Veterans' Benefits Enhancement Act of 2008
Latest action · Feb 14, 2008 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
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.
- IntroducedFeb 14, 2008
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Veterans' Benefits Enhancement Act of 2008 - Revises veterans' insurance benefits matters to: (1) direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Secretary) to grant level-premium term life insurance to certain service-disabled veterans; (2) increase the maximum amount of supplemental service disabled veterans' insurance for totally disabled veterans; (3) provide retroactive traumatic injury coverage under the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) program for certain members of the Armed Forces who incurred a traumatic injury in the line of duty; (4) provide for the designation of a recipient of funds for traumatic injury coverage when the member is mentally incapacitated or experiencing an extended loss of consciousness; and (5) increase the maximum loan guarantee amount under the veterans' mortgage life insurance program.
Revises veterans' housing benefits matters to: (1) allow home improvements and structural alterations for totally disabled members likely to be discharged or released from service; (2) make eligible for specially adapted housing benefits and assistance members with certain severe service-connected disabilities and veterans with such disabilities residing outside the United States; (3) authorize the provision of such assistance for veterans with a severe burn disability and disabled veterans residing temporarily in housing owned by a family member; and (4) increase specially adapted housing benefits for disabled veterans.
Revises veterans' employment and education matters to: (1) require coordination of veterans' educational course approval activities with those performed by the Departments of Labor and Education and other appropriate entities; (2) enhance the authority for reimbursing expenses of state approving agencies; (3) waive the residency requirement for a Director for Veterans' Employment and Training; (4) extend through 2009 an increase in benefits for veterans pursuing apprenticeships or on-job training; and (5) increase supplemental educational assistance for members of the Selected Reserve with certain skills or specialties.
Deems certain service performed with the military forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Scouts as active U.S. military service for purposes of eligibility for veterans' benefits. Entitles children of such Filipino veterans to the same rate of educational assistance entitlement as children of other veterans.
Revises provisions concerning the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to: (1) eliminate the service limit for retired judges who voluntarily return to the Court; (2) remove the annual limit on Court registration and practice fees; and (3) require reports on Court workloads and expansion of Court facilities.
Revises veterans' compensation and pension matters to: (1) add osteoporosis to the disabilities presumed to be service-connected in former prisoners of war with post-traumatic stress disorder; and (2) provide an annual cost-of-living adjustment to temporary dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) payable to surviving spouses with dependent children under 18 years old.
Provides an annual adjustment for veterans' burial benefits.
Increases eligibility for, and the amount of, assistance provided to disabled veterans for the purchase of automobiles and adaptive equipment.
Allows for the termination or suspension of cellular phone contracts for members undergoing deployments of 90 days or more outside the United States.
Provides for the maintenance, management, and availability for research of assets of the Air Force Health Study.
Requires: (1) a study on the risk of developing multiple sclerosis as a result of certain military service; and (2) a report on the adequacy of DIC to support survivors of veterans who die from service-connected disabilities.
Cosponsors 5
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 14, 2008 to Apr 22, 2008; 2 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-TX | John Cornyn | Original | Feb 14, 2008 |
| R-ID | Larry E. Craig | Original | Feb 14, 2008 |
| R-GA | Johnny Isakson | Feb 27, 2008 | |
| R-LA | David Vitter | Apr 22, 2008 | |
| R-OK | James M. Inhofe | Apr 22, 2008 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Veterans' Affairs Committee | Referred Feb 14, 2008 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 14, 2008Introduced in Senate
- Feb 14, 2008Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
In the Congressional Record 2
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | Debate and remarks S3244 | Saxby Chambliss R-GA | Apr 22, 2008 |
| Senate | Debate and remarks S1043 | Richard Burr R-NC | Feb 14, 2008 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance and improve insurance, housing, labor and education, and other benefits for veterans, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Veterans' Benefits Enhancement Act of 2008
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security.
- Afghanistan
- Air force
- Appellate courts
- Apprenticeship
- Armed forces abroad
- Armed Forces and National Security
- Armed forces reserves
- Automobiles
- Burns
- Cemeteries and funerals
- Commerce
- Congress
- Congressional investigations
- Congressional reporting requirements
- Contracts
- Cost of living adjustments
- Counseling
- Courthouses
- Courts of special jurisdiction
- Disabled
- East Asia
- Education
- Epidemiology
- Ex-prisoners of war
- Families
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Government life insurance
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government publicity
- Governmental investigations
- Health
- Health surveys
- Higher education
- History
- Home repair and improvement
- Housing and Community Development
- Housing for the disabled
- Insurance premiums
- Iraq
- Iraq compilation
- Judges
- Judicial compensation
- Judicial tenure
- Labor and Employment
- Law
- Life insurance
- Medical research
- Middle East and North Africa
- Military dependents
- Military housing
- Military operations
- Mortgages
- Multiple sclerosis
- National Guard
- Osteoporosis
- Performance measurement
- Persian Gulf War
- Philippines
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Science, Technology, Communications
- Self-help devices for the disabled
- Social Welfare
- South Asia
- Survivors' benefits
- Transportation and Public Works
- Transportation and the disabled
- Trauma care
- Trusts and trustees
- Unemployment
- Veterans' benefits
- Veterans' disability compensation
- Veterans' education
- Veterans' employment
- Veterans' medical care
- Veterans' pensions
- War casualties
- Wireless communication
- World War II
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 14, 2008Introduced in Senate
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; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
