WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy joined a bipartisan majority in the House to pass several pieces of legislation to increase funding for health care and the standards of living for veterans and their families, while providing them with easier access to scholarship programs in votes yesterday.  Kilroy said that these critical pieces of legislation are part of Congress’s commitment to the military family.
 
“Veteran’s care is a bipartisan issue and Democrats and Republicans worked together to pass legislation that will significantly benefit the lives of veterans and their families.  These bills will increase resources to provide the finest care and sufficient compensation to our veterans, increase access to health care specialty services for women, and make scholarship programs more accessible to vets and their families,” said Kilroy.  “As the daughter and niece of two World War II veterans, it is a priority for me to work to secure benefits for veterans in central Ohio.”
 
The Bills Include:
 
• S.407: the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2009 which directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to increase, as of December 1, 2009, the rates of veterans' disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled adult children, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children.  It also requires each increase to be the same percentage as the increase in benefits provided under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act, on the same effective date.

• H.R.1172: Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to include on the Internet website of the Department of Veterans Affairs a list of organizations that provide scholarships to veterans and their survivors and, for each such organization, a link to their Internet website.

• H.R.1016: The Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009 which requires, beginning with FY2011, a two-fiscal-year discretionary new budget authority for the following accounts of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): (1) Medical Services; (2) Medical Support and Compliance; and (3) Medical Facilities.

• H.R.1211: TheWomen Veterans Health Care Improvement Act  which requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) study barriers encountered by women veterans to the provision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) of comprehensive health care; (2) assess all health care services and programs provided by the VA for women veterans; (3) provide graduate education, training and certification for mental health professionals who provide counseling, care, and services to women veterans suffering from sexual trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); and (4) carry out a pilot program of child care for certain women veterans receiving health care from VA facilities.