[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 177 (Thursday, November 9, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S16937-S16939]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      VETERANS' COMPENSATION COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 1995

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 
2394, and further, that the Senate proceed to its immediate 
consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will state the bill by title.

       A bill (H.R. 2394) to increase, effective as of December 1, 
     1995, 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.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the bill?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.


                           Amendment No. 3054

                   (Purpose: To propose a substitute)

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of 
Senator Simpson and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Mississippi [Mr. Lott], for Mr. Simpson, 
     proposes an amendment numbered 3054.

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

       Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu 
     thereof the following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

        This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans' Compensation 
     Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 1995''.

     SEC. 2. INCREASE IN RATES OF DISABILITY COMPENSATION AND 
                   DEPENDENCY AND INDEMNITY COMPENSATION.

        (a) Rate Adjustment.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
     shall, effective on December 1, 1995, increase the dollar 
     amounts in effect for the payment of disability compensation 
     and dependency and indemnity compensation by the Secretary, 
     as specified in subsection (b)
        (b) Amounts To Be Increased.--The dollar amounts to be 
     increased pursuant to subsection (a) are the following:
        (1) Compensation.--Each of the dollar amounts in effect 
     under section 1114 of title 38, United States Code.
        (2) Additional compensation for dependents.--Each of the 
     dollar amounts in effect under section 1115(1) of such title.
        (3) Clothing allowance.--The dollar amount in effect under 
     section 1162 of such title.
        (4) New dic rates.--The dollar amounts in effect under 
     paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 1311(a) of such title.
        (5) Old dic rates.--Each of the dollar amounts in effect 
     under section 1311(a)(3) of such title.
        (6) Additional dic for surviving spouses with minor 
     children.--The dollar amount in effect under section 1311(b) 
     of such title.
        (7) Additional dic for disability.--The dollar amounts in 
     effect under sections 1311(c) and 1311(d) of such title.
        (8) DIC for dependent children.--The dollar amounts in 
     effect under sections 1313(a) and 1314 of such title.
        (c) Determination of Percentage Increase.--(1) The 
     increase under subsection (a) shall be made in the dollar 
     amounts specified in subsection (b) as in effect on November 
     30, 1995. Each such amount shall be increased by the same 
     percentage as the percentage by which benefit amounts payable 
     under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et 
     seq.) are increased effective December 1, 1995, as a result 
     of a determination under section 215(i) of such Act (42 
     U.S.C. 415(i)).
        (2) In the computation of increased dollar amounts 
     pursuant to paragraph (1), any amount which as so computed is 
     not an even multiple of $1 shall be rounded to the next lower 
     whole dollar amount.
        (d) Special Rule.--The Secretary may adjust 
     administratively, consistent with the increases made under 
     subsection (a), the rates of disability compensation payable 
     to persons within the purview of section 10 of Public Law 85-
     857 (72 Stat. 1263) who are not in receipt of compensation 
     payable pursuant to chapter 11 of title 38, United States 
     Code.

     SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF ADJUSTED RATES.

        At the same time as the matters specified in section 
     215(i)(2)(D) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
     415(i)(2)(D)) are required to be published by reason of a 
     determination made under section 215(i) of such Act during 
     fiscal year 1996, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
     publish in the Federal Register the amounts specified in 
     section 2(b), as increased pursuant to section 2.
  Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, it is a pleasure for me, as chairman of 
the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, to summarize and comment briefly 
on legislation to grant to recipients of VA compensation and dependency 
and indemnity compensation [DIC] benefits a cost of living adjustment 
[COLA] increase, effective on checks delivered to them at the first of 
the year. This legislation is appropriate--even as we proceed this very 
week to each final agreements with the House on reconciliation 
measures.
  Mr. President, let me assure this body from the get-go that the 
Committee on Veterans Affairs will meet its reconciliation targets. 
Indeed, this legislation contains one provision--the so-called round-
down provision that I will explain in just a moment--which will help 
the committee meet its targets. I give this assurance up front--just so 
all will be comfortable that this Senator has not suddenly gone soft 
and become a wild-eyed big spender. I surely have not. Even so, 
however, I believe that the recipients of veterans' compensation ought 
to receive a COLA--especially since we on the Veterans Committee have 
found a proper way to reach our reconciliation targets, and get this 
Nation on a path to a balanced budget, without denying such a COLA.
  This bill, which was approved unanimously by the Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs on September 20, 1995, is simple and straight-
forward. It would grant to recipients of certain VA benefits--most 
notably, veterans with service-connected disabilities, who receive VA 
compensation, and the survivors of veterans who have died as a result 
of service-connected injuries or illnesses, who receive dependency and 
indemnity compensation or DIC--the same COLA that Social Security 
recipients will receive. So, for example, if Social Security recipients 
receive a 2.6-percent adjustment at the beginning of next year--as it 
appears they will--then so too would the beneficiaries of VA 
compensation and DIC.
  The bill would also do one other thing: It would modify the 
methodology by which VA computes the amount of monthly benefit checks, 
as so adjusted. VA benefits, Mr. President, are paid in round-dollar 
amounts. As a result, when a round-dollar benefit amount--say, as an 
example, the current benefit of $260 per month going to a 30-percent 
disabled veteran--is multiplied by a Consumer Product Index percentage 
of, say, 2.6 percent, it almost invariably yields a mathematical 
product that is not a round-dollar amount. In the case of a $260 
benefit check, for example, a 2.6-percent increase would yield a 
nonrounded number of $266.76.
  VA practice, in the past, has been to round up fractional dollar 
amounts of 

[[Page S 16938]]
$0.50 or more, and round down fractional dollar amounts of $0.49 or 
less. So, in the above case, a 30-percent disabled veteran would get a 
monthly check next year of $267 under past practice. This bill would 
direct VA to round down next year in all cases, so, in the above 
example, a 30-percent disabled veteran would get a monthly check of 
$266.

  Some might say, ``What's the big deal?'' They might also say, ``Why 
is Simpson boring us with this green-eye-shade, accounting stuff?'' 
I'll tell you why: it is because this simple rounding-down provision--
because it affects so many VA beneficiaries, but only to a degree which 
is painless to each--yields big money over time--big money--in terms of 
savings and deficit reduction. According to the Congressional Budget 
Office [CBO], this simple provision will save the taxpayer $520 million 
over a 7-year period. I repeat: 520 million bucks. That's real money. 
Real money that benefits taxpayers collectively--and, I daresay, harms 
no individual VA beneficiary to the point that he or she will even miss 
the loss.
  This simple example of what can be done to balance the budget, Mr. 
President, ought to strengthen the resolve of each of us to get that 
vital job done. In the Veterans Committee, we have found ways to reduce 
the growth of VA's mandatory budget accounts by over $6 billion in 7 
years--over 6 billion dollars--and no veterans are going to have to 
suffer any inordinate harm. Despite the inaccurate, unfair, and 
unfounded pronouncements of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and 
despite what veterans--and Senators--have heard from service 
organizations crying wolf, we will not be cutting off compensation 
benefits to 10- and 20-percent disabled veterans. We will not be taxing 
or means-testing anyone's compensation benefits--though a good case for 
doing just that can be made and, in fact, was made by a disabled 
veteran who is a member of this body, the distinguished Senator from 
Nebraska [Mr. Kerry], in testimony before the committee. And we will 
not be establishing a performance-of-duty standard now as a condition 
to receipt of disability compensation--though I can assure all that 
this Senator continues to be interested in exploring that option at 
much greater length. We will, however, be making a huge dent in the 
deficit.
  As I stated when I opened this statement, I want all to understand 
that we can give our disabled veterans, and their widows, a COLA and 
still meet our deficit reduction targets. And we will do so. Please, 
all of you, keep this in mind when any person tries to tell you that 
the Congress is going to ``balance the budget on the backs of the 
Nation's veterans.'' It simply is not so. And no one--no one--has 
seriously suggested such a course. The Nation and the Congress have 
been good to our veterans. We will continue to be good to our veterans.
  Mr. President, I appreciate the time that has been afforded me to 
address this subject. I ask unanimous consent that at this point that 
CBO's cost estimate of S. 992, which is the text of the substitute 
amendment with a minor technical adjustment, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                    U.S. Congress,


                                  Congressional Budget Office,

     Washington, DC, October 25, 1995.
     Hon. Alan K. Simpson,
     Chairman, Committee on Veterans' Affairs, U.S. Senate, 
         Washington, DC
       Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
     prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 992, the Veterans' 
     Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 1995, as 
     ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs 
     on September 20, 1995.
       The bill would affect direct spending and thus would be 
     subject to pay-as-you-go procedures under section 252 of the 
     Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
       If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
     pleased to provide them.
           Sincerely,
                                                  June E. O'Neill,
                                                         Director,
       Enclosure.


               congressional budget office cost estimate

       1. Bill number: S. 992.
       2. Bill title: Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living 
     Adjustment Act of 1995.
       3. Bill status: As ordered reported by the Senate Committee 
     on Veterans' Affairs on September 20, 1995.
       4. Bill purpose: This bill would provide 1996 cost-of-
     living adjustments (COLAs) for veterans with service-
     connected disabilities and for survivors of certain disabled 
     veterans and would round the increase to the next lower 
     dollar.
       5. Estimated cost to the Federal Government:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          1995             1996             1997             1998             1999             2000     
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     DIRECT SPENDING                                                                    
Spending Under Current Law:                                                                                                                             
    Estimated Budget Authority....................           14,176           14,835           15,395           15,976           16,594           17,018
    Estimated Outlays.............................           14,422           13,675           15,312           15,928           16,543           18,241
Proposed Changes:                                                                                                                                       
    Estimated Budget Authority....................                0              -16              -20              -21              -21              -22
    Estimated Outlays.............................                0              -15              -19              -20              -21              -23
Spending Under Proposals:                                                                                                                               
    Estimated Budget Authority....................           14,176           14,819           15,375           15,955           16,573           16,996
    Estimated Outlays.............................           14,422           13,660           15,293           15,908           16,522           18,218
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

       6. Basis of estimate: As specified in the Balanced Budget 
     Act, the baseline assumes that monthly rates of disability 
     compensation paid to veterans and of dependency and indemnity 
     compensation (DIC) paid to their survivors are increased by 
     the same COLA payable to Social Security recipients, and 
     the results of the adjustments are rounded to the nearest 
     dollar. This bill would round 1996 adjustments down to the 
     next lower dollar. The effect of rounding down the benefit 
     was estimated using the current table of monthly benefits 
     and the number of beneficiaries assumed in the CBO 
     baseline.
       7. Pay-as-you-go considerations: The Balanced Budget and 
     Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 sets up pay-as-you-go 
     procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or 
     receipts through 1998. The bill would have the following pay-
     as-you-go impact:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            1996       1997       1998  
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change in Outlays......................        -15        -19        -20
Change in Receipts.....................  .........      (\1\)  .........
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Not applicable.                                                     

       8. Estimated cost to State and local governments: None.
       9. Estimate comparison: None.
       10. Previous CBO estimate: On September 29, 1995, CBO 
     prepared a cost estimate for H.R. 2394 as ordered reported by 
     the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. That bill rounded 
     down the COLA for disability compensation and some DIC 
     recipients. It further reduced the COLA of other DIC 
     recipients.
       11. Estimate prepared by: Mary Helen Petrus.
       12. Estimate approved by: Paul N. Van de Water, Assistant 
     Director for Budget Analysis.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, as the ranking minority member of the 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I urge the Senate to pass the pending 
legislation, S. 992, the proposed Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living 
Adjustment Act of 1995.
  Mr. President, effective December 1, 1995, this bill would increase 
the rates of compensation paid to veterans with service-connected 
disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation, or 
DIC, paid to the survivors of certain service-disabled veterans. The 
rates would increase by 2.6 percent, the same percentage as the 
increase in Social Security and VA pension benefits for fiscal year 
1996.
  Mr. President, there are 2.2 million service-disabled veterans and 
over 300,000 survivors who depend on these compensation programs. These 
individuals have made enormous sacrifices on behalf of this Nation. As 
ranking minority member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I am 
committed to ensuring that these veterans and veterans' survivors 
receive the benefits they deserve. I believe strongly that we have a 
fundamental obligation to meet the needs of those who became disabled 
as the result of military service, as well as the needs of their 
families. This 

[[Page S 16939]]
measure fulfills one of the most important aspects of that obligation.
  Mr. President, ever since I began my career in public service, I have 
worked closely with the veterans of my home state of West Virginia, and 
now, as ranking minority member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, 
I have had the opportunity to work with veterans all across the 
country. Consequently, I am keenly aware of the fact that the 
compensation payments that would be increased by this bill have a 
profound effect on the everyday lives of the veterans and veterans' 
survivors who receive them. It is our responsibility to continue to 
provide cost-of-living adjustments in compensation and DIC benefits in 
order to guarantee that the value of these essential, service-connected 
VA benefits is not eroded by inflation.
  I am very proud that Congress consistently has fulfilled its 
obligation to make sure that the real value of these benefits is 
preserved by providing an annual COLA for compensation and DIC benefits 
every fiscal year since 1976. Most recently, on October 25, 1994, 
Congress enacted Public Law 103-418, which provided for a 2.8-percent 
increase in these benefits, effective December 1, 1994.
  Mr. President, we cannot ever repay the debt we owe to the 
individuals who have sacrificed so much for our country. Service-
disabled veterans and the survivors of those who died as the result of 
service-connected conditions are reminded daily of the price they have 
paid for the freedom we all enjoy. The very least we can do is protect 
the value of the benefits they have earned through their sacrifice.
  Mr. President, I urge all of my colleagues to support this vitally 
important measure.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment 
be agreed to, the bill be deemed read a third time, passed as amended, 
and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any 
statements relating to the bill appear at an appropriate place in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  So the bill (H.R. 2394), as amended, was deemed read the third time, 
and passed.

                          ____________________