Honoring Their Sacrifice

Honoring Their Sacrifice
Rep. Boozman's Column for the Week of November 7, 2005

Washington, Nov 7 - The first word that comes to mind when we think of America's veterans is sacrifice. From the patriots that fought for our nation's independence to the soldiers fighting terror around the globe, these brave men and women have given and continue to give so much for us to be able to live free.

This Veterans Day, we honor more than twenty-five million living veterans and the memory of those who came before them. We take time to reflect on the sacrifices ordinary American men and women who have and continue to serve our country in a time of need. We also thank them for their selflessness and courage they have exhibited under the most daunting circumstances.

Nobody can say what the world would be like today if it were not for the sacrifices of America's veterans. Not only have they protected our country when we needed it the most, they have also helped to spread the ideals for which it stands to nations around the world. They have given so much to our nation throughout its history, and we have an obligation to give back.

My colleagues and I have worked hard to live up to that obligation. As a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, I have worked with my colleagues to increase the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) funding by over twenty billion dollars. We also accomplished two of the top priorities of most veterans service organizations in the 108th Congress by enacting historic concurrent receipt legislation and eliminating the widow's tax. Because of concurrent receipt reform, veterans with a fifty percent or greater disability rating from the VA will be able to receive both their disability and their retirement benefits. Eliminating the widow's tax corrects a long-standing injustice for millions of our military retirees and their survivors who used to see their benefits dramatically reduced when they qualify for Social Security at the age of sixty-two - sometimes by as much as twenty percent.

We have made great progress in increasing veterans' benefits over the past few years, but we know there is still work to be done. One area that needs our attention is helping veterans transition into civilian life. As Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee, I am tasked with leading this effort. My committee has legislative and oversight jurisdiction over the programs that help soldiers returning home pursue their career and education goals. Programs like the GI Bill and those that deal with vocational rehabilitation, veteran's housing programs and servicemember's civil relief will be addressed as my committee seeks to help these men and women return to a life of normalcy.

Among the legislation that we have already passed out of this subcommittee is a bill that I sponsored to expand housing grants for disabled veterans. H.R. 3665, the "Veteran's Housing and Employment Improvement Act," changed a VA program to allow the grant money be used for modifications to the home where the disabled veteran lives, even if he or she does not own the property. If it becomes law, this bill will help many younger veterans injured in the War on Terror to move from hospice care to care in a family member's home.

It is important that we continue to push for improvements to the benefits our veterans receive. Our cherished freedoms were secured through their sacrifices. We owe it to them to remember and repay them for those sacrifices.