(Reprinted from The Macon Telegraph of Wednesday, July 31, 2003)

The time has arrived to put up or shut up

Veterans have been taking it on the chin as far as their retirement and disability benefits since 1891 when a law was passed that stripped them of the ability to collect both benefits at the same time without penalty. It's called "concurrent receipt" but Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Macon, has called it the "disabled veterans tax."

Marshall, a Vietnam veteran, has attempted to jump start the House of Representatives to bring the issue to a vote. The Senate has already passed a measure in the 2004 Defense Appropriations Bill. The House, though, has filed it away in committee, waiting for it to die.

Congress has been adept at avoiding the issue for the past 20 years, while at the same time giving political lip service to veterans. This time around, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has opposed the issue and the White House has threatened a veto if it makes it to the president's desk. But the protective political fog is lifting.

Marshall has started a discharge petition which would force the issue (H.R. 303) to a vote, if the petition gets the required 218 signatures from his fellow representatives. But there is a problem. So far the petition has only 202 signatures, and only one Republican has signed on, Rep. Thomas Tancredo of Colorado.

While Marshall has signed it and so have Georgia Reps. Sanford Bishop, John Lewis, David Scott and Denise Majette, where are the rest of the state's representatives? Reps. Jack Kingston, Johnny Isakson, John Linder, Mac Collins, Charlie Norwood, Nathan Deal, Phil Gingrey and Max Burns are missing in action, surely not happy that Marshall's measure could burn away their political cover and give the powerful veterans lobbying group the roll call names they would remember come next election cycle.

It's time for the Republican members of our delegation to put up or shut up. Some political aspirations could die if this issue dies again. Allowing concurrent receipt will be expensive. Estimates run from $270 million to $600 million annually, still a far cry from the $5 billion a month being spent in Iraq.

Who will fight our wars in the future if we don't prove we will take care of the veterans today? This issue has gone on long enough without resolution. AWOL members of Congress deserve to have their political cover lifted for all to see.