Veterans with combat-related injuries rallied near the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to urge lawmakers to finally act on a long-stalled proposal to allow all veterans full access to military retirement pay and Department of Veterans Affairs disability benefits.
Despite wide bipartisan backing, the Major Richard Star Act has languished for years, increasingly frustrating the veterans who are losing thousands of dollars in benefits that could help them support themselves and their families.
“Even before I medically retired, I got another job because I needed to provide for my wife, and at that time, we welcomed our first child right after I retired,” said Ryan Kules, an Army veteran who lost his right arm and left leg in an improvised explosive device blast in Iraq in 2005. “So, I had a growing family and needed to get back into the workforce. And if I had had that additional income that I had earned, I would have been able to take some more time to adjust, but I didn’t have a choice.”
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Kules, who now works at Wounded Warrior Project, was speaking to Military.com after a news conference across the street from the Capitol hosted by his organization and other veterans groups to urge Congress to move on the Major Richard Star Act.
Specifically, the organizations called for the measure to be added to the Senate’s annual defense policy bill as…
