On the recordMarch 11, 2010
today, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I introduce the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of- Living Adjustment Act of 2010. This measure would direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase, effective December 1, 2010, the rates of veterans' compensation to keep pace with the rising cost of living in this country, if such an adjustment is triggered by an increase in the Consumer Price Index. This legislation, commonly referred to as the COLA, would make an increase available to veterans at the same level as a cost-of-living increase, if provided to those who receive Social Security benefits. My colleagues on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, including Senators Burr, Rockefeller, Murray, Sanders, Brown of Ohio, Tester, Begich, Burris, Specter, Isakson, and Graham join me in introducing this important legislation. I appreciate their continued support of the Nation's veterans. Congress regularly enacts a cost-of-living adjustment for veterans' compensation in order to ensure that inflation does not erode the purchasing power of those veterans and survivors who depend upon this income to meet their daily needs.
