STOP CALLING TCAVA THE MAJOR RICHARD STAR ACT.
Read the bill.
If you want to understand why veterans are furious about the Take Care Of America's Veterans Act (
#TCAVA), start with two sections:
Section 101.
Section 108.
Section 101 does not simply restore the full retirement that combat-injured Chapter 61 retirees have been fighting for.
Instead, it creates a new formula and a "lesser of" calculation that leaves many veterans asking a simple question:
"If this is supposed to be the Major Richard Star Act, why isn't it restoring the full benefit?"
Then comes Section 108.
VA first proposed changes to tinnitus and sleep apnea ratings in 2022.
Four years later, those changes still were not finalized.
Now Congress wants to codify those changes into law and use the projected savings as an offset.
Think about that.
They didn't cut waste.
They didn't cut fraud.
They didn't cut bureaucracy.
They didn't cut foreign aid.
They didn't cut Pentagon bloat.
They reached into veterans' disability compensation and used veterans as the pay-for.
That is why organizations across the veteran community have spoken out against this approach.
The issue isn't whether veterans deserve new benefits.
They do.
The issue is whether one group of veterans should have to sacrifice benefits so another group can receive them.
Veterans have spent years fighting for a clean
#MajorStarAct.
Not a modified version.
Not a capped version.
Not a "lesser of" version.
Not a version funded by changing disability compensation.
The original mission was simple:
End the offset.
Restore earned retirement.
Stop making combat-injured veterans choose between retirement pay and VA compensation.
Congress had a bill with hundreds of bipartisan cosponsors.
Instead, we got
#TCAVA.
A package that changes the benefit.
Changes the formula.
Changes disability compensation.
And expects veterans to call it a victory.
Veterans are stronger when we stand together.
Wounded veterans should not pay for wounded veterans.
#MajorStarAct #TCAVA #HR1247