This September, Congress Can Deliver for Veterans
By Shaun Rieley. Read it in RealClearDefense.
America makes a solemn promise to those who serve: their sacrifice will not be forgotten when the uniform comes off. Upholding that commitment requires more than ceremonies and expressions of gratitude. It requires a government willing to provide veterans, their families and their survivors with the support they have earned.
Unfortunately, Congress has too often allowed veteran priorities that enjoy broad support to languish for years. The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act (TCAVA) offers lawmakers a chance to replace those promises with results. Congress entered its August recess without passing the bill, in part because a misleading opposition campaign waged by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) derailed the debate. But when lawmakers return in September, they should finish the job.
Backed by the American Legion—of which I am a proud member—and 22 other veteran organizations, TCAVA combines more than 60 veteran priorities, many of which have already earned bipartisan support. It would end the “wounded veteran tax” that forces nearly 60,000 combat-injured retirees to offset earned military retirement against VA disability compensation—a change that has long been a priority of the American Legion. It would also eliminate the remarriage penalty for surviving spouses, strengthen support for family caregivers, improve suicide prevention and mental-health programs, expand rural and community care, and advance treatment for traumatic brain and spinal-cord injuries.
Each provision addresses a burden that veterans and their families have carried for too long. Combat-injured retirees continue to lose retirement income they earned through service. Surviving spouses can be forced to choose between remarriage and financial security. Family caregivers often sacrifice their own careers and retirement savings to support an injured veteran. Every additional delay leaves those wrongs in place.
The VFW's opposition centers on how Congress would pay for these reforms. Section 108 would update how the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rates future disability claims involving sleep apnea and tinnitus, generating savings that would help finance the bill’s expanded benefits. The organization argues that this approach takes benefits from one group of veterans to provide them to another, but that characterization leaves out crucial facts.
Section 108 protects ratings and compensation already in effect for these disabilities. The changes would apply only to claims filed after the bill becomes law. Just as importantly, the underlying reforms did not originate with TCAVA. The VA formally proposed substantially the same sleep-apnea and tinnitus changes in 2022, years before Congress assembled this legislation, as part of a broader effort to update the disability-rating schedule.
TCAVA would codify that existing policy direction, protect current beneficiaries and ensure the resulting savings remain within the veteran community. Without the bill, the VA could still pursue similar changes administratively, only for the savings to return to the Treasury rather than finance long-overdue improvements for veterans, caregivers, and survivors.
The legislation, therefore, is not breaking faith with veterans. It is a responsible use of reforms that were already years in the making to finance benefits veterans have waited years to receive. Defeating TCAVA would not preserve the status quo. It would sacrifice more than 60 needed reforms while leaving the VA free to pursue similar rating changes through its administrative process.
This is the central point that critics of the legislation continue to miss. The VFW has every right to express its policy views and advocate for changes it believes would improve the bill. But its opposition has crossed the line from forceful policy debate into inflammatory rhetoric and imagery. That does a disservice to veterans and makes productive discussion more difficult. As important as it is to protect and advance veteran care, Congressionally chartered veterans organizations hold a public trust. At their best they not only advocate for veterans, but also provide opportunities for veterans Whatever the merits of their case, such divisive rhetoric is not conducive to the spirit of service or to the overall good of the country which veterans have served.
That’s why House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost condemned the VFW’s “Honor the Contract” campaign, which uses firing-squad imagery depicting suited “bureaucrats” and members of the media aiming rifles at servicemembers, as dangerous rhetoric that could invite political violence and that weakens the serious work of veteran advocacy. He also joined with Rep. Jack Bergman to ask the VA to examine whether the VFW violated accreditation rules and policies in promoting the campaign.
As a Legion member, I take no pleasure in seeing a fellow veterans organization earn that kind of scrutiny. But the VFW's tactics, however attention-grabbing, do not reflect the sentiment of the broader veteran community. One poll found that over 70 percent of veterans favor TCAVA. That support demonstrates that veterans understand both the tradeoffs involved and the cost of allowing more than 60 long-delayed priorities to languish.
The time for further delay has passed. When lawmakers return in September, they should pass TCAVA and demonstrate that America keeps faith with its veterans.
Shaun Rieley served as an infantryman in the Army National Guard, including overseas tours in Iraq and Cuba. He currently works in higher education and previously served in senior policy roles at a number of veteran-focused non-profits, including at the American Legion.
