Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) issued the following statement following the full House’s passage of the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2011.  The legislation, which previously passed the Senate, passed the House by a voice vote and is expected to be signed into law by President Obama.

“The boost in benefits for veterans will be very beneficial in helping make ends meet, especially as our nation continues to recover from the severe recession of 2008.  This follows the announcement that Social Security beneficiaries will get their first cost-of-living increase in benefits since 2009.  As a result of today’s legislation, veterans with service-connected disabilities and the survivors of certain disabled veterans will see an increase effective December 1.  It is projected that over 3.6 million veterans and survivors will receive compensation benefits in fiscal 2012, according to the VA.

“This bill increases the amounts paid to veterans for disability compensation, and to their survivors for dependency and indemnity compensation by the same cost-of-living adjustment payable to Social Security recipients. Recently, the COLA increase for 2012 was announced to be 3.6 percent. Survivors eligible for compensation include spouses, unmarried children under 18, children 18 or older who are permanently incapable of self-support, children between the ages of 18 and 22 who are enrolled in school, and certain parents.

“Veterans need to keep up with the growing cost-of-living, especially in New York, and having a COLA increase is very important.  Not having one can be devastating.  Our challenging economic times make it doubly important to put more money in the pockets of seniors and veterans.  We can never balance our budget on the backs of our nation’s veterans.”

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