Washington D.C...U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson (IL-15) joins his colleagues in announcing support for an agreement reached between the White House and Congress on a plan to fund both retired veterans' disability and retirement pay. Currently, disabled retirees are forced to deduct their disability benefit from their retirement pay prohibiting them from collecting the benefits they were promised.

"As a Member of Congress from an area with a large concentration of veterans, and a major VA medical facility in Danville, IL I'm pleased to help promote this agreement that provides a new level of support for our nation's Veterans," Johnson said. "Under this plan, hundreds of thousands of disabled veterans will be on a path to receiving full concurrent receipt on January 1, 2004-and that is exciting news."

Highlights of the plan include:

Purple Heart:  The House plan continues to provide FULL CONCURRENT RECEIPT to ALL PURPLE HEART VETERANS who are retired after 20 years and who have a VA disability rating of 10% - 100%.

Combat-Related Special Compensation:  Under current law, combat-related special compensation (CRSC) veterans 60% disabled and above have full concurrent receipt through the Republicans' Purple Heart Plus plan for disabilities related to combat situations.  The House plan expands FULL CONCURRENT RECEIPT to ALL CRSC veterans with a VA disability rating of 10% - 100%.

National Guard and Reservists:  Very few retired reservists and national guardsmen now qualify under current law for the Purple Heart or CRSC concurrent receipt.  The House plan removes this barrier and extends FULL CONCURRENT RECEIPT to ALL RETIRED NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVISTS (10 - 100% disabled) who are Purple Heart recipients, or who are CRSC qualified.

Remaining Military Retirees:  Under current law, none of the remaining military retirees receive concurrent receipt.  The House plan establishes FULL CONCURRENT RECEIPT to the most disabled military retirees 50% disabled and above (50 - 100% disabled).

Blue Ribbon Commission:  Establishment of a 13-member, bipartisan Blue Ribbon Commission to review the current VA disability system and make recommendations to ensure the system adequately compensates veterans for disabilities they may incur as a result of their service.  The White House and Congressional leaders will appoint commissioners - more than half of whom will be highly decorated combat veterans.