Transfer of non-used CRSC funds

Regarding two articles: "100-Percent Disabled Fix Excludes Unemployables" (MOAA, December 2004) and "Pork-Barrel Spending Makes Veterans a Secondary Priority" (DAV November-December, 2004.

The 2004 Defense Authorization Bill authorizes full concurrent receipt of retired pay for 14,000 retirees with 100 percent disability ratings as of January 2005, but excludes 30,000 retirees being paid at 100 percent because the VA rated them as "unemployable." This group of "unemployables" is experiencing the same financial hardships as their counterparts, yet are being treated differently based on the admission that the cost of this amendment would have prevented it from gaining the necessary leadership support to win passage. The following items validate the lack of communication and understanding of veterans' needs:

(1) CRSC: Congress authorized $22 billion for Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) for all military longevity retirees and has only paid out $100 million since payments first became available. Of 28,393 applications as of mid-September, only 11,799 have been approved with the applications received being sharply reduced to only 200 per week. A massive media campaign was launched to find potential recipients; however, no research has been furnished to reflect that most of the eligible retirees are drawing the concurrent receipt portion of the offset pay and have chosen not to jump through the legal hoops for a few dollars more.

(2) Pork-Barrel Spending: Citizens Against government Waste (CAGW), a private non-partisan, non-profit organization, has documented that 10,656 projects in 13 appropriations bills have furnished pork-barrel funds to our elected representatives for a total cost of $22.9 billion for FY04. This is an increase of 13 percent over the previous year. The politicians continue to place disabled veterans needs as secondary. Some of the "Oinker" award winners from the CAGW's "2004 Congressional Pig Book" are:

* $15 million for overseas dairy development programs

* $2.25 million in various Shakespeare-related funding

* $50 million for an indoor rainforest in Coralville, Iowa

* $500,000 for Disneyland buses

* $538,000 for the National Wild Turkey Federation

* $3 million for the First Tee Program in St Augustine, Fla.

RECOMMENDATION: It is time for Congress to review the non-use of the $22 billion allocation for the Combat-Related Special Compensation and transfer the funds to the "unemployable" veterans and eliminate this double standard and treatment of "unemployable" disabled veterans.

Congress has an obligation to ensure that federal funds are used appropriately and that they are applied to problems that have a higher priority. What is a higher priority than taking care of the people who sacrificed their work careers in the service of their country?

Every citizen, military member and veteran is encouraged to contact his or her respective representative and express the urgency to fix this problem now.

Tom Davis

Lt Col, USAF (Ret.)

Charlotte, N. C.

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