S. 1234

One Hundred Ninth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the fourth day of January, two thousand and five

An Act

To increase, effective as of December 1, 2005, the rates of compensation for veterans

with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity

compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans’ Compensation Costof-Living Adjustment Act of 2005’’.

SEC. 2. INCREASE IN RATES OF DISABILITY COMPENSATION AND

DEPENDENCY AND INDEMNITY COMPENSATION.

(a) VETERANS’ DISABILITY COMPENSATION.—Section 1114 of title

38, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘$106’’ and inserting ‘‘$112’’;

(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘$205’’ and inserting

‘‘$218’’;

(3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘$316’’ and inserting

‘‘$337’’;

(4) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘$454’’ and inserting

‘‘$485’’;

(5) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘$646’’ and inserting

‘‘$690’’;

(6) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘$817’’ and inserting ‘‘$873’’;

(7) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘$1,029’’ and inserting

‘‘$1,099’’;

(8) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘$1,195’’ and inserting

‘‘$1,277’’;

(9) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘$1,344’’ and inserting

‘‘$1,436’’;

(10) in subsection (j), by striking ‘‘$2,239’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,393’’;

(11) in subsection (k)—

(A) by striking ‘‘$82’’ both places it appears and inserting ‘‘$87’’; and (B) by striking ‘‘$2,785’’ and ‘‘$3,907’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,977’’ and ‘‘$4,176’’, respectively;

(12) in subsection (l), by striking ‘‘$2,785’’ and inserting ‘‘$2,977’’;

(13) in subsection (m), by striking ‘‘$3,073’’ and inserting

‘‘$3,284’’;

(14) in subsection (n), by striking ‘‘$3,496’’ and inserting

‘‘$3,737’’;
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(15) in subsections (o) and (p), by striking ‘‘$3,907’’ each

place it appears and inserting ‘‘$4,176’’;

(16) in subsection (r), by striking ‘‘$1,677’’ and ‘‘$2,497’’

and inserting ‘‘$1,792’’ and ‘‘$2,669’’, respectively; and

(17) in subsection (s), by striking ‘‘$2,506’’ and inserting

‘‘$2,678’’.

(b) ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION FOR DEPENDENTS.—Section

1115(1) of such title is amended—

(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘$127’’ and inserting

‘‘$135’’;

(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘$219’’ and ‘‘$65’’ and

inserting ‘‘$233’’ and ‘‘$68’’, respectively;

(3) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘$86’’ and ‘‘$65’’ and

inserting ‘‘$91’’ and ‘‘$68’’, respectively;

(4) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘$103’’ and inserting

‘‘$109’’;

(5) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘$241’’ and inserting

‘‘$257’’; and

(6) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘$202’’ and inserting

‘‘$215’’.

(c) CLOTHING ALLOWANCE FOR CERTAIN DISABLED VETERANS.—

Section 1162 of such title is amended by striking ‘‘$600’’ and

inserting ‘‘$641’’.

(d) DEPENDENCY AND INDEMNITY COMPENSATION FOR SURVIVING

SPOUSES.—

(1) NEW LAW DIC.—Section 1311(a) of such title is

amended—

(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$967’’ and inserting

‘‘$1,033’’; and

(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘$208’’ and inserting

‘‘$221’’.

(2) OLD LAW DIC.—The table in paragraph (3) of such

section is amended to read as follows:

‘‘Pay grade Monthly rate Pay grade Monthly

rate

E–1 ....................... $1,033 W–4 ..................... $1,236

E–2 ....................... $1,033 O–1 ...................... $1,092

E–3 ....................... $1,033 O–2 ...................... $1,128

E–4 ....................... $1,033 O–3 ...................... $1,207

E–5 ....................... $1,033 O–4 ...................... $1,277

E–6 ....................... $1,033 O–5 ...................... $1,406

E–7 ....................... $1,069 O–6 ...................... $1,585

E–8 ....................... $1,128 O–7 ...................... $1,712

E–9 ....................... $1,1771 O–8 ...................... $1,879

W–1 ...................... $1,092 O–9 ...................... $2,010

W–2 ...................... $1,135 O–10 .................... $2,2042

W–3 ...................... $1,169 .............................. ........................

1 If the veteran served as sergeant major of the Army, senior enlisted advisor of

the Navy, chief master sergeant of the Air Force, sergeant major of the Marine

Corps, or master chief petty officer of the Coast Guard, at the applicable time designated by section 1302 of this title, the surviving spouse’s rate shall be $1,271.
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2 If the veteran served as Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of

Staff, Chief of Staff of the Army, Chief of Naval Operations, Chief of Staff of the

Air Force, Commandant of the Marine Corps, or Commandant of the Coast Guard,

at the applicable time designated by section 1302 of this title, the surviving

spouse’s rate shall be $2,365.’’.

(3) ADDITIONAL DIC FOR CHILDREN OR DISABILITY.—Section

1311 of such title is amended—

(A) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘$241’’ and inserting

‘‘$257’’;

(B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘$241’’ and inserting

‘‘$257’’; and

(C) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘$115’’ and inserting

‘‘$122’’.

(e) DEPENDENCY AND INDEMNITY COMPENSATION FOR CHILDREN.—

(1) DIC WHEN NO SURVIVING SPOUSE.—Section 1313(a) of

such title is amended—

(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$410’’ and inserting

‘‘$438’’;

(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘$590’’ and inserting

‘‘$629’’;

(C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘$767’’ and inserting

‘‘$819’’; and

(D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘$767’’ and ‘‘$148’’

and inserting ‘‘$819’’ and ‘‘$157’’, respectively.

(2) SUPPLEMENTAL DIC FOR CERTAIN CHILDREN.—Section

1314 of such title is amended—

(A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘$241’’ and inserting

‘‘$257’’;

(B) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘$410’’ and inserting

‘‘$438’’; and

(C) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘$205’’ and inserting

‘‘$218’’.

(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section

shall take effect on December 1, 2005.

(g) SPECIAL RULE.—The Secretary may adjust administratively,

consistent with the increases made under subsection (a), the rates

of disability compensation payable to persons within the purview

of section 10 of Public Law 85–857 (72 Stat. 1263) who are not
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in receipt of compensation payable pursuant to chapter 11 of title

38, United States Code.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.