[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6845]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   VETERANS' BENEFITS ENHANCEMENT ACT

  Mr. TESTER. Madam President, I wish to commend Chairman Akaka on the 
legislation that was passed in the Senate earlier today, S. 1315.
  This bill makes a number of commonsense improvements to the benefits 
packages we offer America's veterans. I am pleased to have voted for 
this bill as it came out of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. I am also 
pleased to have supported it on the floor today. It is long past due to 
give our disabled veterans the ability to purchase affordable life 
insurance. That is what this bill does. It provides up to $50,000 in 
life insurance for any veteran younger than the age of 65 who has a 
service-connected disability.
  The bill also adds a host of new benefits to help critically injured 
service men and women get their households refurbished if they become 
disabled. That can mean putting in wheelchair ramps, remodeling a 
kitchen or a bathroom, and countless other chores. Again, it is a small 
measure, but for a soldier who has lost an arm or a leg or a marine who 
has suffered severe burns, it means the world.
  It is long past time to increase burial benefits to help families 
deal with the growing costs of providing a final resting place for 
their veteran loved ones. This bill does that by authorizing double the 
current allowance for the burial of a veteran who dies from a service-
connected disability to $4,000. It also triples the $300 benefit for 
nonservice connected disabilities. With the average funeral cost now 
around $6,000, this is a small gesture to the loved ones of our 
veterans, but it matters a great deal.
  At a time of record national debt and chronic annual budget deficits, 
I am particularly pleased this bill is deficit-neutral. It does not 
increase taxes.
  With all the good in the bill, it is little wonder the Veterans' 
Benefit Enhancement Act is supported by every major veterans service 
organization. This bill passed out of the VA Committee unanimously last 
summer, and I am pleased by the bipartisan support it got today. We now 
need to turn our attention to the veterans health care legislation that 
I am told will follow this bill. Our Nation's veterans deserve nothing 
less.
  When our children sign up for military service, whether they do it at 
a local recruiting office or by going to a service academy or anything 
in-between, we make a deal with them. We ask them to put their lives on 
the line. We ask them to serve and to sacrifice at an increasingly 
difficult pace. We ask them to fight wars. We ask them to keep peace 
and to keep our Nation free and they go. They go and they do a better 
job than any other military in the world. In return, we promise that 
when their service is over, we will care for them and compensate them 
if they have been injured in their service to our country. With our 
Nation now at war, we have a great moral obligation to do right by the 
men and women who serve our country in harm's way. This legislation 
helps keep the promise to our veterans.
  One other point I wish to add that relates to what the senator from 
Michigan and the Senator from Utah talked about. I have only been here 
for 15 or 16 months, but I will tell my colleagues that one thing I 
have noticed and one thing that has surprised me over the last year and 
a quarter is we debate whether to debate all too much. The fact is, 
whether we agree or disagree on an issue, what is important is we have 
an opportunity to vote on an issue--to make our stand and vote on an 
issue.
  What happened last week was a prime example, where we had a 
transportation bill--corrections to a transportation bill--and we spent 
all week because it was being delayed and delayed. I sat in the chair 
last Thursday night when the majority leader, the Democratic leader, 
came down to the floor and said: I have to file cloture on this 
veterans' bill--the one we passed--because I have approached the 
minority and they have not gotten back to me and I do not want to take 
the chance of wasting a day.
  We have work to do here. We have done some good work today, and I 
hope we can have many more days such as today, where we can vote on 
legislation that impacts the people of this country.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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