Excerpts from response to "Friends and Family" letter from U.S. Congressman Bart Gordon (TN).
Washington DC 20515-4206
August 29,2001
Dear Mary Alice:
Thank you for contacting me about the need to correct a 1986 law that reduces the pensions of part-time nurses retiring from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It helps me better represent Middle Tennessee when I hear from you.
I spoke to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs about this situation and to discuss how it might be addressed. The committee informs me that it is aware of the need to correct the 1986 law and legislation pending. In the House, H.R. 2182, the Department of Veterans Affairs Employee Retirement Equity Act, is under review by the committee. Meanwhile, the Senate has included a correction in S. 1188, the Department of Veterans Affairs Nurse Recruitment and Retention Enhancement Act. Since the Senate bill has been given priority, the committee believes the retirement issue has a good chance of being addressed in this term of Congress.