[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 41 (Monday, October 14, 1996)]
[Page 2018]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing Veterans Legislation

October 9, 1996

    I have signed into law today three veterans-related bills that will 
ensure that veterans benefits keep pace with inflation, improve the 
veterans health care system, and expand other veterans programs and 
benefits.
    The first bill--H.R. 3458, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living 
Adjustment Act of 1996--authorizes a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) on 
December 1, 1996, for recipients of veterans' disability compensation, 
Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), and clothing allowances. 
The COLA, identical to the one that Social Security recipients will 
receive on January 1, 1997, will go to about 2.3 million veterans with 
disabilities who receive disability compensation benefits, over 300,000 
individuals who receive DIC as the surviving spouses and children of 
service members who died in service and veterans whose deaths were 
service-connected, and veterans who receive clothing allowances because 
they wear or use prosthetic or orthopedic appliances.
    The second bill--H.R. 3118, the Veterans' Health Care Eligibility 
Reform Act of 1996--includes many elements of the proposal that the 
National Performance Review, led by Vice President Gore, recommended to 
establish a modern, integrated health care system that will improve 
access to, and care for, the Nation's veterans. The bill, for instance, 
authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to furnish comprehensive 
medical services to all veterans, expanding the array of services that 
it now provides. Eligibility reform has been a high priority of veterans 
for many years, and I am pleased that we finally could enact it.
    Finally, the third bill--S. 1711, the Veterans' Benefits 
Improvements Act of 1996--expands and extends numerous veterans 
education, housing, life insurance, and employment and training 
benefits.

Note: H.R. 3458, approved October 9, was assigned Public Law No. 104-
263; H.R. 3118, approved October 9, was assigned Public Law No. 104-262; 
S. 1711, approved October 9, was assigned Public Law No. 104-275.