[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 48 (Monday, December 6, 1999)]
[Page 2474]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Signing the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living 
Adjustment Act of 1999

November 30, 1999

    Today I am pleased to sign into law H.R. 2280, the ``Veterans 
Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 1999,'' which provides a 
2.4 percent cost-of-living adjustment in benefits for service-disabled 
veterans and their surviving spouses and children. It provides for 
increased rates in payments of
service-connected disability compensation to veterans who suffer from 
service-related disabilities and in payments of dependency and indemnity 
compensation for the surviving spouses and children of service members 
and veterans whose deaths are service-related. The increased benefit 
rates will take effect on December 1, 1999. This legislation, derived 
from an Administration proposal, ensures that the value of these well-
deserved benefits will keep pace with increases in consumer prices.
    As a country, we must remember those veterans who gave of themselves 
to assure the continued protection of this great Nation. The freedoms 
and liberty that we enjoy as citizens depend on the men and women in our 
Armed Forces. In a tangible way, this legislation expresses the 
gratitude of the Nation for the sacrifices our veterans have unselfishly 
endured.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
November 30, 1999.

Note: H.R. 2280, approved November 30, was assigned Public Law No. 106-
118.