Mike Levin: “I have offered the Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act as a stand-alone bill that incorporates the provisions of…”

“I have offered the Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act as a stand-alone bill that incorporates the provisions of the Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act as marked up by the Armed Services Committee and as amended when offered as an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization Act and passed by a vote of 94 to 0. Our wounded warriors cannot wait, and should not have to wait, for us to finish the Department of Defense Authorization Act to get the relief contained in this bill. The bill incorporates the ideas of many Senators and the consideration of both the Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. A total of 51 Senators have cosponsored this legislation. It is truly a bipartisan effort to address shortfalls in the care of our wounded warriors. I am delighted the Senate is passing this bill today so that we can move forward to conference with the House of Representatives to reach agreement on a bill that both the House and Senate can pass and send to the President. This bill addresses the issue of inconsistent disability ratings by requiring that the military departments use VA standards for rating disabilities unless the Department of Defense rating is higher. The bill adopts a more favorable statutory presumption for determining whether a disability is incident to military service by adopting the more favorable VA presumption.”