Let’s establish one rule immediately: If you break it, you buy it. This is the unwritten law of civilized society. Yet, within the halls of Congress, this rule apparently does not apply to the human beings our government sends to war.
There is a theft occurring in plain sight, obscured by bureaucratic jargon and legislative inertia. It is technically known as the Concurrent Receipt Offset, but history will record it by its true name: The Wounded Warrior Tax.
The solution to this injustice is the Major Richard Star Act (H.R. 1282 / S. 344). It is named for a man history must not forget. A decorated Army combat engineer, Major Star died of cancer linked to burn pit exposure. He spent his final days fighting a war on two fronts: one for his life, and one for the 50,000 combat-injured veterans currently being robbed of their earned benefits.
The History of the Lie
For decades, the U.S. government hid behind an obscure 19th-century statute banning “concurrent receipt.” This archaic rule dictated that a veteran could not receive both military retirement pay (for service) and VA disability compensation (for injury). For every dollar the VA provided for a missing limb or a traumatic brain injury, the Department of Defense deducted a dollar from the veteran’s retirement check.
Consider the implication: The government effectively forced veterans to fund their own disability benefits out of their own pensions.
In 2004, Congress finally admitted this was an injustice—but their fix was incomplete. They passed legislation allowing concurrent receipt, but only for veterans who had served at least 20 years.
Who did that leave behind? The most vulnerable group of all: The Chapter 61 Retirees.
These are the veterans who intended to serve 20 years but were medically retired early because they were blown up, shot, or sickened in combat. Because they did not reach the arbitrary 20-year mark, the government treats them as second-class citizens. To this day, if a combat-injured veteran with 15 years of service receives disability pay, their retirement pay is docked—dollar for dollar.
The Purpose of the Act
The Major Richard Star Act is a concise bill with a singular, moral objective: The total repeal of the offset for combat-injured veterans.
The logic is irrefutable:
Retirement Pay is a deferred salary for service rendered. You earned it.
Disability Compensation is restitution for pain, suffering, and a body broken in service to the state.
They are not the same. A veteran is entitled to both.
Why It Must Be Passed
Opponents of the bill hide behind the price tag, estimated at roughly $7 billion over ten years.
To them, we must present the historical reality. We always find trillions for the wars themselves. We find billions for defense contracts that balloon over budget. Yet, when the bill comes due for the human cost of those wars, the wallet is suddenly shut?
This is not an “entitlement.” This is a debt.
When a soldier signs their contract, they offer up their life and health. The government promises to care for them should they return broken. By enforcing this offset, the government is reneging on that contract. They are balancing the budget on the backs of the men and women who bled for it.
The Major Richard Star Act commands massive bipartisan support, yet it remains stalled by procedural nonsense. It is time to end the accounting tricks. It is time to stop taxing veterans for the injuries they sustained fighting for us.