S. 1590Senate118th Congress (2023-2025)In Committee

Justice for ALS Veterans Act of 2023

A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to extend increased dependency and indemnity compensation paid to surviving spouses of veterans who die from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, regardless of how long the veterans had such disease prior to death, and for other purposes.

AI-Generated Summary

Updated January 20, 2026 at 7:23 AM UTC

The Justice for ALS Veterans Act of 2023 changes the law so that surviving spouses of veterans who die from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) receive the higher rate of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) regardless of how long the veteran had ALS. The amendment applies to veterans who die from ALS on or after October 1 2022 and affects the benefits paid to those spouses.

Key Provisions

Adds a new subparagraph (B) to 38 U.S.C. § 1311(a)(2) stating that a veteran who dies from ALS is treated as a veteran eligible for the increased DIC rate, without considering the length of the disease.
Sets the effective date of this provision to October 1 2022 for any veteran who dies from ALS on or after that date.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Veterans' Affairs Committee

May 11, 2023

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

May 11, 2023

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Veterans' Affairs Committee

May 11, 2023

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued May 11, 2023

118th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 1590

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

May 11, 2023

Mr. Coons (for himself, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Rounds) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to extend increased dependency and indemnity compensation paid to surviving spouses of veterans who die from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, regardless of how long the veterans had such disease prior to death, and for other purposes.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Justice for ALS Veterans Act of 2023.

Extension of increased dependency and indemnity compensation to surviving spouses of veterans who die from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

(a)

Extension

Section 1311(a)(2) of title 38, United States Code, is amended—

(1)

by inserting (A) before The rate; and

(2)

by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

(B)

A veteran whom the Secretary determines died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis shall be treated as a veteran described in subparagraph (A) without regard for how long the veteran had such disease prior to death.

(b)

Applicability

Subparagraph (B) of section 1311(a)(2) of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply to a veteran who dies from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis on or after October 1, 2022.