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APPENDIX C

[From the Congressional Record, Vol. 123, No. 139, pp. S 14469–80-Senate, Sept. 9, 1977] VETERANS DISABILITY COMPENSATION AND SURVIVOR BENEFITS ACT OF 1977

Mr. CRANSTON. Mr. President, on June 17, 1977, the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Talmadge) introduced, on behalf of himself and all other members of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, which I am privileged to chair, S. 1703, a bill to provide a 6.3 percent cost-of-living increase for the more than 2.2 million veterans receiving disability compensation for service-connected disabilities, and for surviving spouses receiving dependency and indemnity compensation. The Subcommittee on Compensation and Pension, chaired by the distinguished Senator from Georgia (Mr. Talmadge), conducted a hearing on June 21, 1977, to review the Veterans' Administration's service-connected disability and dependency and indemnity compensation program and to consider pending legislation, including S. 1703 and H.R. 1862, a measure providing for a 6-percent increase in the disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation rates which had passed the House of Representatives on May 23,

1977.

The subcommittee received testimony in person or by submission from representatives of the Veterans' Administration, the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, AMVETS, the Veterans of World War I, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Blinded Veterans Association, the Society of Military Widows, and the Non Commissioned Officers Association.

By agreement of the Subcommittee on Compensation and Pension, H.R. 1862 was sent to the full committee for consideration. The full Committee on Veterans' Affairs met on July 15, 1977, amended, unanimously approved, and ordered favorably reported to the Senate H.R. 1862 with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.

Subsequently, on July 22, 1977, the committee, based on revised Consumer Price Index estimates received in a letter dated July 20, 1977, from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, revised the rate increase upward from 6.3 percent to 6.6 percent. At that time and subsequently by poll, the committee made further modifications in the text of the bill as ordered to be reported.

The cost-of-living increase provided in this measure will protect the purchasing power of disabled veterans and eligible survivors who have been hit by continuing increases in the cost of living since the time the last such increase became effective, October 1, 1976, under Public Law 94-433.

SUMMARY OF H.R. 1862 AS REPORTED

Mr. President, the basic provisions of H.R. 1862 as reported would: First, provide a 6.6 percent cost-of-living increase in basic compensation rates and those payable for more serious disabilities in the additional allowances for spouses, children, and dependent parents paid to veterans rated 50-percent disabled or more; in dependency and indemnity compensation benefits payable to surviving spouses of veterans whose deaths were service connected, including the additional allowances payable for dependent children and to those in need of aid and attendance; is benefits payable to the children of veterans whose deaths were service connected, when there is no surviving spouse; in benefits payable to surviving children who have become permanently incapable of self-support prior to the age of 18; and in the annual clothing allowance paid to certain seriously disabled veterans whose disability tends to tear or wear out their clothing.

Second, extend to February 28, 1979, the date for submission to Congress of the study mandated by Public Law 94433 on the relationship between amputation and cardiovascular disorders, and clarify other provisions of the study; (355)

Third, in a provision derived from S. 1141, introduced by the Senator from Florida (Mr. Stone), extend eligibility for specially adapted housing grants to permanently and totally service-connected disabled veterans with certain severe disabilities, including those who have suffered the service-connected loss of one upper and one lower extremity;

Fourth, in response to a request from the Veterans' Administration, authorize the VA to cooperate with the Department of the Treasury's electronic fund transfer system so that benefit payments could be automatically deposited in a recipient's account if the recipient elects payment in this manner;

Fifth, in a provision based on S. 543, cosponsored by the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Pell) and the Senator from Maine (Mr. Hathaway), require for any month in which the first of the month falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal public holiday, the Veterans' Administration to mail or otherwise transmit benefit payments so that they arrive, to the maximum extent practicable, on the Friday immediately preceding such Saturday or Sunday, or in the case of a legal public holiday, on the weekday-other than Saturday-immediately preceding the holiday; and

Sixth, reaffirm by a clarifying amendment the intent of the Congress not to permit garnishment or attachment of VA employees' salaries except as authorized in section 659 of title 42, United States Code, which permits garnishment for alimony and child support.

Mr. President, the cost-of-living rate increases provided for in this legislation will provide additional compensation benefits estimated at $344.5 million in fiscal year 1978, $15.3 million for specially adapted housing in that year. The total additional expenditures resulting from this bill in fiscal year 1978 are estimated to be $359.2 million.

CONCLUSION

Mr. CRANSTON. Mr. President, in closing, I want to express my appreciation to the chairman of the Subcommittee on Compensation and Pension, the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Talmadge), for his excellent work in the development of this legislation and the conduct of hearings on the VA's compensation and DIC programs, and to pay tribute to all members of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs for their bipartisan support of this measure. I also wish to thank Senator Talmadge's assistant, Bobby Avery, and the committee staff members Mary Sears, Jon Steinberg, Ed Scott, Jim MacRae, and Harold Carter for their hard and effective work.

Mr. STAFFORD. Mr. President, H.R. 1862 is similar to S. 1703, the Veterans' Disability Compensation and Survivor Benefits Act of 1977, cosponsored by all the members of our Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. As cosponsors we strongly support the compensation bill before us today.

Our Subcommittee on Compensation and Pension conducted lengthy hearings, receiving testimony from representatives of the Veterans' Administration, the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, AMVETS, the Veterans of World War I, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Blinded Veterans Association, the Society of Military Widows, and the NonCommissioned Officers Association.

The purpose of the disability compensation program now and throughout its history has been to provide relief for the impaired earning capacity of veterans disabled as a result of their military service. The amount payable varies according to the degree of disability. Additional compensation for dependents is payable to any veteran entitled to basic compensation for disability rated at not less than 50 percent.

The bill before us today would provide a 6.6-percent cost-of-living increase for disabled veterans in basic compensation rates and in the rates payable for more serious disabilities. The bill provides a 6.6-percent increase in the additional allowances for spouses, children, and dependent parents paid to veterans rated 50 percent disabled or more. It also provides a 6.6-percent increase in dependency and indemnity compensation, DIC, benefits payable to surviving spouses of veterans whose deaths were service connected, including the additional allowances payable for dependent children and to those in need of aid and attendance. The bill provides a 6.6-percent increase in benefits payable to the children of veterans whose deaths were service connected, when there is no surviving spouse.

The bill would provide a 6.6-percent increase in benefits payable to surviving children who have become permanently incapable of self-support prior to age 18. Also provided is a 6.6-percent increase in the annual clothing allowance paid to certain seriously disabled veterans whose disability tends to tear and wear out their clothing.

The 94th Congress required the Administration of Veterans' Affairs to conduct a study to determine whether prior amputation of an extremity influences the subsequent development of cardiovascular disorders. Provision is made in the bill before us for a needed extension of time for the proper completion of this study. The time such study will be due under our bill will be February 28, 1979.

I would specifically call to the attention of our colleagues another worthwhile extension of existing law in the eligibility for specifically adapted housing grants to permanently and totally service-connected veterans with certain severe disabilities. The general program began in 1948 when veterans whose permanent and total service-connected disability was the result of spinal cord disease or injury with paralysis of the legs and lower part of the body. Eligibility for specially adapted housing grants, consisting of 50 percent of the total cost to the veteran of a home with special adaptations not to exceed $10,000 was started in 1948. The present maximum is $25,000.

Provision is made in the bill before us to help those permanently and totally disabled veterans otherwise eligible who must wear a prosthesis or a brace but who periodically must remove it on the basis of medical advice, and who are then forced to move about in their homes on crutches or a wheelchair, to acquire specially adapted housing.

H.R. 1862 as amended by our committee authorizes the Veterans' Administration to cooperate with the Department of the Treasury so that benefit payments would be automatically deposited in a recipient's account if the recipient elects payment in this manner.

Our bill also would require for any month in which the first of the month falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal public holiday, the Veterans' Administration to mail or otherwise transmit benefit payments so that they arrive, to the maximum extent practicable, on the weekday, other than Saturday, immediately preceding the holiday.

Your Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and this member in particular, believe all of the mentioned improvements for better service to veterans are important and should be enacted. The Veterans' Administration disability compensation program provides income for 2,245,116 veterans who have service-connected disabilities. This number is composed of disabled veterans of recent wars and conflicts as follows: 46,200 are disabled World War I veterans; 1,272,200 World War II veterans; 239,500 Korean conflict veterans; 448,700 Vietnam-era veterans. It is important that the United States continue to provide an adequate compensation program for our veterans and their survivors. This has been the goal of our committee's considerations and recommendations. We urge your support of the bill now before this body.

The amendment was agreed to.

The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a third time.

The bill was read the third time, and passed.

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