ALBANY (Jan. 29, 2014) -- The American Legion is happy that President Barack Obama, in his fifth State of the Union address, pledged to reduce the disability claims backlog, improve access to health care at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) -- especially mental health care -- and continue to help veterans get jobs.
"Those are issues The American Legion continues to strongly advocate," noted New York State American Legion Commander Kenneth Governor. "But we also want to remind the president, and Congress, that we need to stop the looming cuts to pensions for military retirees 62 and younger." Their cost-of-living-adjustment benefit will be reduced by one percent per year for a full decade, as a result of the budget passed in December.
"The president and Congress are breaking the promise made to our service men and women by trying to balance the federal budget on the backs of veterans," Commander Governor said. "This needs to be stopped now with passage of new legislation currently before Congress."
