Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, today, as chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I applaud my colleagues for their support and Senate passage of S. 2258, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2014.

All of my colleagues on the committee, including Ranking Member Burr and Senators ROCKEFELLER, MURRAY, BROWN, TESTER, BLUMENTHAL, HIRONO, ISAKSON, JOHANNS, MORAN, BOOZMAN, and HELLER, joined me in supporting this important legislation, introduced by Senator Begich. I look forward to continuing our bipartisan efforts to improve the lives of our Nation's veterans.

This important measure directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase the rates of veterans' compensation to keep pace with the increasing cost-of-living in this country. The rate adjustment is equal to that provided on an annual basis to Social Security recipients and is based on the Consumer Price Index. Last year's cost-of-living adjustment of 1.5 percent affected so many important benefits, including veterans' disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children. VA has projected that more than 4.5 million veterans and survivors will receive these benefits in fiscal year 2015.

I have been chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee for nearly 2 years, but during that period I have learned several very important lessons. First and foremost, the cost of war is much greater than most Americans realize, and the cost of war does not end when the last shots are fired or the last missiles are launched. The cost of war continues until the last veteran receives all of the care and all of the benefits that he or she has earned. With this in mind, for those who claim that taking care of veterans is too expensive, if you are not prepared to properly provide the health care and other benefits that veterans have earned, then do not send them to war in the first place. Taking care of veterans is a cost of war.

As part of Congress's important responsibility of ensuring veterans and survivors receive all of the benefits to which they are entitled, we take steps to prevent these benefits from being diminished by the effects of inflation. Over the last several years there has been a lot of discussion about so-called entitlement reform. When people talk about entitlement reform what they really mean, in English, is cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The cuts to Social Security benefits were going to come in the form of a so-called chained CPI, which would have meant significant cuts in the cost-of-living adjustments that seniors received, that people with disabilities received, and, if you can believe it, that disabled veterans received.

The bottom line is that at a time when the wealthiest people in this country and the largest corporations are doing phenomenally well and enjoy many, many tax breaks, we should not balance the budget on the backs of some of the most vulnerable people in this country--including disabled veterans. I will continue to strongly oppose any proposal to adopt the chained CPI. Moving to a chained CPI would cut the benefits of more than 4 million disabled veterans and surviving spouses.

Congress's responsibility to ensure veterans and survivors receive all of the benefits to which they are entitled also requires that we ensure they receive their complete cost-of-living adjustment. For a number of years, VA rounded down cost-of-living adjustments. The negative impacts of the round-down were just one of the issues that were brought to my attention by the veterans service organizations. I am proud to say that passage of last year's cost-of-living adjustment ended this practice. This year's bill, sponsored by Senator Begich, would continue to ensure veterans receive the full adjustment to which they are entitled. To some, this is mere pennies, but I know these small amounts of money add up over time and make a significant contribution to the financial stability of millions of veterans and their survivors.

We have an obligation to ensure the benefits we provide veterans and their survivors do not erode over time. As the debate over spending and the national debt continues, we cannot forget the debt we owe to veterans and their families--after sacrificing for our well-being, the least we can do is ensure theirs. I commend the Senate's passage of S. 2258, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2014. It is another important step as we continue to work to honor our obligation to America's veterans and their surviving family members.

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