IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Dan Amon

October 17, 2000 (202) 225-3664

<http://veterans.house.gov/>

'DUTY TO ASSIST' VETERANS, COLA PASS HOUSE, GO TO PRESIDENT FOR SIGNATURE

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The House concluded its veterans' agenda for the 106th

Congress Tuesday by passing final versions of a Cost-of-Living Adjustment

(COLA) and a measure directing the VA secretary to help veterans obtain

evidence for their disability claims.

Both the COLA (H.R. 4850) and the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000

(H.R. 4864) passed unanimously, and now go to the White House, where the

President is expected to sign them into law.

The COLA, effective December 1, 2000, would increase the rates of disability

compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates

of dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors. The increases would

match the COLA granted to Social Security recipients. The increase is

expected to be between three and four percent.

The Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 eliminates the requirement that a

claimant first submit a "well-grounded" claim before receiving assistance

from the VA, and clarifies the claimant's and VA's duties with respect to

obtaining evidence in support of claims for veterans' benefits. The measure

requires VA to obtain any relevant records in VA's possession, or within any

other federal agency, at no cost to the veteran. The bill mandates the VA

Secretary to make several efforts to obtain relevant evidence identified by

the claimant, along with notifying the claimant and his or her

representative of those efforts. The VA would also be required to provide a

medical examination if warranted. Under H.R. 4864, veterans would have two

years to ask the VA to reopen a claim if it had been denied as not

well-grounded subsequent to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims July

14, 1999, Morton v. West decision.

For previous Press Releases please visit us at:

http://veterans.house.gov/communications/releases/106/newpress.htm

____________________________________________________________________________

___

Please visit http://veterans.house.gov, the House Committee on Veterans'

Affairs web site, named 'One of the Best Web Sites in Congress' by the

Congressional Management Foundation, May 3, 1999.

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