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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 16, 2024 09:30 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Chris Pielli and Rep. Jared G. Solomon, Rep. Mark M. Gillen, Rep. David M. Delloso, Rep. Barry J. Jozwiak, Rep. Joe Webster, Rep. Natalie Mihalek, Rep. Nancy Guenst, Rep. Dane Watro, Rep. Brian Munroe |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Urging Congress to Support the Major Richard Star Act |
| Retired Army Major Richard Star passed away following a fight with stage four lung cancer in 2021. Major Star was a combat veteran with multiple overseas tours, including tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and is remembered for saving countless lives whilst clearing roads in Afghanistan of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Major Star will also be remembered for spending the final months of his life advocating for veterans who are medically retired and have a disability. According to his wife, Tonya Star, Richard’s greatest goal was to pass what would ultimately become H.R. 1282, or the Major Richard Star Act, named in honor of his memory. Under this legislation, all service members who are medically retired would have full access to both military retirement pay and Department of Veterans Affairs disability benefits. Today, for every dollar of disability pay that they receive, veterans with less than 20 years of service and a disability rating of less than 50% have their retirement payments reduced by a dollar. Under these rules, an estimated 50,000 retired service members are ineligible for concurrent benefits. Further, the average offset from this results in about $1,900 a month. While going through countless surgeries and chemotherapy due to his lung cancer, Major Star learned that he would not concurrently receive his retirement and disability pay through the Department of Defense. This is an injustice that requires attention. For these reasons and more, I will soon be introducing a resolution to urge Congress to support and pass the Major Richard Star Act (H.R. 1282). The United States owes a debt to its former service members, one that should not be dismissed based on costs. Please join me in co-sponsoring this important resolution to provide our veterans with the right to full compensation for their service. |
Introduced as HR404