Sen. Schatz Demands Unpaid Veterans Be Reimbursed
A Hawai?i federal lawmaker is calling for the Department of Veterans Affairs to pay thousands of veterans the benefits they are owed after they were underpaid due to a technical error.
U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a top Democrat on the Senate Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, is joining U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), Vice Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, demanding that the VA pay back the estimated 360,000 veterans impacted by the errors. A November 28 story by NBC News reported the VA told Capitol Hill it won’t retroactively retroactively reimburse underpaid veterans.
“The VA’s current position is that the only way to fix this is to freeze current payments. That is Orwellian in its incompetence, and it is offensive in the real harm that it does to veterans who put their lives on the line for our country,” said Senator Schatz.
Source: Big Island Video News