The problem, as U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire sees it, is that soldiers wounded in Iraq are being denied bonuses when their injuries force an early military discharge.

The problem with the way Mr. Altmire presented the issue is that the soldier he had speak at a news conference wouldn't be affected by the the McCandless Democrat's proposed legislation.

U.S. Army Spc. Robert Kaminski of Shaler lost a leg and received a traumatic brain injury last year in Iraq. But under the terms of the contract he signed with the Army, he isn't eligible for an enlistment bonus.

But yesterday the wounded veteran spoke in favor of efforts by Mr. Altmire to stick up for his fellow soldiers who have fallen through the cracks -- those who might have brain injuries but haven't been screened, and those who were denied bonuses they deserve.

Mr. Altmire, D-McCandless, held a news conference yesterday at the Ross municipal building with Spc. Kaminski and other veterans to tout legislation he has authored to aid wounded soldiers.

At the forefront was a bill introduced last week and sent to committee that targets a Defense Department policy preventing eligible soldiers from receiving their full bonuses if discharged early because of combat-related injuries.

"Hard as it may be to believe, the Department of Defense has been denying injured servicemen and women the bonuses that they qualified for," Mr. Altmire said.

He said he drafted the legislation after hearing "outrageous" examples of bonuses being denied.

Although Spc. Kaminski did not illustrate the type of soldier Mr. Altmire is trying to aid, he was sincere in thanking the congressman for trying to help his comrades in arms. Having suffered a traumatic brain injury that has affected his memory, speech and cognition, he knows what soldiers with such wounds face.

Spc. Kaminski, 27, called the government's bonus policy "just plain wrong" and "utterly outrageous."

Mr. Altmire's legislation, the Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act, would require the Defense Department to pay bonuses in full within 30 days to veterans discharged because of combat-related wounds.

A consortium of 33 military and veterans organizations known as the Military Coalition has endorsed the bill.

Mr. Altmire also discussed a bill already passed by the House to mandate the Department of Veterans Affairs to screen soldiers for traumatic brain injury.

Mr. Altmire said estimates show that about 80 percent of injured soldiers who leave Defense Department facilities and go to the VA have brain injuries but are not diagnosed.

Mr. Altmire said the bonus problems, the lack of brain injury screening and other issues were uncovered by a presidential bipartisan Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, co-chaired by former Republican Sen. Bob Dole and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala.

"Our wounded warriors deserve the best health care in the world. We are going to give our wounded warriors and their families what they need to recover and return to duty or private life," said Cynthia O. Smith, a Defense Department spokeswoman.

She added that her department is working with the VA on issues including traumatic brain injury, personnel pay and financial support.