Ayotte Visits Merrimack VFW

U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) was in Merrimack on Tuesday morning to meet with local veterans.

During her stop at the Merrimack VFW, she was scheduled to talk to veterans about her efforts to restore military retirement benefits. Ayotte is scheduled to attend a fundraiser for Republican Congressional candidate Frank Guinta in Manchester on Tuesday evening.

Last week, Congress approved legislation that restores military retirement benefits for current military retirees and protects service members who joined the military before Jan. 1, 2014. The bill was signed into law on Saturday.

In December, Ayotte was the only member of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation to vote against a budget deal that unfairly singled out military retirees – including disabled veterans who retire because of their injuries – for $6 billion in benefit cuts. Ayotte noted at the time that the bill targeted retired and active duty service members, but protected existing federal civilian workers from an increase in pension contributions – resulting in a deal that lacked “shared sacrifice.” She vowed to do everything in her power to restore military retirement benefits, immediately introducing legislation to do so.

"We need to keep our promises to those who have sacrificed so much for our country. When I came to the Merrimack VFW in December, I said we’re not going to stop until we fix these unfair cuts for our military retirees. Since the start of this debate, I introduced or helped introduce more than a dozen pieces of legislation to right this wrong," Ayotte said. "Congress took an important step last week to restore military retirement benefits for those who have given so much in service to our nation. This victory wouldn’t have been possible without the support and advocacy of veterans in New Hampshire and across the nation, who helped Congress understand why it was wrong to target military retirees in the budget deal.

"I remain concerned that service members who have joined since January are now facing benefit cuts, even though a commission that is supposed to make recommendations on military compensation hasn’t finished its work. We need a careful study of how changes will impact recruitment and retention, and we should wait for the recommendations of this commission before making any changes to military compensation."

Ayotte was joined by at the event by leaders from New Hampshire’s veterans and military service organizations, including the VFW, the New Hampshire Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America, the New Hampshire State Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Catholic War Veterans of America, the New Hampshire State Veterans Advisory Committee and the Marine Corps League.