Video: Following Pressure from Blumenthal, Hegseth Announces Commitment to Major Richard Star Act at Hearing

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today, Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Pete Hegseth pledged the Department's support for the Major Richard Star Act, following pressure from U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. This bipartisan legislation has been blocked twice in the last year by Senate Republican leadership.

"I want to talk about the cost of war. The cost of war includes caring for our veterans," Blumenthal said.

"We had an estimate from Mr. Hurst yesterday that the cost to date in dollars for this war has been $25 billion…But we also know that about 400 service members have been wounded as a result of this war. When they retire, when they come home, their retirement pay will be docked dollar for dollar for every disability benefit dollar they receive."

"Secretary Hegseth, I'd like your commitment that you will support the Major Richard Star Act. It will eliminate this wounded warrior tax. I am sure you are familiar with it. Tens of thousands of servicemen and women now are reduced in their retirement pay, literally, for every dollar of disability benefits they receive."

"As I have said in the past to other organizations, we support the Richard Star Act," replied Hegseth.

Later in the hearing, Blumenthal emphasized the need to get the legislation across the finish line by Veterans Day to Hegseth and noted he will look to the Secretary to ensure the legislation becomes law.

The Major Richard Star Act is bipartisan legislation to fix an injustice preventing combat-injured veterans from receiving their full military benefits. 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 DoD retirement and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability payments-leaving behind more than 50,000 combat-injured military retirees.

This legislation has overwhelming support from the majority of both chambers of Congress, with 79 bipartisan cosponsors in the Senate and 323 bipartisan cosponsors in the House. However, Senate Republican leadership has blocked two attempts from Blumenthal in October and March to advance this bipartisan legislation, claiming our country cannot afford these benefits. Last week, Blumenthal pressed Senate Republicans for blocking the bipartisan Major Richard Star Act over its costs while pursuing partisan legislation that will deliver $140 billion to ICE and CBP with no reforms.

The transcript and video link of Blumenthal's remarks are available here and copied below.

Sen. Blumenthal: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for being here today. I want to talk about the cost of war. The cost of war includes caring for our veterans. We had an estimate from Mr. Hurst yesterday that the cost to date in dollars for this war has been $25 billion, which I believe is well below the actual cost based on everything that I've heard, everything available to us in various kinds of settings and I'm going to ask for a more accurate assessment. But we also know that about 400 service members have been wounded as a result of this war. When they retire, when they come home, their retirement pay will be docked dollar for dollar for every disability benefit dollar they receive. Secretary Hegseth, I'd like your commitment that you will support the Major Richard Star Act. It will eliminate this wounded warrior tax. I am sure you are familiar with it. Tens of thousands of servicemen and women now are reduced in their retirement pay, literally, for every dollar of disability benefits they receive.

Sec. Hegseth: I appreciate your focus on this issue. I will tell you, you mention roughly 400 that have been injured, thankfully, over 90% have returned to duty. That doesn't mean that they wouldn't have a residual challenge. We are tracking that at point of injury to ensure that it noted-

Sen. Blumenthal: Well what I would like is your commitment that you will support the Major Richard Star Act?

Sec. Hegseth: As I have said in the past to other organizations, we support the Richard Star Act.

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