New bill assists visually-impaired vets-Thanks to Tammy Baldwin

[admin]

New bill assists visually-impaired vets


MADISON — A bill to give veterans who are visually impaired in one eye greater compensation if they suffer loss of sight in the other eye was signed by President Bush this week, after it was repeatedly introduced by U.S. Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison) beginning seven years ago and eventually passed unanimously by both houses of Congress.

“Thanks to the persistence and hard work of Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and Dr. Jim Allen, veterans who are left vision impaired as a result of their military service will now be able to receive increased disability compensation,” said Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary John A. Scocos. “Rep. Baldwin and Dr. Allen worked tenaciously for seven years to build solid bipartisan support for this measure to rightfully assist thousands of visually impaired veterans from World War II to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including those here in Wisconsin.”

The Dr. James C. Allen Veteran Vision Equity Act changes the law to allow veterans who lost an eye or their eyesight through their military service to receive greater compensation if they subsequently suffer loss of sight in the other eye. Allen, for whom the bill is named, is a 79-year-old retired Madison ophthalmologist and Korean War veteran who treated veterans at the Wm. S. Middleton VA Hospital in Madison for more than two decades, and has remained active in advocating for his fellow veterans, including with Veterans for Peace, a national veterans’ advocacy group.

Copyright © 2007 Dunn County News


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Reference: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]