I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3407 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements to 

laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs relating to benefits for severely injured veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2009 

Mr. BUYER (for himself, Mr. MICHAUD, and Mr. BROWN of South Carolina) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain 

improvements to laws administered by the Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs relating to benefits for severely injured 

veterans, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Severely Injured Vet5 erans Benefit Improvement Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCREASE IN RATE OF SPECIAL MONTHLY COM2 PENSATION FOR SEVERELY INJURED VET3 ERANS. 

4 Section 1114(r) of title 38, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$1,893’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘$2,840’’; and 

8 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘$2,820’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘4,230’’. 

10 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY OF DISABLED VETERANS AND MEM11 BERS OF THE ARMED FORCES WITH SEVERE 

12 BURN INJURIES FOR AUTOMOBILES AND 

13 ADAPTIVE EQUIPMENT. 

14 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—Paragraph (1) of section 3901 is 

15 amended— 

16 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

17 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 

18 striking ‘‘or (iii) below’’ and inserting ‘‘(iii), or 

19 (iv)’’; and 

20 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

21 clause: 

22 ‘‘(iv) A severe burn injury (as deter23 mined pursuant to regulations prescribed 

24 by the Secretary).’’; and 

25 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or (iii)’’ 

26 and inserting ‘‘(iii), or (iv)’’. 


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1 (b) STYLISTIC AMENDMENTS.—Such section is fur2 ther amended— 

3 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

4 striking ‘‘chapter—’’ and inserting ‘‘chapter:’’; 

5 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

6 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

7 (A), by striking ‘‘means—’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘means the following:’’; 

9 (B) in subparagraph (A)— 

10 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

11 by striking ‘‘any veteran’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘Any veteran’’; 

13 (ii) in clauses (i) and (ii), by striking 

14 the semicolon at the end and inserting a 

15 period; and 

16 (iii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

17 and inserting a period; and 

18 (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘any 

19 member’’ and inserting ‘‘Any member’’. 

20 SEC. 4. INCREASE IN NON-SERVICE-CONNECTED DIS21 ABILITY PENSION FOR CERTAIN VETERANS 

22 OF A PERIOD OF WAR. 

23 Section 1521(e) of title 38, United States Code, is 

24 amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘$4,340’’ and inserting ‘‘4,774’’; 

2 and 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘$5,441’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘$5,985’’. 

5 SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY OF VETERANS WITH TRAUMATIC 

6 BRAIN INJURY FOR AID AND ATTENDANCE 

7 BENEFITS. 

8 Section 1114(o) of title 38, United States Code, is 

9 amended by inserting after ‘‘prosthetic appliances,’’ the 

10 following: ‘‘or if the veteran has suffered traumatic brain 

11 injury,’’. 

12 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

13 TO INCREASE MEDAL OF HONOR SPECIAL 

14 PENSION. 

15 (a) AUTHORITY TO INCREASE RATE OF SPECIAL

16 PENSION.—Subsection (a) of section 1562 of title 38, 

17 United States Code, is amended— 

18 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’; and 

19 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to the availability of appropriations 

22 for this purpose in advance in an appropriations Act, the 

23 Secretary may increase the rate of the special pension oth24 erwise in effect under paragraph (1) by not more than 

25 $1,000. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may not increase the rate of a 

2 special pension under subparagraph (A) after the Sec3 retary has expended all the funds specifically provided for 

4 such purpose in an appropriations Act. 

5 ‘‘(C) The authority under subparagraph (A) expires 

6 on September 30, 2013.’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (f)(1) 

8 of such section is amended by striking ‘‘this section’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’. 

10 SEC. 7. EXTENSION OF PROVISIONS RELATING TO PEN11 SIONS FOR CERTAIN HOSPITALIZED VET12 ERANS. 

13 Section 5503(d)(7) of title 38, United States Code, 

14 is amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 2011’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘September 30, 2021’’. 

16 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

17 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

18 on September 30, 2011. 

Æ 


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