,i #aafth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #cjc ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,january #h1 #bjai,mr4 ,bilirakis 7for himself and ,ms4 ,gabbard7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,armed ,services1 and in addition to the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs1 for a period to be subsequently determined by the ,speaker1 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned ,a ,,bill ,to amend title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code1 to permit additional retired members of the ,armed ,forces who have a service-connected disability to receive both disability compensation from the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs for their disability and either retired pay by reason of their years of military service or combat-related special compensation4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,retired ,pay ,restoration ,act4 #b4 ,findings and sense of ,congress 7a7 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,for more than #ajj years before #aiii1 all disabled military retirees were required to fund their own veterans' disability compensation by forfeiting one dollar of earned retired pay for each dollar received in veterans' disability compensation4 7#b7 ,since #aiii1 ,congress has enacted legislation to progressively expand eligibility criteria for relief of the retired pay disability offset and reduce the burden of financial sacrifice on disabled military retirees4 7#c7 ,absent adequate funding to eliminate the sacrifice for all disabled retirees1 ,congress has given initial priority to easing financial inequities for the most severely disabled and for combat-disabled retirees4 7#d7 ,in the interest of maximizing eligibility within cost constraints1 ,congress effectively has authorized full concurrent receipt for all qualifying retirees with #ajj-percent disability ratings and all qualifying retirees with combat-related disability ratings1 while phasing out the disability offset to retired pay over #aj years for retired members with noncombat-related1 service-connected disability ratings of #ej percent to #ij percent4 7#e7 ,in pursuing these good-faith efforts1 ,congress acknowledges the regrettable necessity of creating new thresholds of eligibility that understandably are disappointing to disabled retirees who fall short of meeting those new thresholds4 7#f7 ,congress is not content with the status quo4 7b7 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress that military retired pay earned by service and sacrifice in defending the ,united ,states should not be reduced because a military retiree is also eligible for veterans' disability compensation awarded for service-connected disability4 #c4 ,eligibility for payment of both retired pay and veterans' disability compensation for certain additional military retirees with compensable service-connected disabilities 7a7 ,extension of ,concurrent ,receipt ,authority to ,retirees ,with ,service-,connected ,disabilities ,rated ,less ,than #ej ,percent ,section #adad7;a7 of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended-- 7#a7 by striking ,compensation in the subsection heading and all that follows through ,subject and inserting ,compensation4--,subject2 and 7#b7 by striking paragraph 7#b74 7b7 ,amendments ,to reflect conclusion of ,phase-,in of ,concurrent ,receipt of ,retired ,pay and ,veterans' ,disability ,compensation ,section #adad of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code1 is further amended-- 7#a7 in subsection 7a71 as amended by subsection 7a7 of this section1 by striking the final sentence2 7#b7 by striking subsection 7c7 and redesignating subsections 7d7 and 7e7 as subsections 7c7 and 7d71 respectively2 and 7#c7 in subsection 7d71 as so redesignated1 by striking paragraphs 7#c7 and 7#d74 7c7 ,specification of qualified retirees for concurrent receipt purposes ,section #adad of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code1 is further amended-- 7#a7 in subsection 7a71 as amended by subsections 7a7 and 7b7-- 7,a7 by striking a member or and all that follows through is entitled and inserting an individual who is a qualified retiree for any month is entitled2 and 7,b7 by inserting retired pay and veterans' disability compensation after both2 7#b7 in subsection 7b7-- 7,a7 by striking ,special ,rules in the subsection heading and all that follows through is subject to and inserting ,special ,rules for ,chapter #fa ,disability ,retirees4--,in the case of a qualified retiree who is retired under chapter #fa of this title1 the retired pay of the member is subject to2 and 7,b7 by striking paragraph 7#b72 and 7#c7 in subsection 7d71 as redesignated and amended by subsection 7b71 by adding at the end the following new paragraph3 7#c7 ,qualified retiree ,the term qualified retiree means a member or former member of the uniformed services who1 with respect to any month-- 7,a7 is entitled to retired pay1 other than in the case of a member retired under chapter #fa of this title with less than #bj years of service creditable under section #adje of this title and less than #bj years of service computed under section #abgcb of this title2 and 7,b7 is entitled to veterans' disability compensation4 4 7d7 ,clerical ,amendments 7#a7 ,section heading ,the heading of section #adad of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended to read as follows3 #adad4 ,members eligible for retired pay who are also eligible for veterans' disability compensation3 ,concurrent payment of retired pay and disability compensation 4 7#b7 ,table of sections ,the item relating to such section in the table of sections at the beginning of chapter #ga of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended to read as follows3 #adad4 ,members eligible for retired pay who are also eligible for veterans' disability compensation3 ,concurrent payment of retired pay and disability compensation4 4 7e7 ,conforming amendment ,section #adac;a7f7 of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended by striking ,subsection 7d7 and inserting ,subsection 7c74 7f7 ,effective ,date ,the amendments made by this section shall take effect as of ,january #a1 #bjbj1 and shall apply to payments for months beginning on or after that date4