WASHINGTON – When the veteran in the army, Dan Nevins, was forced to retire medically from the army after he lost his legs in the fighting, he believed that he would be financially taken care of by the country he served.
However, Nevins soon discovered the so-called “wounded warriors tax”-an informal term for a federal policy that prohibits some of the old warriors who are injured from receiving both pension salaries and compensation for the deficit.
“I was told that I cannot receive both,” Nevins told NBC News in an interview. “I was like, waiting for a minute. This is not what I thought would happen.”
It is an issue that affects about 50,000 inventors of warriors, according to the non -partisan Congress budget office, each of them cost them about 1900 dollars per month.
Under the current federal policy, the veterans who have less than 20 years of service and disability aged 50 % have received a dollar of their retirement for every dollar they receive to compensate for the deficit. The disability classification is set by the Old Warriors Affairs Department and evaluates the amount of injury or disability that may affect the health of the old warriors and its ability to work.
Now, Nevins is pushing legislators in Washington to change this.
In 2004, when Nevins was deployed in Iraq as a division commander, an explosive device was detonated under his car. The explosion was killed by his species, and in the end the Nevins legs will be amputated at the bottom of the knee due to its injuries.
“People say when you are about to die in your life in front of your eyes. This was not really my experience. It was more like showing slices of the things that left,” said Nevins, who is still wearing a bracelet every day to honor his sergeant.
“The last type of vision was my 10 -year -old daughter, but she all grew and wears a white head to the soles of the feet, walking in the corridor without her father. I was like,” I am alive. I have to do something to keep it this way. “
After a painful and long recovery, which included 36 surgeries and 18 -month stay at Walter Reed Hospital, Nevins began to live his life again. This included learning some new skills, such as becoming a yoga -accredited coach.
But due to his injuries, Nevins left the army earlier than expected. This is when he was surprised, Nevins learned that he would not receive full retirement salary.
“It is a truly tragedy,” Nevins said. “Many people cut off what we will all take as a foregone of their lives, so that they can survive. I mean, it is not a lot of money, but it will help change life and families for the better.”
Congress is conducting a renewed batch to eliminate displacement with a draft law of the two parties, which is called by Major Richard Star Law, which would give the veterans of wounded warriors full advantages and payment of deficit.
Senator Richard Blumentel, D-Kun. The effort in the Senate, which includes 71 participating sponsors, while MP Jos Bilrakes, R. Flores, leads the bill in the House of Representatives, with 274 joint care.
“The old warriors have retired due to the wounds and injuries they received, and they are entitled to compensate for a deficit for them, but then their pension salaries in dollars are reduced due to the deficit compensation,” said NBC News. “They are punished because they were wounded … It is related to simple justice and fairness.”
But the draft law is assigned: The Central Bank of Oman was estimated in 2022 that the legislation would cost 9.75 billion dollars from 2024 to 2033. As the Trump administration is looking to trim government spending – including in the management of old warriors affairs – cost interests can stop in the traffic method.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Old Warriors Affairs said that he does not usually comment on suspended legislation, but he has pledged that no health care or benefits of old warriors would be reduced. The Ministry of Defense did not respond to a request to comment.
Bloomingal said he sees “a number of tracks” for the draft law. It is planned to submit it as an amendment to a draft law on the annual defense policy later this year. In the coming weeks, Bloomingal will try to present it according to consensus and “knowing who has the nerve to progress and says that we should be deprived of the basic fairness of the old warriors.”
Before the day of anniversary, Nevins traveled to Washington to defend the bill. He appeared at a press conference alongside the veteran at the Marine Corps of Jamal Daniels, who also lost his leg in the fighting. The two got acquainted with each other during their recovery operations, and even moving chair races in hospital corridors, according to Nevins.
Now, Nevins and Daniels are fighting for legislative reform in the Capitol halls. Nevins says his message to Congress is simple: respect the country’s adherence to old warriors.
“We must maintain our promises,” Nevins said. “I know my children to keep their promises, even when that is not suitable for them.”
