I would like to take an opportunity to write about some recent accomplishments and ongoing legislative efforts in Congress relevant to the veterans of the Second District. I have spoken extensively with many veterans about their concerns and am happy to report good progress in this current session of Congress.

One issue of particular concern is the continuing frustration many veterans are experiencing with the present concurrent receipt policy. As it stands, retired, disabled military veterans are unable to receive full retirement and disability benefits simultaneously. I find it extraordinarily unjust that disabled veterans continue to receive reduced retirement compensation - essentially requiring them to pay for their own disability. I am a co-sponsor of pending legislation, The Retired Pay Restoration Act (H.R. 303), that will restore full concurrent receipt of benefits to qualified veterans, and have supported similar legislation in prior sessions of Congress. Our nation's veterans stood selflessly in harms way to protect our freedom and way of life. These men and women made great sacrifices to serve our nation and deserve premium compensation in their retirement for full mutual pension and disability entitlements.

I pledge to aggressively support passage of H.R. 303 and any future legislation that will appropriately address this injustice. I also commit myself to encouraging leadership to move forward on this current bill in a responsible and timely manner. Our final goal remains: rid veterans of pension offsets.

To this end, I recently joined 23 of my Republican colleagues in signing a letter to Speaker Dennis Hastert respectfully requesting that floor action be taken when the congressional session resumes in September. The Speaker has since committed to bringing up H.R. 303 for a full vote in the fall.

House Republicans should be commended for their attention and hard work on the concurrent receipt issue. Leadership is diligently working to find a comprehensive, fiscally responsible solution and is committed to bringing a final proposal to the floor that will address the issue in a way that is agreeable to a majority in Congress and the President. During their 40 year tenure in the majority, Congressional Democrats never once brought legislation to the floor of Congress to support concurrent receipt of veteran benefits. Work must continue, with swift resolve, to ensure good policy on this very important issue.

The House introduced and passed the FY 2004 VA-HUD Appropriations Act on July 25th by a vote of 316-109. I voted against my party on this bill as a gesture of my disapproval of the proposed funding levels. I am hopeful that funding levels will be increased before final veteran appropriations are authorized this fall. I sincerely believe we can do better for our veterans.

Despite my opposition to spending levels, the Appropriations Act does make several positive strides toward addressing veteran concerns. The bill, appropriating $27.2 billion in total budgetary resources to the Veterans Health Administration, will add $1.9 billion for non-combat veterans to receive treatment at VA hospitals and an additional $1 billion to manage and eliminate the backlog of claims awaiting decision by the Veterans Administration.

Additional legislation has passed the House in recent months to fund veteran programs, improve job training and education, enhance survivor benefits, create more uniform healthcare, reduce paperwork, and increase the overall quality of life for millions of veterans.

Our veterans have given deeply and heroically. It's only fair that we in Congress recognize their service with legislation that shows our national gratitude. I will continue to fight for veterans and keep the pressure on the government to live up to the promises made to our soldiers.

RON LEWIS

Member of Congress