FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (72)
December 3, 2009
Protection of Veteran’s Benefits from Third Party Attachment Dates Back to Post Revolutionary War!
CHAP. LIII – An Act for the relief of certain surviving officers and soldiers of the army of the revolution. [Approved May 15, 1828]
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the pay allowed by this act shall, under the direction of the Secretary Treasury, be paid to the officer or soldier entitled thereto, or to their authorized attorney, as such places and days as said secretary may direct; and that no foreign officer shall be entitled to said pay, nor shall any officer or soldier receive the same, until he furnish to said secretary satisfactory evidence that he is entitled to the same conformity to the provisions of this act; and the pay allowed by this act shall not, in any way, be transferable or liable to attachment, levy, or seizure, by any legal process whatever, but shall inure wholly to the personal benefit of the officer or soldier entitled to the same by this act.
Below is another historical reference to ‘protection of veterans’ benefits’ discovered by the OFFE research team.
SEVENTY CONGRESS. SESS. 510 August 12, 1935
SEC. 3 Payments of benefits due or to become due shall not be assignable, and such payments made to, or on account of, a beneficiary under any of the laws relating to veterans shall be exempt from taxation, shall be exempt from the claims of creditors, and shall not be liable to attachments, levy, or seizure by or any legal or equitable process whatever, either before or after receipt by the beneficiary,
As you can see, this issue is not a new idea; Congress has addressed ‘protection of veteran’s benefits’ several times over the centuries. In fact, the laws protecting veteran’s benefits are some of the oldest laws on the books, and date back to our founding fathers and the War of 1812.
The search of Congressional Records is a part of a 7 year study conducted by members of Operation Firing For Effect, the grassroots veteran’s advocacy group headquartered in Walworth, New York. OFFE Texas Director of Operations, Simon Alvarado, and OFFE Iowa Director of Operations, Jerry Bohr are heading-up the OFFE 5301 research effort, and both Alvarado and Bohr continue to collect documents and other evidence to protect our disabled veterans.
According to OFFE National Chairman, Gene Simes, combat disabled veterans are routinely stripped of their veteran’s disability benefits by civil divorce court judges nationwide everyday of the week. The OFFE team has also discovered State family courts in general have absolutely no respect for the disabled veteran, or their rights. Civil court judges do not recognize the Federal laws which protect our disabled veterans and their benefits. This unjust practice by divorce court judges has resulted in disabled veterans becoming homeless, and even suicidal.
Gene Simes summarized the 5301 situation like this; “When a combat disabled veteran falls on hard times, loses their job, their house, facing bankruptcy, experiencing failing health, emotionally unstable and going through a divorce, the feelings of hopelessness and helplessness can be overwhelming. When facing such hardships in life the one thing a disabled veteran should be able to count on are their military benefits – which in many cases they earned on the battlefield with their blood, sweat, and tears. It is at these low points in life when these disability benefits are needed the most, and when they can help the greatest. To allow anyone the ability to arbitrarily or ambiguously take these benefits from them is cruel and unjust. I honestly believe Congress wrote 5301 with all of this in mind. And our research supports that argument,” Simes added.
Last month, OFFE submitted a formal written request to California Congressman Bob Filner for a public hearing before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs to present 12 personal testimonies from disabled veterans (male, and female) directly affected by the 5301 issue. We are currently awaiting a reply from Congressman Filner’s office.
Although there have been several attempts to pass legislator through the General Assembly at the State levels (including the passing of SB285 in California), Gene Simes and the OFFE team are convinced that Congress is the only entity capable of correcting this problem, as it was Congress who wrote USC, Title 38 in the first place.
Operation Firing For Effect has been at the forefront of the national debate over ‘protection of veterans’ benefits’ for several years now. For more about this story, visit; ‘AREA 5301’, http://jerebeery.com/AREA%205301.htm .
Jere Beery
OFFE National Public Relations Director