For years, veterans advocates have pushed Congress to pass legislation that would expand benefits for combat-injured veterans, increase support for surviving spouses, improve access to care and provide additional assistance to some of the nation's most severely disabled veterans. Many of those proposals enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support. Many never became law. Now congressional leaders say they have finally found a way forward. The newly introduced Take Care of America's Veterans Act combines more than 60 veterans bills into a single package, including the Major Richard Star Act, the Love Lives On Act, expanded benefits for catastrophically disabled veterans, caregiver reforms, VA modernization initiatives and dozens of other provisions. Supporters describe it as one of the most comprehensive veteran packages considered in years. But as Congress attempts to move the legislation, a fundamental disagreement has emerged. The debate is no longer about whether veterans deserve the benefits. The debate is about who should pay for them.
Congress Finally Found a Way to Move Long-Stalled Veterans Bills
The package represents years of work by lawmakers and veterans advocates. Among the most prominent provisions is the Major Richard Star Act, legislation that would allow many combat-injured veterans who were medically retired before reaching 20 years of service to receive both military retirement pay and VA disability compensation. Military.com has previously reported on the broader effort to expand benefits for wounded veterans and Gold Star families through the Major Richard Star Act and related legislation, as well as the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act, which is also included in the package. According to Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the Major Richard Star Act currently has 79 Senate cosponsors and 334 House cosponsors. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also publicly supported the legislation. "As I have said in the past to other organizations, we support the Major Richard Star Act," Hegseth said during an April Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. The package also includes the Love Lives On Act, which would eliminate the remarriage penalty affecting some surviving military spouses. In a previous interview with Military.com, Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., defended increases for catastrophically disabled veterans and surviving families.
