Jay Rockefeller: “I believe the Senator from Rhode Island--although I didn't hear him say it, I know he said it in the past--this is…”

“I believe the Senator from Rhode Island--although I didn't hear him say it, I know he said it in the past--this is somehow expansion of the benefit, this is some new benefit that goes to veterans. I don't know how to make this clear, but what we are talking about here is that, through however it worked, the legislators who were working on this particular piece of legislation, that started out with ISTEA and now has come to the IRS conference report, rescinded current law. They took current law which says that if you go through all the steps that you have to go through in the VA to prove that you are a disabled American veteran by virtue of your addiction to nicotine and that it was caused and continued and it was because of your service, and all of these steps that you have to go through, that you are entitled to appropriated funds.”