[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 63 (Thursday, April 19, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4755-S4756]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. AKAKA (for himself, Mr. Brown, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Hagel, 
        Mr. Isakson, and Mr. Webb):
  S. 1163. A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve 
compensation and specially adapted housing for veterans in certain 
cases of impairment of vision involving both eyes, and to provide for 
the use of the National Directory of New Hires for income verification 
purposes; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, today I introduce the Blinded Veterans 
Paired Organ Act of 2007. This legislation would update the eligibility 
requirements for certain benefits provided to veterans with a service-
connected disability due to blindness. It addresses two areas of 
veterans' law that heretofore excluded many veterans with severe vision 
impairment from accessing benefits that could significantly improve the 
quality of their lives. At a time when great changes are afoot in how 
this Nation prioritizes the care of its veterans, it is still important 
that we also remain attentive to the places where small changes can 
make a large impact. Several of my colleagues, including Senators 
Brown, Feingold, Hagel, Isakson, and Webb, join me in introducing this 
legislation.
  This bill would relax the criteria for vision impairment in two 
separate areas of veterans' benefits law. The first governs eligibility 
for disability compensation under what is known as the ``paired organ 
law.'' The second relates to the criteria for blinded veterans seeking 
VA grants for specially adapted housing.
  The paired organ law provides veterans who sustain a service-
connected injury loss of function in one of their coupled organs, eyes, 
kidneys, ears, lungs, hands, and feet, with eligibility for additional 
compensation should they sustain a non-service-connected injury or loss 
of function in the companion organ.
  With respect to vision, VA currently requires veterans to demonstrate 
a visual acuity of less than 5/200 in the non-service-connected eye in 
order to receive compensation for full service-connected blindness. 
However, this requires veterans to demonstrate more severe visual 
impairment to qualify for benefits than if the standard definition of 
blindness were used by VA. The standard definition, accepted by the 
American Medical Association, the Social Security Administration, and 
the motor vehicle license laws of all 50 States, is a visual acuity of 
20/200 or less, or a peripheral field of vision of 20 degrees or less.
  This difference in standards was initially brought to the attention 
of Representative Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin several years ago by Dr. 
James Allen, a veteran of the Korean War and a long-time 
ophthalmologist at the Madison VA hospital. Representative Baldwin 
subsequently engaged in a long fight on behalf of blinded veterans, 
ultimately securing passage of a bill this March which would change 
existing law. I would like to thank Representative Baldwin and Dr. 
Allen for their hard work on behalf of veterans who are struggling with 
vision impairment as a result of their service and I am proud to join 
them in their efforts through introduction of this companion bill.
  With respect to VA grants for specially adapted housing for blinded 
veterans, VA disburses grants of up to $10,000 to veterans with a 
service-connected disability due to blindness in both eyes for the 
purpose of adapting their homes to accommodate their disability. 
However, as with the paired organ statute, current law requires that 
veterans have a visual acuity of 5/200 or less in order to be eligible 
for these grants. This legislation would correct this standard as well, 
making

[[Page S4756]]

specially adapted housing grants available to veterans with a visual 
acuity of 20/200 or less, or a peripheral field of vison of 20 degrees 
or less.
  This legislation is particularly important at this moment when so 
many of the men and women in our Armed Forces are deployed overseas in 
combat zones. Traumatic brain injury is frequently described as the 
``signature wound'' of the conflict in Iraq and it is frequently 
accompanied by damage to the veteran's vision. Thus, there are numerous 
veterans recovering from battle wounds right now who can benefit from 
this legislation both in the immediate future and down the road. Some 
who have suffered severe vision impairment will be able to speed their 
readjustment by adapting their homes to accommodate the disability. And 
those who have suffered blindness in one eye will be assured that they 
are provided for in the event that they lose sight in the other eye.
  With more and more servicemembers deployed in combat zones everyday, 
we are constantly reminded of the great sacrifice they make for this 
Nation. We owe it to them, at the very least, to ensure that they are 
not required to shoulder an undue burden when it comes to qualifying 
for veterans' benefits. Thus, I ask my colleagues in the Senate to join 
me in supporting this important legislation on behalf of blinded 
veterans.
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