Statement on Signing Veterans Legislation

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.