NDAA Still on Back Burner

Hurricane Katrina and Senate confirmation hearings for a Chief Justice have kept the fiscal 2006 Defense authorization act and dozens of proposed amendments off the radar screen for weeks. One amendment would eliminate the offset of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation by Survivor Benefit Plan payments. Another would accelerate the effective date of 30-year paid-up SBP from Oct. 1, 2008, to Oct. 1, 2005. Yet another would institute immediate concurrent receipt for disabled retirees rated as Individually Unemployable by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Also on tap is an amendment to require mandatory funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs medical system. Two amendments would reduce the Guard and Reserve retirement age from the current 60 years. Also pending is an amendment that would encourage civilian employers to pay the difference between the military pay of their activated employees and the civilian pay they were receiving prior to mobilization.