Disability bill's delay angers veterans' groups

WASHINGTON -- Just weeks before the midterm elections and with a war against Iraq on the horizon, the Bush administration is locked in an unwelcome dispute with veterans' groups over benefits for disabled veterans.

Lawmakers from both parties have lined up with the veterans, who are fighting administration efforts to delay a decision until after the Nov. 5 balloting.

"It's going to be a political issue in the election if they do not act upon this," Ronald Conley, national commander of the 2.8-million-member American Legion, said after a meeting with White House officials this week.

At issue is an attempt by Congress to change a rule dating back more than 100 years that reduces the retirement benefits of disabled veterans by the amount they receive in disability pay.

As a result, a veteran rated 100 percent disabled and receiving $2,300 a month in disability benefits now loses all his retirement pay, around $1,500 for someone with 20 years of service. The American Legion estimates about 600,000 disabled military retirees are affected by current rules.

The Senate, in its version of legislation authorizing 2003 defense programs, agreed to give disabled veterans their full retirement benefits, at a cost of $58-billion over 10 years. The House settled on a plan to phase in full benefits, depending on the degree of disability, that would cost $18.5-billion over 10 years.

The White House opposes the change, saying it is too expensive at a time when fiscal discipline is paramount. Some of its allies are more blunt, saying the change would allow for "double dipping" by disabled military retirees. President Bush's senior advisers have recommended he veto the defense bill if it contains the Senate provision.

While Congress completed work Wednesday on a $355-billion defense spending bill for fiscal year 2003, the dispute over veterans benefits has stalled action, for the first time in years, on the authorization bill that must be passed before new military programs and construction projects can be initiated. The House recessed Wednesday with no plans to return before the election unless a deal is reached on the authorization bill or other unfinished work.

The veterans community says the White House has asked House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., to put off action on the defense bill until after the election next month. Hastert's spokesman, John Feehery, said that while a delay until after the election was possible, the speaker was trying to find a solution to the benefits problem.

"He's trying to be an honest broker between the White House and the Armed Service Committee members," Feehery said.

"We're not in the all-or-nothing camp," said retired Air Force Col. Steve Strobridge, director of government relations for the Retired Officers Association. He said the 390,000-member group would accept the more gradual phase-in approach taken by the House, but that "this is not something we want to let them off the hook on."

The American Legion's Conley, in a letter to Bush, said it would be the "height of hypocrisy" to postpone a decision until after the election and then "let it die quietly."

The issue has also become a campaign topic in the Florida gubernatorial race.

Katie Muniz, communications director for Gov. Jeb Bush , said the governor favors increased benefits for veterans. He wrote a letter in support of the House bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mike Bilirakis of Tarpon Springs, because he believes it has a better chance of passing than the Senate's "pie in the sky" bill. But Democrat Bill McBride said Gov. Bush's position is untenable. By saying he backs "concurrent receipt," as Bush did Thursday in St. Petersburg, the governor is being misleading, McBride said, because the House bill would exclude 460,000 disabled veterans from getting both retirement pay and disability pay.

McBride this summer said he favors the Senate bill.

"How is it that Gov. Bush can advocate leaving so many veterans behind while claiming he supports them?" McBride said.

McBride served with the Marines in Vietnam, and he has been courting support from the state's veterans, who in recent elections have favored Republicans.

Gov. Bush said McBride was "wrong about my position, but that is commonplace with three weeks to go before the election."

The McBride camp said that's nonsense, pointing to Bush's letter in support of the House bill.

-- Times staff writers Lucy Morgan and Wes Allison contributed to this report.

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