Gus Bilirakis: “as an original sponsor, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2540, the Veterans' Benefits Act of 2001. One of the most…”

“as an original sponsor, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2540, the Veterans' Benefits Act of 2001. One of the most important bills the Congress approves each year is legislation providing disabled veterans an annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). H.R. 2540 provides a COLA, effective December 1, 2001, to disabled veterans and the surviving spouses of veterans who are receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). As in previous years, these deserving men and women will receive the same COLA that Social Security recipients will receive. I am pleased that we are acting to provide disabled veterans and their survivors with an annual COLA. The bill makes a number of other benefits improvements, including the addition of Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2) to the list of diseases presumed to be service-connected in Vietnam veterans exposed to herbicide agents. The bill also requires the Secretary of Veterans' Affairs to establish a two-year nationwide pilot program to expand the VA's 1-800 toll-free information service to include information on all federal veterans' benefits and veterans' benefits administered by each state. The legislation also contains provisions affecting compensation for Persian Gulf veterans. Specifically, the bill expands the definition of undiagnosed illnesses for Persian Gulf veterans to include fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and chronic multi-symptom illness for the statutory presumption of service-connection.”