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Congressman Boozman with Fort Smith Citizens Academy graduate Linsey Yates of Ramona Roberts Realty and Deputy City Administrator Ray Gosack View Photo
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Veterans' Affairs

My father was a Master Sergeant in the US Air Force, so I grew-up understanding the challenges veterans and their families face. I believe that serving our country in uniform is an extremely noble undertaking that all-too-often goes under-appreciated and unnoticed. I am committed to changing this and my colleagues and I have made some historic breakthroughs in the past few years.

In 2003, we made some major advancements to addressing the most pressing issues facing our nation's veterans. First, Congress and President Bush came to a historic agreement that addresses concurrent receipt, the inequity where disabled veterans’ retirement benefits are offset by the amount of disability coverage for which they are eligible. Under the agreement, all retirees with a 50 percent or greater disability rating from the VA will see the current offsetting reduction in their military retired pay phased out over a 10-year period. While it is not perfect, it is the first step toward addressing this problem in over 100 year. I continue to support H.R. 303, the "Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2003," and other efforts that will completely eliminate concurrent receipt.

We are also brought some much needed reform to the Survivors Benefit Program (SBP). Currently, hundreds of thousands of spouses of military retirees see their SBP benefits drastically reduced when they reach the age of 62. Commonly referred to as the “widow’s tax,” this is a result of the Social Security offset in the Survivors Benefit Plan, which cuts payments for beneficiaries from 55% to 35% of their retired spouse’s pay. We included a historic end to the widow’s tax in the FY05 Defense Authorization Bill, reform that restores payments to beneficiaries in 3 1/2 years.

A commitment was made to veterans of the armed services that the government will take care of health needs, and I will work to ensure that this commitment is honored. I am committed to working hard for the veterans in Arkansas and will use my assignment on the Veterans' Affairs Committee to affect legislation that serves all veterans.

As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, I will have the opportunity to help make our soldiers and veterans tranisiton into civilian life easier. This will be a priority for the VA Committee in the 110th Congress as we work to make opportunities available to the brave men and women who are returning from fighting the War on Terror.

During the 110th Congress I voted for the modernization of the GI Bill which includes the largest increase in veterans' education benefits since World War II.

To find out what benefits the GI Bill 2008 entitles you to, click here.

Beneficiary Travel Program

In November of 2008 VA Secretary Peake announced the VA Beneficiary Travel program mileage reimbursement rates increase. The reimbursement rate is increased from 28.5 cents to 41.5 cents based upon mileage traveled to or from a Department facility or other place in connection with vocational rehabilitation. The deductible requirements for purposes of beneficiary travel of mileage reimbursement remain at $7.77 one-way; $15.54 round trip; with a monthly cap of $46.62. To read more about this decision click here.

Congressional Research Service Reports:

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is part of the legislative branch of the federal government. CRS, which is a department of the Library of Congress, works exclusively as a nonpartisan analytical, research, and reference arm for Congress.

CRS Reports are in PDF format. In order to view these files, you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your PC. You can download the free reader from Adobe's website. These files may be rather large and may take a few minutes to download.

Veterans Health Care Issues in the 109th Congress

Veterans Benefits Issues in the 109th Congress

Military Retirement: Major Legislative Issues
Military Retirement: Major Legislative Issues

Veterans Affairs: Basic Eligibility for Disability Benefit Programs