July 28, 2005

Contact: Jeff Schrade (202) 224-9093

(Washington, DC) Members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs quickly approved two nominees and two pieces of legislation on Thursday. "I think we set a record today. It took us less than a half hour to get things done for veterans. I commend my staff and my colleagues for their efforts to make the markup session move so smoothly," said Sen. Larry Craig who serves as chairman.

The committee's unanimous approval moves the nominations of James Phillip Terry and Charles S. "Chick" Ciccolella to the Senate floor for final approval. Terry was nominated by President Bush to be Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals within the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Ciccolella was nominated by the President to be the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training within the U.S. Department of Labor.

A final vote on the nominations is expected before the Senate breaks this weekend for the August recess.

Members of the committee also approved two bills sponsored by Chairman Craig (R-Idaho), including a measure (S. 1234) which increases the pay rates for disabled veterans and survivors compensation by an estimated 2.3 percent, and another measure (S. 1235 - as amended) which increases life insurance coverage for military personnel from $250,000 to $400,000. The two bills are expected to be voted on when Congress reconvenes in September.

The increase in life insurance to $400,000 was approved temporarily in May. If Congress does not make the law permanent by October 1 of this year, coverage will revert to $250,000. "Together with our House colleagues, we will work to send the bill to the President before October 1," Craig said.

The Senate's version of the insurance coverage bill (S. 1235) differs in two substantive ways from a similar bill approved by the House of Representatives. "Both House and Senate versions provide for spousal notification when a servicemember changes coverage. That's important," Craig said. But unlike the House bill, the Senate's bill would not require notification of "next of kin" when an unmarried servicemember changes coverage amounts.

The Senate's bill also does not include an "opt out" option for coverage available under the new traumatic injury protection insurance provisions ? the Wounded Warrior bill ? which Craig sponsored earlier this year. Congress approved that legislation in April and President Bush signed it into law.

During the committee markup on S. 1235, senators approved a measure sought by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) which will provide insurance coverage for stillborn children so that they will be covered under the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance program.  Santorum chairs the Senate Republican Conference and the bipartisan compromise that led to that provision earned the praise of the committee's top Democrat.

"Much of what we see before us came about as compromise from both sides, and I appreciate the willingness of committee members to work together where possible," said Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii). "The final language should be viewed as a sign that this committee wanted to help servicemembers with burial costs of their stillborns and nothing more. Much compromise went into the final product and I am happy that we reached some resolution."

Another measure sought by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington) and approved by the committee will cause the Department of Veterans Affairs to consider heart disease and strokes in former prisoners of war as "presumptive" conditions for purposes of disability compensation.

Additional language sought by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) was also approved by the committee. It will cause the standardization of training and disability compensation assessments for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder claims filed within the Veterans Benefits Administration.

Two other bills that the committee had originally scheduled to take up, S. 1182, the "Veterans Health Care Improvements Act of 2005," and S. 716, "Vet Center Enhancement Act of 2005" will be taken up when the committee reconvenes in September.

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