SENATORS FROM Arkansas laud bills to aid veterans.
Arkansas’ U.S. senators on Tuesday praised the passage of two separate U.S. House of Representative bills that aim to benefit veterans.
The first bill would ease the process of burying veterans for families without enough money. It mirrors a bill drafted by U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Dardanelle, in the Senate.
The Charles Duncan Buried with Honor Act would allow indigent veterans to receive burial benefits at state and federal veterans cemeteries. Under current law, they may only receive burial benefits on federal grounds.
Cotton named the bill after a Little Rock veteran who died last year. He was buried at Fort Smith National Cemetery, and his family was unable to attend. Had the bill been enacted before his death, he could have been buried at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery at North Little Rock, closer to his family.
The Senate passed the bill in September, and it will now go to the White House for presidential approval.
“I’m grateful to the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs for bringing this matter to my attention,” Cotton said in a statement. “Charles Duncan wasn’t the first veteran in this position, but this change will help ensure that he is one of the last.”
Also Tuesday, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, a Republican from Rogers, urged his fellow senators to take action after the House passed legislation that would end taxation on the severance pay of combat-wounded veterans.
Under federal law, veterans who suffer combat-related injuries should not have their severance payments taxed, but taxes have been assessed on those payments due to limitations of the U.S. Department of Defense’s automated payment system.
A news release from Boozman’s office said most veterans are unaware of the unlawful garnishment. The bill would allow those veterans to recoup some of the money improperly withheld.
Boozman has co-sponsored similar legislation in the Senate.
“I remain committed to working with my colleagues to finish this effort,” Boozman said in a statement. “The fact that this is happening to the men and women who have sacrificed so much for our nation is unjust and needs to be corrected.”