put on waiting before they secure benefits and services. Our nation has a commitment to protect their best interests. And NAUS is working to see that these matters are worked out hopefully before Journal readers receive this magazine. However, it may be late-Dec. before we see clearly the way forward.

Merchant Mariner Belated Thank You Legislation Awaits Final Decision

As we approach the end of the first session of this Congress, the House and Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs are working toward a wrap-up bill containing an array of veterans legislation.

NAUS is working to assure that one piece of this omnibus bill is the NAUS-endorsed H.R. 23, the Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act, sponsored and championed through the House by Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA). When passed by the House, H.R. 23 as amended, had more than 250 cosponsors. Similar legislation in the Senate, S. 961, awaits decision with 50 Senators adding their names as cosponsors to the bill’s sponsor Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE).

NAUS strongly supports this legislation. It is long overdue in recognizing the heroic merchant mariners of World War II. Despite a record of exemplary, indispensable service to America’s war efforts, recognized by all the leaders of the Allied Forces from Generals MacArthur to Eisenhower, merchant mariners were not given the formal recognition and benefits granted other services by the Congress through the G.I. Bill of Rights in 1945.

In an Oct. 1 letter to Senate Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Daniel Akaka, NAUS said it is time to correct this wrong. Understanding that one of the final obstacles was cost, we reiterated the fact that the bill, as amended by the House, did not require cutting one veterans program to compensate the forgotten heroes of the Merchant Mariners of World War II. The bill could be funded through simple appropriations without “robbing Peter to pay Paul,” exactly as proscribed in the House passed bill.

We encourage readers to contact their Senators and give each the NAUS message – “Correct This Wrong.” The World War II Merchant Mariners’ contribution to victory is indisputable. As Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Theater, said, “The Merchant Marine (of World War II) ... repeatedly proved its right to be considered as an integral part of our fighting team.” It’s now time for this generation to do the right thing.