Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions S. 1131

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

S. 1131. A bill to increase, effective December 1, 2003, 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; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition to comment on legislation I am introducing today to provide a cost-of-living, COLA, adjustment for certain veterans' benefits programs. This COLA adjustment would affect payments made to nearly 3 million Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, beneficiaries, and would be reflected in beneficiary checks that are received in January 2004, and thereafter.

An annual cost-of-living adjustment in veterans benefits is an important tool which protects veterans' cash-transfer benefits against the corrosive effects of inflation. The principal programs affected by the adjustment would be compensation paid to disabled veterans, and dependency and indemnity compensation, DIC, payments made to the surviving spouses, minor children and other dependents of persons who died in service, or who died after service as a result of service-connected injuries or diseases.

The President's budget anticipates inflation to be at a two percent level at the close of this year as measured by the consumer price index, CPI, published by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. If inflation is held to the 2 percent level, that will be the level of COLA adjustment under this legislation since it ties the increase directly to the CPI increase as measured by the Department of Labor. Whatever the CPI increase eventually turns out to be, however, veterans' and survivors' benefits payments must be protected by being increased by a like amount. The Congress already concurred with that judgment with the recent passage of the budget resolution; that resolution sets aside the funds necessary to finance the COLA increase envisioned by this legislation.

I ask my colleagues to support this vital legislation.

I yield the floor, and I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.