[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 17 (Monday, January 29, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1291-S1292]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. AKAKA (for himself, Mr. Craig, Mr. Rockefeller, Mrs. 
        Murray, Mr. Ensign, Mr. Webb, Mr. Sanders, and Mr. Brown):
  S. 423. A bill to increase, effective as of December 1, 2007, 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. AKAKA. Mr. President, today, as chairman of the Senate Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs, I introduce the Veterans Compensation Cost-of-
Living Adjustment Act of 2007. This measure would direct the Secretary 
of Veterans' Affairs to increase, effective December 1, 2007, the rates 
of veterans' compensation to keep pace with the rising cost-of-living 
in this country. The rate adjustment is equal to that provided on an 
annual basis to Social Security recipients and is based on the Bureau 
of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index. Several of my colleagues on 
the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, including Ranking Member, Larry 
Craig, and Senators Rockefeller, Murray, Sanders, Brown, Webb, and 
Ensign join me in introducing this important legislation.
  Congress regularly enacts an annual cost-of-living adjustment, COLA, 
for veterans' compensation in order to ensure that inflation does not 
erode the purchasing power of the veterans and their families who 
depend upon this income to meet their daily needs. This past year 
Congress passed, and the President signed into law, Public Law 109-361, 
which resulted in a COLA increase of 3.3 percent for 2007.
  It is important that we view veterans compensation, including the 
annual COLA, and indeed all benefits earned by veterans, as a 
continuing cost of war. It is clear that the ongoing conflicts in Iraq 
and Afghanistan will continue to result in injuries and disabilities 
that will yield an increase in claims for compensation. Studies by VA 
indicate that the most significant predictor of new claims activity is 
the size of the active force. More than 1 million servicemembers have 
deployed in support of Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. And, 
according to the Department of Defense, as of today there have been 
24,216 reported casualties during these operations. This number, 
however, does not take into account conditions that develop over the 
course of a war, including musculoskeletal disorders. Therefore VA can 
expect a significant increase in the number of new claims for 
compensation as a result of these ongoing conflicts.
  The COLA affects, among other benefits, veterans' disability 
compensation

[[Page S1292]]

and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and 
children. Many of these more than 3 million recipients of those 
benefits depend upon these tax-free payments not only to provide for 
their own basic needs, but those of their spouses, children and parents 
as well. Without an annual COLA increase, these veterans and their 
families would see the value of their hard-earned benefits slowly 
diminish, and we, as a Congress, would be in dereliction of our duty to 
ensure that those who sacrificed so much for this country receive the 
benefits and services to which they are entitled.
  Disbursement of disability compensation to our Nation's veterans 
constitutes one of the core missions of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs. It is a necessary measure of gratitude afforded to those 
veterans whose lives were irrevocably altered by their service to this 
country.
  I urge our colleagues to support passage of this COLA increase. I 
also ask our colleagues for their continued support for our Nation's 
veterans.
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