WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) led reintroduction, along with Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), of S. 1032, the Major Richard Star Act.
According to a press release, the bipartisan legislation would provide combat-injured veteran retirees their full benefits.
“The Major Richard Star Act corrects a severe injustice for combat-wounded veterans,” said Crapo. “The support for this correction is clear. Though the namesake of our legislation is no longer with us, I continue to press for its passage on behalf of the more than 50,000 veterans, including hundreds in Idaho, who stand to benefit.”
“Our veterans made significant sacrifices for our freedoms. Penalizing their retirement benefits due to injuries they incurred during their honorable service to our country is unacceptable,” said Risch. “The Major Richard Star Act protects the entirety of veterans’ earned benefits and give our nation’s heroes the respect they deserve.”
“This measure corrects one of the deepest injustices in our present veterans’ disability system,” said Blumenthal. “It is unacceptable that tens of thousands of combat-injured veterans are denied the full military benefits they earned. Our bipartisan bill will right this longstanding injustice and finally provide these military retirees who have already sacrificed so much their full VA disability and Defense Department retirement payments.”
Currently, only veterans with disability ratings above 50 percent and more than 20 years of service are eligible to receive the full amount of their U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) retirement and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability payments, leaving behind more than 50,000 combat-injured military retirees, including hundreds in Idaho. The Major Richard Star Act would fix this unjust policy for retired combat veterans – providing them full VA disability and DOD retirement payments earned by their service.
The bipartisan legislation is named in honor of Major Richard A. Star, a decorated war veteran who was forced to medically retire due to his combat-related injuries. Major Star sadly lost his battle with cancer on February 13, 2021. S. 1032 has 43 bipartisan co-sponsors.
Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-Florida) and Raul Ruiz (D-California) introduced companion legislation, with 185 bipartisan co-sponsors, in the U.S. House of Representatives.
