Alaskan Congressman Don Young voted today in favor of H.R. 1407, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2011 and H.R. 1383, the Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act of 2011. H.R. 1407 provides a cost of living increase to veterans’ disability compensation rates, tied to the cost of living adjustment for Social Security benefits. H.R. 1383 would temporarily allow student veterans who enrolled at private universities prior to the passing of the GI Bill Improvement Act of 2010, which capped assistance at $17,500 per year, to continue to receive higher rates of assistance.
“America owes a huge debt of gratitude to our veterans,” said Rep. Young. “Congress has an obligation to take care of our servicemen and women when they return home and that is exactly what these two bills do. Whether it’s disabled veterans or student veterans, we cannot afford to shortchange the men and women who have risked their lives for this country. Thousands of Alaskan veterans will benefit from these two pieces of legislation and I was proud to support both of them.”
Alaska has over 75,000 veterans of which over 13,000 receive disability compensation.
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