Every veteran knows the cost of service and the promise that comes with it. If we’re changed in service, our nation will be there for us when we come home.

Policies like PAYGO (pay as you go), CUTGO (cut as you go), sequestration and budget caps were created to control government spending. In reality, Congress can ignore these rules when it chooses, even as federal deficits and the national debt continue to rise. Yet some politicians hide behind them when it comes to improving veterans benefits and services.

When lawmakers try to expand or strengthen veterans benefits, PAYGO requires them to offset the cost by cutting other programs or raising revenue. That means even widely supported proposals can stall, not because they’re controversial but because of how they’re paid for.

For veterans, that creates a fundamental problem.

Our benefits aren’t optional. They were already paid for through service and sacrifice. Yet these rules treat them like any other government program, forcing veterans to effectively pay for improvements to their own care.

These budget constraints have real-world consequences. They can delay expansions in benefits and access to care, prevent improvements to Department of Veterans Affairs programs, and impose funding limits that don’t match veterans’ needs. Even when Congress wants to act, these rules can slow or stop progress.

The Major Richard Star Act and the Love Lives On Act are perfect examples. These bipartisan bills, which would achieve key DAV policy goals by eliminating the offset between military retirement pay and VA disability compensation and by strengthening survivors benefits, respectively, are being held up under the guise of PAYGO.

DAV is working to ensure veterans aren’t held back by budget rules that ignore the true cost of war. We’re calling on Congress to exempt all veterans programs, benefits and services from PAYGO requirements. We also believe veterans programs should be protected from sequestration and across-the-board cuts and that funding for veterans benefits and VA healthcare should be exempt from arbitrary budget caps so it can reflect real-world demand.

The cost of war doesn’t end when service members come home. It continues in the care and benefits veterans have earned.

That cost is a national responsibility. It shouldn’t be shifted back onto those who have already borne the cost of service.

Removing PAYGO and budget caps for veterans isn’t about avoiding fiscal responsibility. It’s about keeping faith with those who served.

DAV will continue fighting to ensure that promise is kept for you, your family and every generation of veterans to come.