| The House Has Approved the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 | News & Links |
|
One provision would allow surviving spouses of veterans to remarry after age 55 without losing Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. Another would make all remarried surviving spouses of veterans eligible for burial in a national cemetery. The act also would expand the Montgomery G.I. Bill to include self-employment training programs to help veterans run their own businesses. For Reserves, the VA Home loan program would become permanent. Also, the bill would adjust the funding fee assessed for Selected Reserve home loan applications to the same amount charged for active duty service members. In addition, the bill would establish presumption of service-connection for former prisoners of war without any minimum period of internment for the following: psychosis; any of the anxiety states; dysthymic disorder; organic residuals of frostbite when consistent with prisoner conditions; and post-traumatic osteoarthritis. The bill now goes to the Senate. | |