Related Links: Testimony Main Page

Testimony Summary

Before the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance & Memorial Affairs of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Regarding 14 Bills

June 12 , 2008

Good morning, Chairman Hall, Ranking Member Lamborn, and other Members of this distinguished Subcommittee.  On behalf of the members of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), we thank you for the opportunity to appear here today to share our views on several of the bills up for consideration. We ask that our full statement be entered in the record, and I will briefly summarize the most salient points of our statement.

We’d like to begin with H.R. 5954, which would provide veterans for presumptions of service connection for purposes of benefits for diseases associated with service in the Armed Forces and exposure to biological, chemical, or other toxic agents as part of Project 112.

H.R. 1197, The Prisoner of War Benefits Act of 2007

H.R. 3008, the Rural Veterans Services Outreach and Training Act

H.R. 3070, The Disabled Veterans' Caregiver Compensation Act

H.R. 3795, The You Were There, You Get Care Act of 2007

H.R. 4274, The Gold Star Parents Annuity Act of 2007

H.R. 5155, The Combat Veterans Debt Elimination Act of 2008

H.R. 5448, The Full Faith in Veterans Act of 2008

H.R. 5454 would establish a presumption of service connection for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis if a veteran develops a 10 percent degree of disability or more at any time.

H.R. 5709, The Veterans Disability Fairness Act

H.R. 5985, The Compensation for Combat Veterans Act

H.R. 6032 would direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide wartime disability compensation for certain veterans with Parkinson's disease.

H. R. 6114, The SUNSET (Simplifying and Updating National Standards to Encourage Testing of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus) ACT of 2008

H.R. 6122 would direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop and implement a comprehensive policy on the management of pain experienced by veterans enrolled for VA health care services.

Read or Print Complete Testimony