The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“VETERANS' COMPENSATION COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 2021” mentioning Tina Smith was published in the Senate section on pages S5023-S5024 on July 21.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
VETERANS' COMPENSATION COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 2021
Ms. SMITH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 84, S. 189.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 189) to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for annual cost-of-living adjustments to be made automatically by law each year in the rates of disability compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors of certain service-connected disabled veterans, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, which had been reported from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, with an amendment to strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. INCREASE IN RATES OF DISABILITY COMPENSATION AND
DEPENDENCY AND INDEMNITY COMPENSATION.
(a) Rate Adjustment.--Effective on December 1, 2021, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall increase, in accordance with subsection (c), the dollar amounts in effect on November 30, 2021, for the payment of disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation under the provisions specified in subsection (b).
(b) Amounts To Be Increased.--The dollar amounts to be increased pursuant to subsection (a) are the following:
(1) Wartime disability compensation.--Each of the dollar amounts under section 1114 of title 38, United States Code.
(2) Additional compensation for dependents.--Each of the dollar amounts under section 1115(1) of such title.
(3) Clothing allowance.--The dollar amount under section 1162 of such title.
(4) Dependency and indemnity compensation to surviving spouse.--Each of the dollar amounts under subsections (a) through (d) of section 1311 of such title.
(5) Dependency and indemnity compensation to children.--Each of the dollar amounts under sections 1313(a) and 1314 of such title.
(c) Determination of Increase.--Each dollar amount described in subsection (b) shall be increased by the same percentage as the percentage by which benefit amounts payable under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) are increased effective December 1, 2021, as a result of a determination under section 215(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)).
(d) Special Rule.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may adjust administratively, consistent with the increases made under subsection (a), the rates of disability compensation payable to persons under section 10 of Public Law 85-857 (72 Stat. 1263) who have not received compensation under chapter 11 of title 38, United States Code.
SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF ADJUSTED RATES.
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall publish in the Federal Register the amounts specified in section 2(b), as increased under that section, not later than the date on which the matters specified in section 215(i)(2)(D) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)(2)(D)) are required to be published by reason of a determination made under section 215(i) of such Act during fiscal year 2022.
Ms. SMITH. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; that the committee-reported amendment to the title be agreed to; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee-reported amendment, in the nature of a substitute, was agreed to.
The bill (S. 189), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, was read the third time, and passed.
The committee-reported amendment to the title was agreed to as follows:
Amend the title so as to read: ``A bill to increase, effective as of December 1, 2021, 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, and for other purposes.''.
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