WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Joe Baca (D-Rialto) today signed a discharge petition that would bring veteran’s bill HR 303 The Retired Pay Act of 2003 out of committee and up for a vote in the House of Representatives.  The bill, co-sponsored by Congressman Baca, would allow veterans the concurrent receipt of disability and retirement benefits.  Under current law, disabled veterans are unfairly limited to receive one or the other. 

“The Administration believes that taking care of our veterans is too expensive,” Baca said. “So the leadership has tried to bottleneck this bill in committee where it will never see the light of day. Democrats are trying to make sure  that doesn’t happen.” 

“Veterans have earned these benefits,” Baca said. “We have no right to say that they don’t deserve both disability and retired benefits.” 

Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has helped coordinate the effort to bring the bill to the floor since the bill is viewed as a top veteran priority and currently has 320 bipartisan House co-sponsors. 

“For our veterans, we support their long-standing demand for so-called concurrent receipt so disabled veterans can receive both the disability pay and the retirement pay that they have earned and deserve,” Pelosi said.  

A discharge petition is the main mechanism to force a bill to the House floor if the bill is stalled in committee. 218 signatures are needed to bring it for consideration. 

President Bush threatened to veto last year’s Defense bill because of a concurrent receipt provision. The Senate already passed its own version of HR 303. The President is expected to veto the provision if it passes both houses.