House Approves Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 New Legislation Would Increase Support for Gold Star Wives, Boost Aid to Disabled Veterans

The House of Representatives on October 9, 2003 approved H.R. 2297, the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003, legislation that would expand and extend benefits to veterans and their surviving spouses. H.R. 2297 was sponsored by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

"The Veterans Benefits Act would provide significant new support to veterans, particularly to disabled veterans and surviving spouses of veterans," Chairman Smith said. "With enactment of this legislation, we will also expand the GI Bill educational program to include self-employment training programs to help veterans run their own businesses," he said.

"An extremely important provision of this legislation would correct an injustice for our Gold Star Wives, those who lost their husbands through service to our nation. This provision, which Rep. Michael Bilirakis of Florida has championed for years, would finally allow surviving spouses of veterans to be able to remarry after age 55 without being penalized with the loss of widow benefits, such as widow's pension or burial rights," said Chairman Smith. H.R. 2297, as amended, would also:

• Make permanent the State Cemetery Grants Program;
• Reinstate a VA pilot program to provide vocational training to newly eligible VA nonservice-connected pension recipients;
• Increase the specially adapted automobile grant from $9,000 to $11,000;
• Increase the specially adapted housing grant from $48,000 to $50,000 for the most severely disabled veterans and from $9,350 to $10,000 for other severely disabled veterans;
• Add cirrhosis of the liver as a presumed service-connected disability for former POWs;
• Eliminate the requirement that a POW be held for 30 days or more to qualify for presumptions of service-connection for several specific disabilities;
• Expand benefits eligibility to those children with spina bifida born to Vietnam-era veterans who served in Korea near the demilitarized zone between October 1, 1967 and May 7, 1975;
• Make the VA home loan program for members of the Selected Reserve permanent;
• Adjust the funding fee charged to Selected Reserve home loan applications to the same amount as that paid by active duty servicemembers;
• Reinstate the Department of Veterans Affairs' vendee loan program

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