Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2006

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4843) to increase, effective as of December 1, 2006, the rates of disability compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors of certain service-connected disabled veterans, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4843, as amended, is one of the more important bills the committee brings to the floor each year.

On April 6 of this year, the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, chaired by Mr. Miller of Florida, took testimony on H.R. 4843. The subcommittee then marked this bill on June 8 and reported the bill favorably to the full committee by unanimous voice vote. The full committee reported the bill, as amended, on June 22.

H.R. 4843, as amended, would provide a cost-of-living adjustment, a COLA, to disabled veterans and certain survivors in the same amount given to Social Security recipients. All veterans who receive disability compensation and qualified survivors would receive the adjustment beginning December 1 of this year. Congress has acted on COLA legislation every fiscal year since 1976.

More than 2.6 million veterans receive service-connected disability compensation. These benefits are paid monthly and range from $112 for a 10 percent disability to $2,393 for a 100 percent disability. Additional monetary benefits are available for our most severely disabled veterans, as well as those with dependents.

Spouses of veterans who died on active duty or as a result of a service-connected disability may also be entitled to monetary compensation. The amount of the dependency and indemnity compensation is $1,033.

Additional amounts are paid to survivors who are housebound or in need of aid and attendants or have minor children. Currently, about 340,000 surviving spouses and children are receiving survivors' benefits.

The amendment to the bill by Ms. Berkley would also provide a COLA to the dependency and indemnity compensation transitional benefit. Established in Public Law 108-454, transitional DIC is a 2-year benefit; and it is intended to ease the family's transition following the death of a service member or veteran.

The Congressional Budget Office is projecting a 2.2 percent COLA increase, but it may be higher or lower depending upon the changes in the Consumer Price Index. The exact percentage will be calculated as of September 30, 2006.

The cost of providing a COLA is assumed in the administration's budget baseline; therefore, it will be budget neutral. Additionally, H.R. 5385, the Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill of 2007 fully funds a veterans' COLA effective December 1, 2006.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks and that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4843, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like the Members to note that last year when we came to the floor, we thought that the COLA was going to be about 2.7 percent. Once they did the adjustment on the CPI, it ended up being about 4.1 percent. I don't know what it is going to be this year. That was a huge change. Even though we are saying approximately 2.2, I don't know what it is going to be.

I would like to thank Lane Evans and Bob Filner for their work. I would also like to thank Mr. Miller and Ms. Berkley. I would like to thank Mr. Udall and Ms. Brown. Also, I thank them in appreciation for the timely fashion in which they moved this bill through the committee and now onto the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2006.

I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, this week H. Con. Res. 427 passed the House of Representatives by voice vote. This bill would permit the use of the rotunda of the Capitol for a ceremony to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Department of Veterans Affairs. I would like to lend my voice to this memorable event.

Madam Speaker, in 1930 President Hoover signed Executive Order 5398 which established the Veterans Administration a ultimately led to the formation of the Department of Veteran Affairs. The VA (as it has affectionately become known) has strived to both honor and serve the men and women who protect one of our Nation's most treasured ideals-- liberty. For 75 years, the VA has helped ensure that those who choose to enter the armed services are not forgotten after they honorably serve their country.

For this reason, we should celebrate the concept and accomplishments of the VA. Indeed, the VA is a vital cabinet level department, which oversees an honorable and necessary function of the U.S. Government.

The VA has three branches, which aim to provide a smooth transition for veterans when they return home from active duty. These branches-- the Veterans Health Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration--should be roundly applauded for their service to America's former servicemen and servicewomen.

Beginning in 1946, the VA's health unit, now known as the Veterans Health Administration, has sought to provide adequate health care to injured veterans returning from war, starting with World War II. Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, the VHA expanded into a leading health care provider and now has over 150 medical centers across the country. According to the VA, provided care to more than 5.3 million individuals in 2005.

In addition to providing health care services, the VA, through its Veterans Benefits Administration branch, has provided educational services to veterans, beginning with the passage of the GI Bill in 1944. According to the VA, 7.8 million World War II veterans, alone, benefited from educational opportunities that the bill offered. I also applaud the VA for assisting the families of our fallen heroes, the men and women of our armed services who died in combat fighting for liberty. The VA's National Cemetery Administration should be praised for providing memorials to those veterans who died for our liberty.

Madam Speaker, it is an honor for me to have the opportunity to recognize the VA for what is has and will continue to do for our veterans. As a member of the House of Representatives, I always look to support legislation that honors our veterans. On June 27, 2006, the House of Representatives agreed to H.R. 4843, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2006. H.R. 4843 increases compensation rates to veterans with service-oriented disabilities, and the House of Representatives should be proud of this great legislation.

But, Madam Speaker, on July 19, 2006, when we commemorate the VA's 75th Anniversary, let us not forget that much more needs to be done to pay homage to our veterans, particularly those who are coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Madam Speaker, the VA reported in August 2005 that almost 23 percent of homeless men and women are veterans. Madam Speaker this percentage is far too high and far too shameful.

On a bi-partisan basis, Congress must work with the Veterans Affairs to right this seemingly forgotten atrocity. The men and women who honorably serve our great Nation deserve not only to be treated as heroes in war; they deserve to be treated as heroe when they return home.

The men and women of the U.S. armed services make it possible for us to debate. Madam Speaker, let us not debate the honor veterans deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Buyer, Ranking Member Evans, and our Subcommittee Chairman Miller, as well as Senator Craig and Senator Akaka on the Senate side, for moving forward on this bill. Passage of this legislation will assure most of the men and women currently receiving benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) receive a well-deserved increase in benefits as of January 1, 2007.

We should never allow the compensation received by veterans, disabled in service to the Nation to erode in value as the cost of living rises. S. 2562, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2006, will help our service-disabled veterans and their survivors maintain the purchasing power of their benefits in 2007 by providing for an increase in benefits.

This bill will help most, but not all, VA beneficiaries maintain the value of their benefits. Once again, I am disappointed that the bill does not include funding to allow our widows, widowers and their children to receive a cost-of-living adjustment for their supplemental transitional benefits as provided in the House passed bill. As a result, the value of the $250 transitional benefit paid to surviving spouses with minor children for their first 2 years of eligibility will erode in value in 2006.

Mr. Speaker, if we can find millions to maintain the tax cuts provided to our wealthiest citizens, surely we can find an additional five or ten dollars a month to maintain the transitional benefit paid to our surviving spouses with children at its current purchasing power. Our Gold Star Wives, husbands whose wives have perished in our current conflict and their children deserve better.

No amount of money can adequately compensate our veterans for the loss of their health, or families for the loss of a loved one. It is important that the benefits, which our Nation provides to partially compensate for such losses, do not lose their value over time.

In 2005, over 29,000 veterans in Nevada received disability compensation or pension payments from VA and thousands of Nevada family members and survivors receive VA cash benefits.

The action we are taking here today will help the Nevada veterans and families who depend on these VA benefits.

I understand the urgency of passing this COLA so that veterans and their dependents will receive a timely increase in VA benefits. I hope that before this Congress recesses for the year, the increase in DIC benefits and other provisions passed by the House and Senate can be enacted into law. Those who have served this Nation, deserve no less.

S. 2562 will receive my full support and it deserves the support of all Members of this House.

The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time, was read the third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I would like to thank Chairman Buyer, Ranking Member Lane Evans, subcommittee Chairman Jeff Miller and our subcommittee Ranking Member, Ms. Berkley, for their work on this bill. In particular, I want to thank Ms. Berkley for her amendment, which was offered during our markup and which received unanimous bipartisan support.

H.R. 4843, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2006, will help our service-disabled veterans and their survivors maintain the purchasing power of their benefits in 2007. Ms. Berkley's amendment assures our Gold Star Wives with young children that the value of their benefit will not continue to erode as it did during this current year.

Unfortunately, many do not fully recognize that the benefits we pay to men and women who have borne the battle, their widows, widowers, and children are a continuing cost of war. Indeed, the VA is currently paying benefits to survivors of Civil War veterans. We have a moral obligation to the men and women who put on the uniform and are harmed in the service of the Nation that we will compensate them for the harm which occurs. We have many examples where this is not being done, because, although costs increase, the benefit has remained static. The least we can do for the young families of our deceased veterans is to provide them the full value of the 2-year transitional benefit they receive.

Although we will not know the exact percentage by which the benefit is to be increased until the Consumer Price Index is calculated in October, I expect this bill will help VA beneficiaries maintain the value of their benefits.

No amount of money can ever compensate our veterans for the loss of their health or the families for the loss of a loved one. Nonetheless, it is critical that the monetary value of these benefits, which partially compensate for such losses, is not reduced merely by the passage of time.

In 2004, over 28,000 veterans in New Mexico received disability compensation or pension payments from the VA. Many New Mexico family members of veterans and their survivors also receive VA cash benefits. The action we are taking here today will help the veterans in my congressional district who depend on these VA benefits.

H.R. 4843, as amended, will receive my full support; and it deserves the support of all Members of the House.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown), a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee who has been a fighter for our Nation's veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the Senate bill (S. 2562) to increase, effective as of December 1, 2006, the rates of compensation for veterans with service- connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the bill (S. 2562) the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of- Living Adjustment Act of 2006, and move for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, the annual cost-of-living adjustment, S. 2562, as amended, is one of the more important bills the Congress considers each year since it was first provided in 1976. Briefly, S. 2562, as amended, would authorize a cost-of-living adjustment--COLA--to VA's disability compensation effective December 1, 2006, as well as publication of the rates.

The Congressional Budget Office currently projects the COLA will be 2.2 percent. However, it may be higher or lower depending on changes in the Consumer Price Index. The exact percentage will be calculated in the next few weeks and the COLA will go into effect on December 1, 2006.

The cost of providing a COLA is assumed in the Administration's budget baseline. Likewise, H.R. 5385, the Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2007, fully funds this year's veterans COLA.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Ranking Member Lane Evans for all his hard work and cooperation this Congress in his advocacy for veterans on this and other legislation. It has been truly a pleasure to work with him as Ranking Member this Congress. I do not think he ever forgot the core values shared by his family, and taught by his parents where he grew up. These same core values were polished by the United States Marine Corps. He embraced them and they were enduring and they helped guide him here in his service to country. Mr. Evans will be missed on this Committee and in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I hope all Members will support this bill and I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks and that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks, and include extraneous material on S. 2562, as amended.