April 15, 2005

 

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

I respectfully request any information on the status of a decision about whether or not certain disabled retirees rated as individual unemployable (IU) will qualify for immediate concurrent receipt of Military Retired Pay and VA Disability Compensation per Section 642 of the FY 2005 National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law No: 108-375).

The Washington Post recently reported on this issue involving 24,000 military retirees which has yet to be resolved because of a dispute over the interpretation of the legislation by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

This is a priority issue for FRA because many of our members believe these individuals are qualified to receive the additional benefit. Any information your Administration may offer on the status of this determination will be appreciated.

Thank you for your attention to this request.

Sincerely,
JOSEPH L. BARNES
National Executive Secretary


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