Veterans Information and Benefits Enhancement Act of 2003
Latest action · Jul 10, 2003 Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJun 18, 2003
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Veterans Information and Benefits Enhancement Act of 2003 - Includes the following among the diseases to be considered service-connected, and therefore compensable through the Department of Veterans Affairs, when suffered by a veteran who is a former prisoner of war who was detained or interned for at least 30 days: (1) cardiovascular (heart) disease; (2) cerebrovascular disease (stroke); or (3) chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis and primary liver carcinoma.
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Secretary) and the Secretary of Defense to jointly conduct a review of the mission, procedures, and administration of the Dose Reconstruction Program of the Department of Defense. Requires appointment of an advisory board for Program review and oversight.
Directs the Secretary to conduct a study to determine the appropriate disposition of the Air Force Health Study, an epidemiologic study of Air Force personnel responsible for conducting aerial herbicide spray missions during the Vietnam era.
Requires the Secretaries to make specified funds available to the National Academy of Sciences in each of FY 2004 through 2013 for the Academy's Medical Follow-Up Agency of the Institute of Medicine to conduct epidemiological research on military personnel and veterans.
Cosponsors 1
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Jul 9, 2003.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-WV | John D. Rockefeller IV | Jul 9, 2003 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jul 10, 2003Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held.
- Jun 18, 2003Introduced in Senate
- Jun 18, 2003Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S8134)
- Jun 18, 2003Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8133-8134)
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security.
- Armed Forces and National Security
- Atomic bomb
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Congress
- Department of Defense
- Environmental Protection
- Epidemiology
- Executive reorganization
- Federal advisory bodies
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government publicity
- Governmental investigations
- Health
- Herbicides
- History
- Ionizing radiation
- Liver diseases
- Medical research
- Nuclear weapons
- Prisoners of war
- Radiation victims
- Stroke
- Veterans' benefits
- Veterans' disability compensation
- Veterans' medical care
- Vietnam veterans
- World War II
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.