The text of the bill can be found here. It's pretty safe to assume the bill's support in the House is bipartisan as it passed unanimously (405-0).
The similar Senate bill (S.2400) was introduced a few days ago by Republican Jeff Sessions. On Friday, it passed by unanimous consent.
There still is, however, work to be done to reconcile the two bills. From the Army Times:
On Friday, the Senate passed its bill, the Wounded Warrior Bonus Equity Act, which promises retroactive payments to anyone who did not get his full bonus since Sept. 12, 2001, because a combat-related disability cut short his service. The Senate bill, S 2400, promises full payment of any unpaid portions of bonuses and special pays within 90 days of leaving active duty.
The House of Representatives was prepared Tuesday to pass a slightly different bill, one that does not allow any retroactive payments. The House bill allows full bonus payments in the future to anyone with a disability unable to continue military service as long as his injury was not his own fault. Payments are mandatory for combat-related disabilities and are allowed at the discretion of each service in other cases when a service commitment tied to a bonus is not met. Additionally, the bill, HR 3793, says that in cases where a service member is killed in action, the government is required to pay the full amount of unpaid bonuses or special pays to survivors or the deceased service member’s estate.
They're trying to get one bill passed through both houses:
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., is chief sponsor of the Senate bill, and Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., is chief sponsor of the House bill. Press aides to both lawmakers said there are efforts underway to get a compromise bill passed before Congress goes home at the end of the week, but time is short. Congressional leaders are hoping to wrap up key bills by Wednesday night or early Thursday, and intend for Congress to take a break until mid-January.
I'll keep you posted.
31 comments:
John K. says: And the Senate passed the war funding bill giving Bush all the 70 billion he wanted without any conditions. Ahhhh It is so sweet to see the left standing up to Bush. LOL LOL Anyone got an impeach Bush line out there? Anyone seen Murtha? LMAO
It's far beyond a shame that Congress has to step in and do this. The Bush Administration has demonstrated once again that they have absolutely no conscience where it comes to abusing the troops in every way they can -- cutting combat pay just as they launched the war, providing injured soldiers with lousy medical care, sending them into battle with inadequate equipment, and now going after their bonuses when troops are unable to complete their commitments due to injuries sustained in combat. Not to mention killing 3,895 brave young Americans and severely injuring tens of thousands for no reason other than enriching already-obscenely-rich buddies.
I'm not a big fan of Altmire, and for all I know he is doing this for crass political gain, but I commend him for it regardless of his motivation. It's time someone started to support the troops. Dubya has proved time and time again that he has no concern for them and no intention of giving them what it takes to protect and compensate them.
Agreed, regardless of motivation, Altmire done good here.
Love how the chickenhawk again shows his support for the troops. Would rather gloat about the predictable Democratic cave in than be happy about troops not getting screwed. As usual, support the troops really means blindingly support the president and his disastrous decisions (which, of course, the Democrats have unabashedly abetted).
Comrades,
Your noble oberfuhrer speaks:
Well...it looks like pelosi and reid failed again! Bush won, and it looks like we're going to win in Iraq. I know you guys are upset, but your just going to have to accept it. The people you helped to elect have failed you miserably. If I were you, I'd spend more time taking them on than us neocon wingnuts. Then again, maybe you libs should just abandon your "bush lied people died" ideology and join us. Sound good?
I can do you one better, fillipelli. Can you believe that Wingnuttia has been capable of producing an apostle to John K? A person who posts asshole taunts just for the sake of being an asshole? I would say that I can't understand how they think, except that would imply that they DO think. It must be painful enough living with all that hate when you're on top, let alone now that the country is starting to catch on to them.
These guys care about the welfare of America (or Iraq for that matter) the way reasonable folks care about the welfare of cockroaches.
I'm hurt by that comment, comrade schmuck...
Does promoting peace and freedom among my fellow human beings make me an asshole?
If it does, I don't know what to say.
I invite readers of all political inclinations to read Our Beloved Oberfuhrer's 1:52 post and make a judgement whether its purpose is "promoting peace and freedom among my fellow human beings," or whether it is a weak attempt to promote anger and irritation...that is, the work of a deliberate, albeit ineffective, asshole.
The Oberfuhrer's posts, having taken on the same brain-dead approach as the Laughing Chickenhawk, tend to resemble the speeches of the famous Roman Catholic dictator of Germany, what's his name. (Except I'm guessing that Hitler was able to spell -- at least in Latin!)
John K. says: What, no impeach Bush line. And sshitrock never did figure out why Washington hung Major Andre. Although, I suspect shitrock has no idea of what I am talking about. Shitrock just likes to accuse people of stuff without any facts to back them up. But there you have it. Bush got all the money he needs with no conditions. LMAO and best of all, the surge worked. Bush Wins!
Thanks for the chuckle, John. Just one little quibble: It's not I that who doesn't know what you're talking about.
So the scab has been ripped off from the ferocious clash of days earlier...
Just when you thought it was safe to come back to the comment pages...
I'm afraid the noble oberfuhrer must once again speak his words of wisdom:
Roman catholic dictator? Are you kidding me? To suggest religion played any role in the Holocaust is just plain stupid. Adolf Hitler was indeed on your team by the time the concentration camps opened up.
Comrade, by the way, I respect you enough that I don't use really bitter words when talking to you and refrain from using vicious language. I feel its wrong to talk about my fellow Americans that way, no matter how misguided they may be.
Comrade,
Once again, I will admit I did get a little carried away in my 1:52 post. I was just really happy to hear that we're going to continue to help Iraq as they rise up against terrorism and work to build a democracy.
What's with all this sparring? We should all be celebrating here. Iraq is stabilizing, your president has recieved the funds necessary to complete the mission, and Israel has remained safe this year. We have been able to celebrate the holidays in peace, and you guys have christmas coming next week. Therefore, we should all be thanking god for the victories in the fight against terrorism.
God bless Israel, long live the liberation of the Iraqi people.
Scmuck, as I have asked before...just relax.
Altmire giveth, and he immediately taketh away, being among those Democrats who gave up the $70 billion with no strings attached. At least his legislation will mean that those that survive but are just terribly disabled won't have to pay back any of their bonus. How gracious of him.
Oh, yes, the surge is working. Or, another way of saying it, is that the ethnic cleansing has worked, and now only 40 U.S. troops a month are dying. Oh glorious day. Of course, christians in Iraq are being persecuted (not that I am one, but you'd think the Jesus lovin' family values crowd might be a bit concerned about that), the refugee crisis is as bad as ever, and women who dare not cover their faces are being motherfucking beheaded, but these are just the normal growing pains of any burgeoning liberal democracy.
Oh, and Afghanistan, you know, the place where Dumbya let Obama get away, is a complete nightmare. So your president's got that going for him, too. He's winning, alright.
You are all crazy.The whole lot of you. Especially shitface or whoever the fuck he is.
Yeah Archie. We're crazy all right; and those of you who are in the 20-something percent possess pellucid ideation, perfect consistency.
For example, YOU support the troops by killing them. WE hate the troops by serving in the armed forces. YOU want smaller government, but your boys keep making it bigger and bigger. WE wreck the economy by creating more jobs in a month than Bush creates in a year. YOU believe in fiscal responsibility, so you triple the national debt...twice!
As for me personally, you bet I'm crazy. But as you have seen, I can make every one of you look like a fool. Not that it requires much skill to do that. You have no skill at all, and you make yourselves look like fools every time you post.
Bwahahahahaha!
How do you know Archie is a conservative?
I know I'm DEFINETELY not one. I could care less about small government or any of that stuff the right continually whines about.
Just because I defend the liberation of Iraq, that makes me a conservative? I'm foremost an independent, moderate, freedom-loving individual concerned about some of the things happening in the world.
As for you, Fillipelli, I'm glad to see you've decided to become a Middle East analyst, you sure pointed out a lot of exagerated problems in Iraq, never mind the fact that refugees are returning in record numbers, Christians are flocking back to Baghdad and reopening churches, and woman don't have to worry about being raped by the republican guard. Yeah, there's still some bad problems happening over there, but if we keep working hard, we can bring full stability and democracy. Just what do you think would happen if we follow your plan for withdrawal? I'm guessing a mass killing on the scale of cambodia and rwanda. Yep, history does repeat itself, and we need to stay in Iraq and finish the job.
John K. says: Anyone figure out where shitrock gets his 20% number from? Especially since shitrock has to yet to figure out who Major Andre is.
Major John Andre was hung for being a spy during the Revolutionary War.
He was the guy Benedict Arnold was dealing with when the latter tried to turn over West Point.
Not sure what that has to do with anything.
You anticipated my point, Anon 7:43.
Surely clear-minded bloggers here will notice how the proponents of American World Domination constantly attempt to hide their logical deficiencies by trying to channel the conversation into topics wherein they are comfortable. The topic in this thread, for example, is a minor patch -- Senate Bill 2400 -- that Congress has applied to the Bush Administration's attempt to eviscerate the American military. Our blood-thirsty friends (from which one may omit the "r" without losing accuracy) have attempted to turn the coversation to:
-- Gloating over the disastrous draining of the treasury by funding the continuing rape of Iraq;
-- Promoting "peace and freedom" through war and bondage;
-- A non-existent impeachment process;
-- British spies in the American Revolutionary War;
-- A resumption of a futile attempt to deny Der Fuhrer's ardent Christianity;
-- My personal state of serenity;
-- Our collective mental health;
-- Cambodia, where we never had a significant number of troops to withdraw; and
-- Rwanda, where we never had any troops to withdraw.
This is quite a stunning effort, albeit unsuccessful, considering they have posted only about 11 comments so far.
Perhaps I'm being too hard on them. It may not be deliberatly dishonest technique. It may simply be Attention Deficit Disorder. Unlike my, shall we say, less liberal opponents, I make no claim to psychological insight. (Could this be because I've spent less time hospitalized for mental treatment? Dunno.)
So mirroring their effort, I will take another stab at dragging this DIScourse back ON course by asking our zany friends two simple questions:
Why do you and your masters in the White House hate our soldiers? And
Why have you never served America in our Armed Forces?
John K. says: What does Major Andre have to do with anything? Well shitrock tried to say, two days ago, and this is funny, that Washington had a policy of no torture of EPWs. Except he failed to mention that Andre was hung without a trial and after the English had asked for his return. Shitrock also failed to mention that after the Battle of Long Island, where Hessians had bayoneted his troops in the back, Washington had no problem doing the same. Which proves shitrock has no historical frame of reference for anything other than lying and hoping no one in here is smart enough to catch it. Which makes me LOL LOL because the left really has no way of knowing if shitrock is lying. LOL LOL
What? Still no answer to my questions?
But I do appreciate your providing another example of an attempt to drag the conversation away from the topic at hand; viz. how those on the extreme fringe right -- such as you and your disciple, the Oberfuhrer -- abuse our troops.
Thanks John!
John, you hit the nail right on the head. Comrade Schmuck knows very little about history, and loves to to skew and twist around the facts he needs to make his rants and accusations seem true.
Comrade, I'll answer some of your questions...
-I love our soldiers, and I work with them to deliver toys to Iraqi children in Baghdad
-At the same time, the military is not for everyone, and my role is travel and help make the world a better place...do you have a problem if that?
-Because of our quick withdrawal from Vietnam, the communist north crushed the south and helped to thrust to Khmer Rouge into power.
-I brought up Rwanda because its a prime example of a terrible tragedy that could have been stopped with outside intervention
-and once again, Hitler was not a christian. Not that it matters to you, since you have a tendancy to sort through the facts and pick the parts that only fit your agenda.
So far, the neocons have loved 3,896 of our soldiers to death. I'm not sure how many toys that amounts to.
Our friends the Whackos are of course correct that my knowledge of history is extremely limited. At my age, I can't remember how I started this sentence. But I'm fair to middlin' at geography, and I'm still trying to figure out when Cambodia moved into Vietnam.
And once again, we all know Hitler was a Roman Catholic. Not that facts hold much water with the Faithful. Next the Wingnuts will be telling us that Pope Stephen VI, Pope Boniface VIII, and Torquemada were Buddhists. Oops! I forgot, I don't know any history!
at 10:28am our troll posted this:
Except he failed to mention that Andre was hung without a trial and after the English had asked for his return.
This during a discussion about how the Schmuch don't know much about history (kudos to anyone who can remember the Sam Cooke song).
Too bad it is our troll who's wrong.
Major John Andre was put on trial. Look here. Here's the first sentence:
At Washington's order, on September 29, 1780, a board was convened to examine and try Major John Andre.
Doesn't get much clearer than that. And so the troll doesn't get much wronger.
Then there's the charge: espionage. He wasn't a prisoner of war, he was charged with being a spy. Indeed the Board found UNANIMOUSLY that:
Major Andre, Adjutant General of the British Army, ought to be considered a spy from the enemy, and that, agreeable to the law and usage of nations, it is their opinion he ought to suffer death.
It also turns out that the trial came before the negotiations to exchange Arnold for Andre. But these were turned down BY THE BRITISH.
LMAO at how stupid John K looks now. Almost as stupid as the nimrod sitting in the oval office. ROFL LMAO.
Anon, you're playing their game. Whether or not Andre was tried has nothing to do with torture, just as killing enemy soldiers with bayonets has nothing to do with torture.
The only enjoyment the Loonies get out of life is getting a rise out of people like us who think with our brains instead of our testes, so they constantly change the subject to keep us (they think) agitated.
It would be a full-time job for a platoon to answer every inaccuracy they publish here. And even when we do drop to their level and return fact for falsehood, they keep insisting, for example, that Hitler was not a Christian despite Hitler's own extensive testimony to the contrary.
Who the hell said I was conservative? Quick to judge me shitrock? Just cause I say that your not mentally stable does not mean I am conservative. You make no one but yourself look like a fool with ignorant responses such as the one you responded to my comment with.
It's been 12 hours since he's been shown to be completely wrong about Major Andre and still no comment from John K?
LMAO! ROFLMAO!
I win!
John K, you've been pwned and the pwnage has been brutal.
CSL! LMAO!
JohnK, you need to GAL. I just GOL when I read your comments.
XOXOXO
My apologies, Archie. I assumed you were conservative because you have that conservative approach -- you know, angry, unreasonable, rude, unthinking. Well, you know what they say about assuming: It makes an ass out of Archie.
So again, I'm sorry to have insulted you. And thank you for reminding me that a person doesn't have to be a conservative to be disagreeable.
Looks like shitrock is once again living up to his name...
Some of our most radically right-wing friends here seem to think that "shitrock" means "accurate."
Actually, as I am sure I have mentioned lately (but they never actually read anthing), my nom de plume was bestowed on me by two of their benighted brethren back at the start of my career on this blog. Since insults from Whacky Righties are the same as compliments from sane persons, I wear those names with pride.
Seriously, Oberfuhrer, I offer my warmest wishes to you and your family on the celebration of the 2007th birthday of your Lord and Savior. May he smile upon you and keep you happy, healthy, and prosperous in the new year, and may four or five Christians in our country actually begin to live as he prescribed.
The same to all you unfortunate muddle-minded Christian extremists, including Mein Heir, X, John K. and all the anonymous Konservative Krazies (if you are, in fact, Christian. Otherwise, see the next paragraph).
To all of you conservative non-Christians out there, I hope you, too, are filled with the spirit that is reputed to be associated with the holiday, and may your own version of the Flying Spaghetti Monster protect you from the "peaceful" Christians. BTW, Moosie, why DID you guys kill Jesus? Just kidding.
Thank you so much comrade,
I hope you enjoy the season as well
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