WASHINGTON (AP) — The House passed a major package of veterans bills Wednesday, on Veterans Day — but not without confusion and controversy.
Watch Wednesday’s session in the video player above.
The centerpiece of the program is an effort to increase compensation for approximately 58,000 veterans who are medically retired due to combat-related injuries. That goal has broad bipartisan support in Congress, but lawmakers and veterans groups are not on the same page on how to get there.
WATCH: Trump celebrates Veterans Day with wreath-laying and speech at Arlington National Cemetery
The dilemma lawmakers are trying to resolve is this: Under current law, combat-wounded retirees with less than 20 years of service forgo part of their military retirement pay while they also receive disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Lawmakers in both parties are trying to change that so these retirees receive their full injury compensation and military retirement pay.
Support free and independent journalism. Join the PBS News Press Pass
The change would result in an average pay increase of about $1,450 more per month, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Republicans have introduced a bill that would help fund increased income for these retirees by changing the way the department assesses tinnitus or sleep apnea. These changes would reduce disability compensation for some future veterans, but they would not affect current veterans receiving compensation for these conditions. Democrats overwhelmingly opposed this compromise and denounced the measure during debate on the bill.
LEARN MORE: Trump says towering arch he wants to build could be dedicated to veterans
“It doesn’t take care of veterans. It takes away from them,” Rep. Raul Ruiz, Democrat of California, said of the Republican bill.
Republicans had to withdraw the bill earlier this year because they did not have the votes to pass it. This time, Democratic leaders again encouraged their members to oppose the measure, saying that cutting benefits for one group of veterans to fund new benefits for another is not the solution.
The House chamber was crowded and noisy as lawmakers chatted among themselves after an earlier vote. As is normally the case, the House clerk read the title of the Veterans Affairs bill, and then the presiding officer, Rep. Addison McDowell, R-N.C., said the question in the House was about passing the bill and those in favor should say yes and those opposed should say no.
“The yeses were,” McDowell said. “The bill passes.”
Normally, Democrats would step in and request a roll call vote. But none came. And Republicans simply put the blame on Democrats, with Rep. Mike Bost, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, calling Democrats “asleep at the wheel.”
“If no one calls for the vote, the vote passes, which is a good thing,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
“If any of them want to voice their objections, they can make it clear to the House why they are against our veterans on Veterans Day. But I was proud to support him,” Scalise said. “I’m glad it passed.”
Rep. Mark Takano, the ranking Democratic member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, said the minority had no option to request a recorded vote.
“The intention was to sneak this in,” Takano said. “Well, all I can say is that I think it’s a shallow and meaningless victory because it’s not going to achieve anything in the Senate.”
Cory Geisler, national commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, blasted the voice vote in a statement.
“If congressional leaders thought this proposal was worth passing, they should have had the courage to allow every member’s position to be recorded for the country to see,” Geisler said. “Playing political games with veterans’ benefits while avoiding public accountability is cowardly and dishonorable.”
Democrats have their own bill on the issue that is expected to be voted on Thursday. Supporters used a discharge petition to bypass Republican leaders and force a vote. But the Democratic measure does not include compensation.
Takano said that while some Republicans have expressed concerns about the price tag of his bill, they have no problem sending soldiers to war and approving the Pentagon budgets that accompany it, or passing tax breaks that primarily benefit the wealthy.
“Why then do they insist on balancing the budget on the backs of our veterans?” Takano said.
If the Democratic-led bill passes, the Senate could choose whichever it favors, or neither, leaving it up to the Democratic-controlled Congress to take up the issue next year.
A free press is the cornerstone of a healthy democracy.
Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue.
Gn headline
