39

(c) (1) If there is a surviving spouse and one child, pension shall be paid to the surviving spouse according to the following formula:

(2) In no case may pension be paid under this subsection to any surviving spouse if the annual income of such surviving spouse exceeds [$4,760] $5,070.

(3) Whenever the monthly rate payable to any surviving spouse under paragraph (1) of this subsection is less than the amount which would be payable for one child under section 542 of this title if the surviving spouse were not entitled, the surviving spouse shall be paid at the child's rate.

(d) If there is a surviving spouse and more than one child, the monthly rate payable under subsection (c) shall be increased by [$24] $26 for each additional child.

§ 542. Children of Mexican border period, World War I, World War II, Korean conflict, or Vietnam era veterans

(a) Whenever there is no surviving spouse entitled to pension under section 541 of this title, the Administrator shall pay to the child or children of each veteran of the Mexican border period, World War I, World War II, the Korean conflict, or the Vietnam era, who met the service requirements of section 521 of this title, or who at the time of death was receiving (or entitled to receive) compensation or retirement pay for a service-connected disability, pension at the monthly rate of $57] $61 for one child, and [$24] $26 for each additional child.

(b) Pension prescribed by this section shall be paid to eligible children in equal shares.

(c) No pension shall be paid under this section to a child whose annual income, excluding earned income, exceeds [$2,890] $3,080.

40

SURVIVING SPOUSES OF VETERANS OF ALL PERIODS OF WAR

§ 544. Aid and attendance allowance

If any surviving spouse is entitled to pension under this subchapter and is in need of regular aid and attendance, the monthly rate of pension payable to the surviving spouse shall be increased by [$74] $79.

Public Law 90-275

SEC. 4. The annual income limitations governing payment of pension under the first sentence of section 9(b) of the Veterans' Pension Act of 1959 hereafter shall be [$3,100] $3,300 and [$4,460] $4,760, instead of [$2,900] $3,100 and [$4,200] $4,460, respectively.

APPENDIX H

[From the Congressional Record, Vol. 123, No. 147, pp. S 15272-3-Senate, Sept. 21, 1977]

DISABILITY PENSIONS

Mr. CRANSTON. Mr. President, I ask the Chair to lay before the Senate a message from the House of Representatives on H.R. 7345.

The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the amendment of the House of Representatives to the amendment of the Senate to the bill (H.R. 7345) to amend title 38 of the United States Code to increase the rates of disability and death pension and to increase the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for parents, and for other purposes, as follows:

"Page 6 of the Senate engrossed amendment, after line 8, insert:

"SEC. 202. Section 541 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following paragraph:

"(g) The monthly rate of pension payable to any surviving spouse under any of subsections (b), (c), and (d) of this section, including the increase, if any, payable under section 544 of this title, shall be increased by 25 per centum beginning on the first day of the month in which the surviving spouse attains age seventy-eight'."

Mr. CRANSTON. Mr. President, I rise to urge that the House amendment to H.R. 7345 not be agreed to, and that the measure be returned to the House.

As originally passed by the House on July 13, 1977, H.R. 7345, the Veterans and Survivors Pension Adjustment Act of 1977, contained a 7-percent cost-ofliving increase and a provision increasing the pension rates for surviving spouses age 78 or over by 25 percent. The Senate Committee unanimously voted to report the bill on July 21, 1977, with an amendment in the nature of a committee substitute providing for a 6.5-percent increase and without the 25 percent add on for surviving spouses age 78 or over.

As reported by the committee and unanimously passed by the Senate on August 3, 1977, this bill will have—

First, provided an increase of approximately 6.5 percent in the rates of disability and death pension under current law, including the additional amount authorized for dependents;

Second, increased by approximately 6.5 percent the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) payable to parents;

Third, increased by the same percentage the maximum income limitations applicable to pensioners and parents entitled to DIC under current law, and to beneficiaries under the protected pension law;

Fourth, increased by the same percentage the amount of additional pension and DIC payable to those recipients so entitled based upon aid and attendance or housebound status; and

Fifth, increased additional allowances for recipients of wartime death compensation by the same percentage based upon need for regular aid and attendance. On September 21, 1977, Mr. President, the House agreed to the Senate amendment with an amendment. In effect, the House has agreed to the 6.5-percent increase contained in the Senate-passed bill, and it has amended the bill to restore its 25-percent increase in pension rates for surviving spouses age 78 or over. Mr. President, as chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, I am deeply concerned with the difficulties experienced by elderly wartime veterans and their surviving spouses who must live on low fixed incomes. In many instances, these persons are forced to turn to income-assistance or in-kind programs such as supplementary security income or food stamps merely to survive. The veterans' and survivors' pension rates are scaled too low to enable many pensioners to live their lives in dignity. They are particularly vulnerable to hardship caused by inflation, which diminishes the purchasing power of their incomes. The 6.5 percent cost-of-living increase provided by H.R. 7345 will alleviate, to some (411)

extent, the harsh effects of continuing inflation for the vast majority of elderly pensioners.

The problem experienced by many pensioners, of suffering a reduction in pension in January attributable to the social security cost-of-living increase in July, will also be largely alleviated by this pension rate increase.

Nevertheless, a rate increase in and by itself does not restructure the present pension program, which contains numerous inequities, anomalies, and inconsistencies. In the 94th Congress I cosponsored, together with all the other members of the committee, S. 2635, a bill to reform the present pension program. Although that bill was unanimously passed by the Senate, the House did not act on it.

Subsequently, in Public Law 94-432, the VA was required to conduct a thorough study of the pension program and various alternatives to the program. I am sure that this study-which the VA has advised will be submitted by November 1-will provide extremely valuable information to the Congress about the present program. Moreover, I intend to introduce within 2 weeks, on behalf of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, a comprehensive bill which will provide for a thoroughgoing restructuring of the pension program including the following provisions intended to meet the particular needs of elderly veterans and surviving spouses receiving pension:

First. Substantially increased pension rates for needy veterans and surviving spouses age 65 or over based on the national minimum standard of need and sufficient to prevent their having to turn to income-assistance and in-kind programs.

Second. Substantially increased pension rates for needy surviving spouses age 65 or over who require aid and attendance.

Third. Annual automatic cost-of-living increases in the restructured pension program combined with a provision that the Veterans' Administration determine the increased pension amount in such a way as to prevent any reduction in pension attributable to a cost-of-living increase in social security benefits.

I am very hopeful that this bill will receive wide bipartisan support, and that it will be favorably received in the House. Hearings will be scheduled on this forthcoming measure early next year.

Mr. President, the Veterans' Administration opposed the House's 25 percent add-on because it is not need-based. The VA and the Senate committee prefer that any modifications in the basic pension program be deferred until such time as a comprehensive restructuring of the pension program-which would address the various inequities, anomalies, and inconsistencies of the program-can be considered. The bill which I will shortly introduce will provide for comprehensive restructuring in a way which will substantially improve the situation of elderly surviving spouses eligible for pension.

In view of this, I respectfully request that the Senate disagree with the House amendment to H.R. 7345, and that the measure be returned to the House.

Mr. President, I move that the Senate disagree to the amendment of the House to the amendment of the Senate to the bill (H.R. 7345) to amend title 38 of the United States Code to increase the rates of disability and death pensions and to increase the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for parents, and for other purposes.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion of the Senate from California.

The motion was agreed to.

APPENDIX I

[From the Congressional Record, Vol. 123, No. 180, p. S 18640-Senate, Nov. 3, 1977]

RATES OF DISABILITY AND DEATH PENSION

Mr. CRANSTON. Mr. President, on a privileged matter, I ask that the Chair lay before the Senate a message from the House of Representatives on H.R. 7345. This has been cleared on all sides.

The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives:

"Resolved, That the House recede from its amendment to the amendment of the Senate to the bill (H.R. 7345) entitled 'An Act to amend title 38 of the United States Code to increase the rates of disability and death pension and to increase the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for parents, and for other purposes', and agree to the amendment of the Senate to the aforesaid bill with the following

"AMENDMENTS

"(1) Page 3 of the Senate engrossed amendment, in the table following line 4, strike out '2,700' both places it appears, and insert: "2,800'.

"(2) Page 5 of the Senate engrossed amendment, in the table following line 6, strike out "2,600' under the heading 'But not more than-', and insert: '3,700', and strike out the last line in such table.

"(3) Page 6 of the Senate engrossed amendment, in the table following line 4, strike out '3,900' under the heading 'But not more than-', and insert: '5,070', and strike out the last line in such table.

Mr. CRANSTON. Mr. President, I move that the Senate agree to the amendments of the House to the Senate amendment to the House bill.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.

The motion was agreed to.

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