Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-WV) has just announced that the Senate Veterans Committee has passed key legislation intended to improve veterans health benefits, and military family benefits. The legislation passed unanimously and will next go to the U.S. Senate floor for a vote.

"We owe our veterans more than we could ever repay. Their service brings honor to America, and America must honor our commitment to them when they return," said Senator Rockefeller, a long-serving Senator on the Senate Veterans Committee, in the press release. "I have been fighting my entire career for legislative initiatives that protect our veterans' futures, support veterans' families and caregivers, improve veteran rural health care, and enhance the quality of veterans' mental health."

The legislation passed by the Committee includes the following:

--S. 252, Veterans Health Care Authorization Act of 2009 provides funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs to recruit and retain nurses as well as other critical health-care professionals.

--S. 407, Veterans' Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2009 (COLA) provides a cost-of-living rate increase for compensation of veterans with service-connected disabilities.

--S. 423, Veterans Health Care Budget Reform Act of 2009 provides a two-year budget for Department of Veterans Affairs medical care. (Senator Rockefeller cosponsored this bill).

--S. 728, Veterans' Benefits Enhancement Act of 2009 improves existing veterans' insurance benefits.

--S. 801, Caregiver and Veterans Health Services Act of 2009 authorizes Department of Veterans Affairs to provide financial, health services and other support to the caregivers of severely injured Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans and improve access to care and quality of care for rural veterans. (Senator Rockefeller cosponsored this bill).

Adapted from a press release from Senator Rockefeller's office.

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