thedrifter
05-21-08, 09:15 AM
House approves financial relief for military personnel
By Jim Abrams
ASSOCIATED PRESS
12:57 p.m. May 20, 2008
WASHINGTON – Setting aside differences over the war in Iraq, the House voted unanimously Tuesday to provide financial and tax relief to military personnel. The action came as the Senate debated a major expansion in college education benefits for veterans.
In the run-up to Memorial Day, the House was taking up more than a dozen bills either to help or honor veterans and those on active duty, highlighted by the $2 billion tax package.
The bill, passed 403-0, allows active-duty reservists to make penalty-free withdrawals from retirement plans, and makes permanent a law including combat pay as earned income for purposes of the Earned Income Tax Credit.
It provides a tax credit of up to $4,000 for small businesses that continue to pay their National Guard and Reserve employees while they are on active duty and makes thousands of veterans eligible for low-interest homeowner loans.
“I would prefer to call it the thank you bill,” said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., echoing sentiments that Congress needs to do more to show appreciation for those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Rangel said that appreciation included the GI education bill that the House passed last week as part of its war-spending legislation and now is being considered by the Senate.
That bill, sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., would essentially guarantee a full scholarship to any public, in-state university for people who serve in the military for three years.
Some of the House's fiercest critics of the war in Iraq spoke on behalf of the veterans' bills. The tax relief measure, said Rep Jim McDermott, D-Wash., would “ensure that service to our nation does not disadvantage those who serve.”
The wartime Congress has been consistently sympathetic to the needs of military personnel and veterans. Veterans funding for this fiscal year saw its biggest increase in the history of the Veterans Affairs Department, and Congress acted quickly to improve medical care after the ill-treatment of injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was revealed.
“We fund the war, we must fund the warrior,” said Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner, D-Calif.
Among dozens of other veterans-related bills, the president has signed legislation to address the issue of veterans' suicides and help them repay student loans. Also signed into law was a measure requiring all federal buildings to comply when a governor orders flags lowered to half-staff to honor soldiers killed while serving.
“I think their hearts are in the right place,” American Legion spokeswoman Ramona Joyce said of lawmakers. “For the most part they either have veterans in their district or VA facilities in their district. Veterans in general, I would hope, would be a nonpartisan issue.”
The tax relief bill is paid for by closing a loophole where high-income taxpayers avoid paying taxes by renouncing their U.S. citizenship. It also bans the practice of government contractors setting up sham companies overseas to avoid paying Social Security and Medicare taxes.
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., said more than 12,000 companies, including defense contractor KBR, have set up subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.
Similar bills passed the House and Senate last year but the two chambers couldn't find common ground. The legislation now moves to the Senate.
Among other House bills considered Tuesday and heading for the Senate:
HR 3681 allowing the VA Department to purchase national media outlets to provide information on benefits.
HR 3819 requiring the VA to pay non-VA hospitals for care while emergency patients wait for transfer to VA facilities.
HR 5729 expanding care for children with spina bifida whose Vietnam War veteran fathers were exposed to agent orange.
HR 5826 approving an annual cost-of-living increase for veterans' disability compensation.
HR 5554 expanding care for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse.
Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake said at a news conference Tuesday that he was committed to promoting “trust and competence” at the VA in light of growing congressional criticism that the agency might not be forthcoming in how well it treats veterans' mental health problems.
Peake said he was concerned that too many veterans might be viewed as seriously injured with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. In fact, he said, people with PTSD suffer only minor problems and those with TBI might have a simple concussion that is resolved pretty quickly.
“I'm not sure the general sense the VA is overwhelmed is at all correct,” Peake said.
Last week, two congressional committees said they would investigate after an e-mail showed that a VA employee had suggested diagnosing veterans with mental disorders with a lower disability payout.
On the Net:
Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov/
Ellie
By Jim Abrams
ASSOCIATED PRESS
12:57 p.m. May 20, 2008
WASHINGTON – Setting aside differences over the war in Iraq, the House voted unanimously Tuesday to provide financial and tax relief to military personnel. The action came as the Senate debated a major expansion in college education benefits for veterans.
In the run-up to Memorial Day, the House was taking up more than a dozen bills either to help or honor veterans and those on active duty, highlighted by the $2 billion tax package.
The bill, passed 403-0, allows active-duty reservists to make penalty-free withdrawals from retirement plans, and makes permanent a law including combat pay as earned income for purposes of the Earned Income Tax Credit.
It provides a tax credit of up to $4,000 for small businesses that continue to pay their National Guard and Reserve employees while they are on active duty and makes thousands of veterans eligible for low-interest homeowner loans.
“I would prefer to call it the thank you bill,” said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., echoing sentiments that Congress needs to do more to show appreciation for those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Rangel said that appreciation included the GI education bill that the House passed last week as part of its war-spending legislation and now is being considered by the Senate.
That bill, sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., would essentially guarantee a full scholarship to any public, in-state university for people who serve in the military for three years.
Some of the House's fiercest critics of the war in Iraq spoke on behalf of the veterans' bills. The tax relief measure, said Rep Jim McDermott, D-Wash., would “ensure that service to our nation does not disadvantage those who serve.”
The wartime Congress has been consistently sympathetic to the needs of military personnel and veterans. Veterans funding for this fiscal year saw its biggest increase in the history of the Veterans Affairs Department, and Congress acted quickly to improve medical care after the ill-treatment of injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was revealed.
“We fund the war, we must fund the warrior,” said Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner, D-Calif.
Among dozens of other veterans-related bills, the president has signed legislation to address the issue of veterans' suicides and help them repay student loans. Also signed into law was a measure requiring all federal buildings to comply when a governor orders flags lowered to half-staff to honor soldiers killed while serving.
“I think their hearts are in the right place,” American Legion spokeswoman Ramona Joyce said of lawmakers. “For the most part they either have veterans in their district or VA facilities in their district. Veterans in general, I would hope, would be a nonpartisan issue.”
The tax relief bill is paid for by closing a loophole where high-income taxpayers avoid paying taxes by renouncing their U.S. citizenship. It also bans the practice of government contractors setting up sham companies overseas to avoid paying Social Security and Medicare taxes.
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., said more than 12,000 companies, including defense contractor KBR, have set up subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.
Similar bills passed the House and Senate last year but the two chambers couldn't find common ground. The legislation now moves to the Senate.
Among other House bills considered Tuesday and heading for the Senate:
HR 3681 allowing the VA Department to purchase national media outlets to provide information on benefits.
HR 3819 requiring the VA to pay non-VA hospitals for care while emergency patients wait for transfer to VA facilities.
HR 5729 expanding care for children with spina bifida whose Vietnam War veteran fathers were exposed to agent orange.
HR 5826 approving an annual cost-of-living increase for veterans' disability compensation.
HR 5554 expanding care for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse.
Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake said at a news conference Tuesday that he was committed to promoting “trust and competence” at the VA in light of growing congressional criticism that the agency might not be forthcoming in how well it treats veterans' mental health problems.
Peake said he was concerned that too many veterans might be viewed as seriously injured with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. In fact, he said, people with PTSD suffer only minor problems and those with TBI might have a simple concussion that is resolved pretty quickly.
“I'm not sure the general sense the VA is overwhelmed is at all correct,” Peake said.
Last week, two congressional committees said they would investigate after an e-mail showed that a VA employee had suggested diagnosing veterans with mental disorders with a lower disability payout.
On the Net:
Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov/
Ellie