Jay Rockefeller: “MR. President, as chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I urge the Senate to pass S. 2237, the proposed…”

“MR. President, as chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I urge the Senate to pass S. 2237, the proposed "Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2002," as modified by a manager's amendment which I developed with the committee's ranking member, Senator Specter. I will describe the provisions of the amendment in a moment. The pending omnibus measure would touch many parts of veterans' lives, from increasing pensions for those who have earned the Medal of Honor to ensuring that veterans' appeals get more than a cursory review. I thank Ranking Member Specter and his staff for their significant contributions to a bill I believe will substantially improve the benefits provided to those who have served our Nation. S. 2237 as reported, which I will refer to as the "committee bill," improves numerous veterans' benefits. I will highlight some of the provisions of which I am most proud. Congress last year authorized VA to offer special monthly compensation to women who had lost one or both breasts, including through surgery, as a result of their military service. VA subsequently released regulations that limited eligibility for this benefit to women who had suffered complete loss of all breast tissue through simple or radical mastectomy. Even if such a restriction does not influence medical decisions, it fails to acknowledge that tissue-sparing treatments still create physical, emotional, and financial challenges to returning to health.”