Reid sponsors bill to help wounded veterans

Ely Daily Times, NV

A bill that would guarantee a portion of retirement benefits to military members forced out of service because of combat injuries was introduced on Wednesday in the U.S. Senate.

The compensation bill would pro-rate retirement pay for injured veterans. Currently, service members who are injured before completing 20 years do not qualify for the benefit.

“People who had planned to make the military a career are being forced into premature retirement because of medical problems,” said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the bill’s sponsor.

“That means they lose their retirement pay, and I think that’s unfair.”

The problem has come into particular focus because of soldiers being wounded in Iraq, Reid said.

The bill would allow those veterans to get both disability benefits and a portion of retirement pay, he said.

This entry was posted in Veterans for Common Sense News. Bookmark the permalink.