[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 77 (Thursday, May 22, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7029-S7031]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SPECTER (for himself, Mr. Bunning, and Mr. Graham of South 
        Carolina):
  S. 1132. A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve and 
enhance certain benefits for survivors of veterans, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition to comment on 
legislation I have introduced today to further honor the sacrifices 
made by the family members of those who were killed or injured in 
service to our country. As we celebrate the victory won on the 
battlefield in Iraq, we must remember that the loss of American lives--
even a relative few--was a sobering price to pay.
  The loss of life in service is most acutely felt by the spouses and 
children left behind. For them, we must make every effort--however 
inadequate that effort might be in comparison to the enormity of their 
loss--to recognize their needs. This bill attempts to do so by 
increasing educational assistance benefits for survivors, by providing 
additional dependency and indemnity compensation payments for

[[Page S7030]]

bereaved families, by authorizing a remarried spouse to be buried in a 
national cemetery with his or her deceased veteran-spouse, and by 
providing health, training and compensation benefits to children of 
certain veterans who served in or near the Korean demilitarized zone, 
DMZ, in the late 1960s, and who were born with Agent Orange-induced 
spina bifida.
  The legislation I introduce today would increase the rate of monthly 
Survivors' and Dependents' Education Assistance, DEA, benefits from 
$680 to $985. DEA benefits are provided to the spouses and children of 
veterans who were killed, or profoundly wounded, in service. The 
increase I propose today would create parity between DEA benefits and 
veterans' educational assistance, Montgomery GI Bill, benefits. Such 
parity was recommended by a recent Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, 
program evaluation and is dictated by the common sense observation that 
college tuition is no less expensive for widows and orphans than it is 
for veterans.
  Under this legislation, DEA-eligible survivors, like Montgomery GI 
Bill beneficiaries, would receive an aggregate of $35,460 worth of 
education benefits--$985 monthly for a total of 36 months. Thus, both 
veterans and survivors would have the resources necessary to meet the 
average cost of tuition, fees, and room and board at four-year, public 
institutions of higher learning. As was stated by VA's Deputy 
Secretary, Dr. Leo Mackay, at a Committee on Veterans Affairs hearing 
on June 28, 2001, VA ``believe[s] it is only fair that these benefits 
should be at the same level as those provided to veterans.'' VA 
estimates that a monthly benefit at that level will entice 90% of 
eligible persons to use the benefit.
  This legislation would also put into effect a key policy 
recommendation made by a VA-contracted study examining the adequacy of 
survivors' Dependency and Indemnification Compensation, DIC, benefit. 
The 2001 study called for the DIC benefit--the basic rate of which is 
now set at $948 per month--to be increased by $250 per month during the 
5-year period following the death of a veteran to further ease the 
transition of surviving spouses with dependent children. The contractor 
study based its recommendations on the reported income needs and 
expenses of DIC recipients; it found that spouses with children 
reported higher levels of unmet need than spouses without children--
even though spouses with dependent children already receive an 
additional $237 in monthly DIC benefits per child. In short, the 
contractor found that while widows with children are already afforded 
additional DIC benefits, they need more.
  In July 2001, VA estimated that there were approximately 14,500 
surviving spouses with dependent children. Reading the profiles of some 
of the young men and women who lost their lives in Iraq, I know that 
several spouses will, sadly, be added to that number. This provision of 
my bill is a small way to further recognize the needs of families based 
on an objective assessment of what those needs are.
  Section four of this bill would codify a practice that VA routinely 
allows through a waiver process. Under current practice, when the 
remarried widow of a deceased veteran dies, her second husband must 
grant VA permission before VA will allow, under a waiver process, the 
widow to be buried in a national cemetery with her deceased veteran-
husband. A woman, for example, who was married for 50 years to a World 
War II veteran and who remarries late in life after her first husband 
dies should not have to depend on a waiver process to ensure burial 
with her first husband. Remarried spouses whose second marriages end 
due to death or divorce have a statutory right to burial with their 
deceased veteran-spouse. The same statutory right should be afforded to 
remarried spouses who, though married at death, never lost their desire 
to be united with a prior spouse already at rest in a national 
cemetery.
  Finally, my legislation would provide benefits to spina bifida 
children of veterans who served in or near the Korean DMZ between 1967 
and 1969. Benefits would be provided on the same basis, and under the 
same rationale, as they are to children of Vietnam veterans who are 
born with spina bifida. In 1996, Congress authorized benefits for 
Vietnam children born with spina bifida based on evidence reported by 
the Institute of Medicine of an association between exposure to Agent 
Orange and the appearance of the birth defect spina bifida in a 
veteran's offspring. The same contaminant found in Agent Orange--
dioxin--was also used to clear brush in and near the Korean DMZ during 
the late 1960s. Indeed, veterans who served near the Korean DMZ during 
that time are already presumed by VA to have been exposed to 
herbicides, unless military records demonstrate otherwise, and they 
are, accordingly, already awarded compensation on a presumptive basis 
if they fall ill from conditions presumed by law to be presumptively 
service-connected for Vietnam veterans. VA, however, exercises no such 
latitude in addressing the needs of the children of Korean DMZ veterans 
born with spina bifida. It should--and this bill would direct VA to do 
so.
  I first learned of this inequity from Mr. John Ruzalski, a resident 
of Hawley, PA. Mr. Ruzalski is a Korean DMZ veteran whose 27-year-old 
son suffers from spina bifida. I am grateful to Mr. Ruzalski for his 
service in Korea, and for bringing this matter to light, and am hopeful 
that the Congress can reward his vigilance on behalf of his son. 
Clearly, it makes no sense for VA to presume that Korean DMZ veterans 
should be treated like Vietnam veterans for purposes of compensating 
the veteran's service-related illnesses and yet treat their spina 
bifida children differently.
  In summary, the provisions of this legislation will make a difference 
in the lives of those who fallen servicemembers loved even more than 
country--their families. I ask my colleagues for their support.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of this bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1132

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans' Survivors Benefits 
     Enhancements Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 2. INCREASE IN RATES OF SURVIVORS' AND DEPENDENTS' 
                   EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.

       (a) Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance.--
     Section 3532 of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``at the monthly rate 
     of'' and all that follows and inserting ``at the monthly rate 
     of $985 for full-time, $740 for three-quarter-time, or $492 
     for half-time pursuit.''; and
       (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``at the rate of'' and 
     all that follows and inserting ``at the rate of the lesser 
     of--
       ``(A) the established charges for tuition and fees that the 
     educational institution involved requires similarly 
     circumstanced nonveterans enrolled in the same program to 
     pay; or
       ``(B) $985 per month for a full-time course.'';
       (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``$670'' and inserting 
     ``$985''; and
       (3) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ``shall be'' and all 
     that follows and inserting ``shall be $795 for full-time, 
     $596 for three-quarter-time, or $398 for half-time 
     pursuit.''.
       (b) Correspondence Courses.--Section 3534(b) of that title 
     is amended by striking ``$670'' and inserting ``$985''.
       (c) Special Restorative Training.--Section 3542(a) of that 
     title is amended--
       (1) by striking ``$670'' and inserting ``$985''; and
       (2) by striking ``$210'' each place it appears and 
     inserting ``$307''.
       (d) Apprenticeship Training.--Section 3687(b)(2) of that 
     title is amended by striking ``shall be $488 for the first 
     six months'' and all that follows and inserting ``shall be 
     $717 for the first six months, $536 for the second six 
     months, $356 for the third six months, and $179 for the 
     fourth and any succeeding six-month period of training.''.
       (e) Effective Date.--(1) The amendments made by this 
     section shall take effect on October 1, 2003, and shall apply 
     with respect to educational assistance allowances payable 
     under chapter 35 and section 3687(b)(2) of title 38, United 
     States Code, for months beginning on or after that date.
       (2) No adjustment in rates of monthly training allowances 
     shall be made under section 3687(d) of title 38, United 
     States Code, for fiscal year 2004.

     SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF DURATION OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.

       Section 3511(a)(1) of title 38, United States Code, is 
     amended by striking ``45 months'' and all that follows and 
     inserting ``45 months, or 36 months in the case of a person 
     who first files a claim for educational assistance under this 
     chapter after the date of the

[[Page S7031]]

     enactment of the Veterans' Survivors Benefits Enhancements 
     Act of 2003, or the equivalent thereof in part-time 
     training.''.

     SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL DEPENDENCY AND INDEMNITY COMPENSATION FOR 
                   SURVIVING SPOUSES WITH DEPENDENT CHILDREN.

       (a) Additional Dependency and Indemnity Compensation.--
     Section 1311 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 
     adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(e)(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), if there is a 
     surviving spouse with one or more children below the age of 
     eighteen, the dependency and indemnity compensation paid 
     monthly to the surviving spouse shall be increased by $250, 
     regardless of the number of such children.
       ``(2) Dependency and indemnity compensation shall be 
     increased for a month under this subsection only for months 
     occurring during the five-year period beginning on the date 
     of death of the veteran on which such dependency and 
     indemnity compensation is based.
       ``(3) The increase in dependency and indemnity compensation 
     of a surviving spouse under this subsection shall cease 
     beginning with the first month commencing after the month in 
     which all children of the surviving spouse have attained the 
     age of eighteen.
       ``(4) Dependency and indemnity compensation under this 
     subsection is in addition to any other dependency and 
     indemnity compensation payable by law.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY OF SURVIVING SPOUSES WHO REMARRY FOR 
                   BURIAL IN NATIONAL CEMETERIES.

       (a) In General.--Section 2402(5) of title 38, United States 
     Code, is amended by striking ``(which for purposes of this 
     chapter includes an unremarried surviving spouse who had a 
     subsequent remarriage which was terminated by death or 
     divorce)'' and inserting ``(which for purposes of this 
     chapter includes a surviving spouse who had a subsequent 
     remarriage)''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall apply with respect to deaths occurring on or after 
     January 1, 2000.

     SEC. 6. BENEFIT FOR CHILDREN WITH SPINA BIFIDA OF VETERANS OF 
                   CERTAIN SERVICE IN KOREA.

       (a) In General.--Chapter 18 of title 38, United States 
     Code, is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subchapter III, and sections 1821, 
     1822, 1823, and 1824, as subchapter IV, and sections 1831, 
     1832, 1833, and 1834, respectively; and
       (2) by inserting after subchapter II the following new 
     subchapter III:

``SUBCHAPTER III--CHILDREN OF CERTAIN KOREA SERVICE VETERANS BORN WITH 
                              SPINA BIFIDA

     ``Sec. 1821. Benefits for children of certain Korea service 
       veterans born with spina bifida

       ``(a) Benefits Authorized.--The Secretary may provide to 
     any child of a veteran of covered service in Korea who is 
     suffering from spina bifida the health care, vocational 
     training and rehabilitation, and monetary allowance required 
     to be paid to a child of a Vietnam veteran who is suffering 
     from spina bifida under subchapter I of this chapter as if 
     such child of a veteran of covered service in Korea were a 
     child of a Vietnam veteran who is suffering from spina bifida 
     under such subchapter I.
       ``(b) Spina Bifida Conditions Covered.--This section 
     applies with respect to all forms and manifestations of spina 
     bifida, except spina bifida occulta.
       ``(c) Veteran of Covered Service in Korea.--For purposes of 
     this section, a veteran of covered service in Korea is any 
     individual, without regard to the characterization of that 
     individual's service, who--
       ``(1) served in the active military, naval, or air service 
     in or near the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ), as determined 
     by the Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of 
     Defense, during the period beginning on January 1, 1967, and 
     ending on December 31, 1969; and
       ``(2) is determined by the Secretary, in consultation with 
     the Secretary of Defense, to have been exposed to a herbicide 
     agent during such service in or near the Korean demilitarized 
     zone.
       ``(d) Herbicide Agent.--For purposes of this section, the 
     term `herbicide agent' means a chemical in a herbicide used 
     in support of United States and allied military operations in 
     or near the Korean demilitarized zone, as determined by the 
     Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, 
     during the period beginning on January 1, 1967, and ending on 
     December 31, 1969.''.
       (b) Child Defined.--Section 1831 of that title, as 
     redesignated by subsection (a), is further amended by 
     striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following new 
     paragraph (1):
       ``(1) The term `child' means the following:
       ``(A) For purposes of subchapters I and II of this chapter, 
     an individual, regardless of age or marital status, who--
       ``(i) is the natural child of a Vietnam veteran; and
       ``(ii) was conceived after the date on which that veteran 
     first entered the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam era.
       ``(B) For purposes of subchapter III of this chapter, an 
     individual, regardless of age or marital status, who--
       ``(i) is the natural child of a veteran of covered service 
     in Korea (as determined for purposes of section 1821 of this 
     title); and
       ``(ii) was conceived after the date on which that veteran 
     first entered service described in subsection (c) of that 
     section.''.
       (c) Nonduplication of Benefits.--Section 1834(a) of that 
     title, as redesignated by subsection (a), is further amended 
     by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``In the 
     case of a child eligible for benefits under subchapter I or 
     II of this chapter who is also eligible for benefits under 
     subchapter III of this chapter, a monetary allowance shall be 
     paid under the subchapter of this chapter elected by the 
     child.''.
       (d) Conforming Amendment.--(1) Section 1811(1)(A) of that 
     title is amended by striking ``section 1821(1)'' and 
     inserting ``section 1831(1)''.
       (2) The heading for chapter 18 of that title is amended to 
     read as follows:

  ``CHAPTER 18--BENEFITS FOR CHILDREN OF VIETNAM VETERANS AND CERTAIN 
                           OTHER VETERANS''.

       (e) Clerical Amendments.--(1) The table of sections at the 
     beginning of chapter 18 of that title is amended by striking 
     the items relating to subchapter III and inserting the 
     following new items:

``SUBCHAPTER III--CHILDREN OF CERTAIN KOREA SERVICE VETERANS BORN WITH 
                              SPINA BIFIDA

``1821. Benefits for children of certain Korea service veterans born 
              with spina bifida.

                  ``SUBCHAPTER IV--GENERAL PROVISIONS

``1831. Definitions.
``1832. Applicability of certain administrative provisions.
``1833. Treatment of receipt of monetary allowance and other benefits.
``1834. Nonduplication of benefits.''.
       (2) The table of chapters at the beginning of title 38, 
     United States Code, and at the beginning of part II of such 
     title, are each amended by striking the item relating to 
     chapter 18 and inserting the following new item:

``18. Chapter 18--Benefits for Children of Vietnam Veterans and Certain 
    Other Veterans..........................................1802''.....

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