Tell Congress: Disabled Veterans Are Not Budget Bargaining Chips
Friends,
Congress is still considering the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act (TCAVA), H.R. 9237/S. 4744, a package containing more than 60 veterans-related measures.
Many of those provisions have broad support. The major controversy is how Congress proposes to pay for some of them.
Under Section 108, the legislation would use projected savings from changes to VA disability ratings for tinnitus and obstructive sleep apnea to offset the cost of expanding other veterans’ programs and benefits. The Veterans of Foreign Wars says those changes could reduce future disability compensation by approximately $57 billion over 10 years and affect as many as 1.5 million veterans.
That is why the VFW opposes TCAVA as currently written, even though it supports many provisions contained in the legislation.
As VFW National Commander Carol Whitmore explained, “veterans’ benefits are an earned obligation of the nation” and should not be financed through reductions or other offsets that place additional burdens on veterans and their families. The VFW says Congress should fund new veterans programs without using disability compensation for another group of veterans as the offset.
There is a second major concern: what the proposed disability-rating changes would mean for veterans with tinnitus and sleep apnea.
Disabled American Veterans says Section 108 would effectively eliminate the stand-alone disability rating for many future tinnitus claims and significantly reduce compensation for many veterans with sleep apnea who use a CPAP or other treatment device.
The VFW also specifically opposes Section 108, arguing that disability ratings should be based on medical evidence and the effects of service-connected conditions, rather than changed because Congress needs savings to pay for other legislation.
So the disagreement is relatively straightforward:
Veterans organizations largely support many of the benefits contained in TCAVA. They disagree over whether projected reductions in disability compensation for veterans with tinnitus and sleep apnea should be used to help pay for those benefits.
Tell Congress: Disabled Veterans Are Not Budget Bargaining Chips
Take the action. Bring someone with you. And remember: change happens when ordinary people decide that silence is not an option.
Power belongs to the people.
Laurie Woodward Garcia
(paid with hugs and kisses, not bought by special interests)
Leader, People Power United
Sources:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/9237
https://www.vfw.org/media-and-events/latest-releases/archives/2026/6/vfw-action-alert-tell-congress-to-oppose-veterans-benefit-cuts
https://www.dav.org/learn-more/news/2026/dav-condemns-congressional-proposal-to-cut-disability-benefits-for-1-5-million-veterans/
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♥️. Please don’t let Congress pay for disabled service members who are disabled/injured with the benefits of other disabled vets misfortunes of needs of breathing apparatus such as CPAP and other medical equipment! In other words, don’t let Congress move around funds from the needs of some veterans to pay for the disability of other veterans. Stand strong and demand these vets be cared for with new funding !! They deserve BETTER!!!♥️
The very last thing we should mess with is our, “brethren who have served in the field,” Washington’s Prayer for America ! June 8, 1783 .