Gathering clouds.

This passage from Shakespeare's play "King Henry V" may sound familiar to many of you. It is the opening line of a speech the English monarch gave to inspire his weary troops to gather their strength and attack enemy fortifications one more time during the siege of Harfleur in 1415. So after having been beaten back several times during the month-long siege, those brave warriors finally took the French stronghold and earned their place in history.

I repeated those words to myself recently after learning that some in Congress have proposed to set up yet another "entitlement commission." Its goal would be to find ways to cut spending on government entitlement programs, such as Social Security, Medicare and veterans benefits.

That's right, the storm clouds are gathering again, as veterans benefits and programs many of us rely on could be threatened.

Legislation to create the so-called Securing America's Future Economy (SAFE) Commission has been introduced by Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) and Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.). That commission was proposed by President Bush in his State of the Union address in January, but delays in appointing such a panel sparked some lawmakers to move ahead with the idea.

In the past such commissions have gotten input from a variety of experts and think tanks in crafting recommendations for reforming entitlement programs. Those have included groups such as the Concord Coalition and the Heritage Foundation, which have long advocated slashing payments and means testing veterans disability compensation.

But these renewed threats to veterans disability compensation and other programs don't just come from the so-called SAFE Commission proposal. There also are efforts underway to revamp the federal budget process that could mean severe limits and even automatic spending cuts in both discretionary and mandatory funding.

The Stop Over-Spending (SOS) Act sponsored by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) would set deficit targets and require budget committees to reduce entitlement spending if there was too much red ink.

Additionally, the bill would create a commission to recommend ways to keep Social Security and Medicare solvent. A second commission would review all federal agencies and programs and make recommendations on eliminating programs it deemed unnecessary. Congress would then have to accept or reject these recommendations as a package.

What does the future hold for disabled veterans and their families in light of potentially draconian efforts to erode or eliminate veterans benefits?

It is uncertain for the moment. But many of the same themes that surfaced a decade ago with the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform could once again come into play.

In the meantime, your professional staff will closely monitor the situation. And, should it be necessary, a call to action will be issued for an all-out grassroots effort to protect VA health care, disability compensation and other benefits we have earned by our honorable service and sacrifice for our country.