Sen. Sessions tries to undo cuts to military retiree benefits

Sen. Sessions tries to undo cuts to military retiree benefits ahead of Senate budget vote

Published December 17, 2013 FoxNews.com

http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncsta...-ryan.jpg?ve=1Oct. 17, 2013: ( L to R) Sen.Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Rep.Paul Ryan, R-Wis. and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. emerge from an informal meeting of Congressional budget conferees at the U.S. Capitol.REUTERS


A top Republican senator is trying to undo cuts to military retiree benefits in the House-passed budget deal ahead of a crucial vote Tuesday morning in the Senate.

Alabama GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions filed an amendment late Monday to restore money that was cut from veteran and military retiree pension benefits by closing a loophole that allowed illegal immigrants to qualify for child tax credits.

His move comes after several GOP senators voiced complaints about the budget package, which sailed out of the House last week on a strong bipartisan vote.

Now it appears America's veterans and military retirees could be a determining factor in whether the deal makes it through the Senate.

Republicans say the plan unfairly forces veterans to pick up the cost of new spending. The provision generating heated opposition from Veterans of Foreign Wars and allied lawmakers would cut retirement benefits for military retirees by $6 billion over 10 years.

"It's unacceptable to single out our men and women in uniform in this way," said Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.

In sharp contrast to the confident statements issued by House leaders ahead of their vote last week, Senate leaders indicated they were still corralling support.

"The struggle is still on in the United States Senate," Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in an interview on Sunday.

Democrats need to hold most of their caucus of 55 senators together and pick up a handful of GOP senators in order to reach the 60-vote threshold to advance the bill on Tuesday.

The Republican "no" votes were piling up over the weekend. Unlike in the House side, where Speaker John Boehner aggressively battled conservative groups trying to kill the bill, GOP leaders in the Senate are signaling opposition, or at least resistance, to the package.

One member of the leadership team, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, announced Friday that he opposes the deal because it breaches spending caps put in place by a 2011 budget deal "and doesn't include meaningful spending reforms that address our debt and deficit."

Ayotte, Sessions and other senators focused largely on the cuts to veterans and military retirees.

Sessions’ amendment would restore the funding by requiring applicants for a particular child tax credit to submit their Social Security numbers. Federal law bars illegal immigrants from collecting tax benefits but that particular tax credit is often claimed by undocumented residents, according to recent watchdog reports.

Sessions' office has estimated that closing the tax credit loophole would save the government approximately $4.2 billion, the amount the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reported that illegal immigrants received due to the credit in 2010.

Congress faces a Jan. 15 deadline to pass a budget bill or risk another partial government shutdown. The debt-ceiling deadline is expected to hit sometime in February.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...ntcmp=trending

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Alabama GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions filed an amendment late Monday to restore money that was cut from veteran and military retiree pension benefits by closing a loophole that allowed illegal immigrants to qualify for child tax credits.

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Brilliant! Bravo!!

The GOP Elitist would never allow someone like Jeff Sessions to run for POTUS in 2014. This is why they are a DEAD PARTY.

This is huge, huge, huge!!

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I like Jeff.

At least he's trying.

Pelosi and Co. are quislings. Best term that I can think of. Take from American vets, give to illegal aliens. Yikes.
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Military retirees: You betrayed us, Congress

There’s a Loophole That Allows Illegal Immigrants to Claim Tax Credits, and a GOP Sen. Just Made a Big Move to Close It to Save Vet Benefits

Dec. 17, 2013 1:59pm Sara Carter
theblaze.com

http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/u...2/600x4204.jpg
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is proposing a budget amendment to avert cuts to veterans’ benefits. (Getty Images/Alex Wong)

The ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee has put forward a budget amendment to avert proposed cuts to veterans’ benefits by closing a loophole that allows illegal immigrants to collect child tax credits.

Even though federal law bars illegal immigrants from collecting tax benefits like the earned income tax credit, the current child tax credit provision does not require a tax return to include a Social Security number, which means it’s possible for illegals to claim and get the benefits.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) filed the amendment late Monday hoping to salvage veteran and military retiree pension benefits that are reduced under the current budget agreement. The agreement passed the House of Representatives last week with broad bipartisan support and was being debated in the Senate Tuesday.

“An equivalent amount of savings and more can be easily found, and I hope the Senate will move to address the unbalanced treatment of our service members before considering the legislation any further,” Sessions said in a statement to TheBlaze.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration noted in a 2011 report that millions of people without valid Social Security numbers received $4.2 billion in the additional child tax credit in 2010 – up from $924 million in 2005.

In 2011, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reported that illegal aliens received a staggering $4.2 billion in refundable child tax credits in 2010, a Senate aide said.

The cuts to veterans disability benefits was met with anger among a large swath of Republican senators after the budget passed the House last week.

“It has been asserted that the controversial change to military retirees’ pensions affects those who are ‘working-age’ and ‘still in their working years,’ with the clear suggestion being that these individuals are able to work,” Sessions said. “That’s why I was deeply troubled when my staff and I discovered that even individuals who have been wounded and suffered a service-related disability could see their pensions reduced under this plan.”

Sessions said the budget agreement “spares current civilian workers from the same treatment.”

Senior Republican senators were moving Tuesday to get the budget bill passed. It is not clear yet whether the military retiree provision submitted by Sessions will be considered.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013...-vet-benefits/

Disabled Military Retirees Not Exempt from Pension Cuts in Budget Deal

Sen. Sessions: ‘Unthinkable’


http://s1.freebeacon.com/up/2013/12/...sey-Graham.jpg
Kelly Ayotte, Lindsey Graham / AP

BY: Elizabeth Harrington
December 17, 2013 4:00 pm

A provision cutting the pensions of military retirees in the bipartisan budget deal that the Senate will vote on this week does not exempt disabled veterans, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

Disabled retirees were previously thought to be exempt from the changes to military retiree pay, which could cost servicemembers up to $124,000 over a 20-year period.

The Free Beacon previously reported that military retirees under the age of 62 would receive 1 percentage point less in their annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in the plan crafted by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D., Wash.).

The section of the U.S. code that has been altered also applies to disabled servicemembers, many of whom have been wounded in combat.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, called the change “unthinkable.”
“It has been asserted that the controversial change to military retirees’ pensions affects those who are ‘working-age’ and ‘still in their working years,’ with the clear suggestion being that these individuals are able to work,” Sessions said in a statement. “That’s why I was deeply troubled when my staff and I discovered that even individuals who have been wounded and suffered a service-related disability could see their pensions reduced under this plan.”

“It is unthinkable that this provision would be included in a deal that spares current civilian workers from the same treatment,” he said. “An equivalent amount of savings and more can be easily found, and I hope the Senate will move to address the unbalanced treatment of our servicemembers before considering the legislation any further.”

An original copy of a summary of the budget agreement, obtained by the Free Beacon, explicitly stated that disabled veterans would be exempt.

“This provision modifies the annual cost-of-living adjustment for working-age military retirees by making the adjustments equal to inflation minus 1 percent,” reads the summary, which was sent on Dec. 10. “This change would be gradually phased in, with no change for the current year, a 0.25 percent decrease in December 2014, and a 0.5 percent decrease in December 2015.

“This would not affect servicemembers who retired because of disability or injury.”

The summary now posted on the House Budget Committee website removed the sentence relating to disabled retirees.
The Ryan-Murray deal affects Chapter 71, Section 1401 of the United States Code, which deals with the pay of military retirees.

As the code is currently written, servicemembers can be eligible for early Chapter 61 retirement if it is determined that, due to a physical disability, that individual is no longer able to perform the duties of their office, grade, or rank. The individual must hold a disability rating of 30 percent or more according to Department of Defense standards, and the disability must be the proximate result of performing their duties during a time of war or national emergency.

Section 403 of the budget agreement amends section 1401a(b) of Title 10, U.S. Code, adding the “CPI minus one” percent provision, lowering the COLAs of disabled retirees.

Wounded servicemembers are entitled to Veterans Administration Disability Benefits, which remain unchanged by the budget deal. However, the change to Chapter 61 retirement could account for about 55 percent of a wounded service member’s disability pay, according to a Senate aide.

For example, a 28-year-old staff sergeant (an E-5 rank) who is forced to retire after 10 years would see approximately $50,000 in lost compensation over the next 40 years.

Rep. Ryan told the Weekly Standard that the changes are appropriate because servicemen and women who retire in their 40s after serving for two decades are still young enough to maintain a job.

“We give them a slightly smaller adjustment for inflation because they’re still in their working years and in most cases earning another paycheck,” Ryan said.

Sens. Roger Wicker (R., Miss.), Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), James Inhofe (R., Okla.), and Kelly Ayotte (R., N.H.) have said they are opposed to the deal because it cuts the benefits of military retirees, while not imposing equal cuts to federal civilian workers.

Will Allison, spokesman for the House Budget Committee, said the COLA provision does not offer any exemptions.

“The federal government has no greater obligation than to keep the American people safe,” Allison told the Free Beacon. “And it must take care of the men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line. To meet our obligations to our service men and women, we must make sure their long-term benefits are on a sound, financial footing.”

“Specifically to your question,” Allison said, “the COLA provision does not include additional exemptions, but to clarify: The Bipartisan Budget Act does not affect any benefits provided to veterans in compensation for disabilities suffered as a result of their service.”

“There are no changes made to disability-compensation benefits and no changes that would impact their VA-provided medical care,” he said.

The Senate is expected to pass the deal by a simple majority this week, after it cleared a crucial procedural vote on Tuesday.
Over the weekend, Ryan said it is possible to make changes to the military retiree provision, since it will not take effect immediately.

“We delayed this provision so that it doesn’t take effect until the year 2016, which gives Congress and the military community time to address the broader compensation issue, including this provision, if people believe there’s a better way to solve this problem,” he told the Weekly Standard.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D., Mich.) also has said he will review the cut to military pensions.
“We’re going to look at the whole benefits issue for veterans,” Levin told Stars and Stripes on Friday. “I can’t obviously make a commitment, but I am committed to reviewing this and looking at the impacts.”

http://freebeacon.com/disabled-milit...n-budget-deal/

Update in The Blaze article posted above:

UPDATE: The Senate on Tuesday voted down the amendment filed by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) that intended to restore proposed cuts to veterans’ benefits by closing a benefit loophole for illegal immigrants.

On the near party line vote, the amendment failed by 46-54. Sen. Key Hagan (D-N.C.) joined Republicans on the vote.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013...-vet-benefits/