| 1 | 1 | | I |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 1685 |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to extend increased dependency |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | and indemnity compensation paid to surviving spouses of veterans who |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | die from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, regardless of how long the veterans |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | had such disease prior to death. |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | FEBRUARY27, 2025 |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | Mr. F |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | ITZPATRICK(for himself and Mr. PAPPAS) introduced the following bill; |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | A BILL |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to extend increased |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | dependency and indemnity compensation paid to sur- |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | viving spouses of veterans who die from amyotrophic |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | lateral sclerosis, regardless of how long the veterans had |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | such disease prior to death. |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Justice for ALS Vet-4 |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | erans Act of 2025’’. 5 |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1685.IH H1685 |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | •HR 1685 IH |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF INCREASED DEPENDENCY AND IN-1 |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | DEMNITY COMPENSATION TO SURVIVING 2 |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | SPOUSES OF VETERANS WHO DIE FROM 3 |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS. 4 |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | (a) E |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | XTENSION.—Section 1311(a)(2) of title 38, 5 |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | United States Code, is amended— 6 |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘The rate’’; and 7 |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | (2) by adding at the end the following new sub-8 |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | paragraph: 9 |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | ‘‘(B) A veteran who died from amyotrophic lateral 10 |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | sclerosis shall be treated as a veteran described in sub-11 |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | paragraph (A) without regard for how long the veteran 12 |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | had such disease prior to death. 13 |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | ‘‘(C) For purposes of the payment of compensation 14 |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | under this subsection by reason of the death of veteran 15 |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | described in subparagraph (B), the term ‘surviving spouse’ 16 |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | means a person who was married to the veteran for a con-17 |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | tinuous period of eight years or longer prior to the death 18 |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | of the veteran.’’. 19 |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | (b) A |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | PPLICABILITY.—Subparagraphs (B) and (C) of 20 |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | section 1311(a)(2) of title 38, United States Code, as 21 |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | added by subsection (a), shall apply to a veteran who dies 22 |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis on or after October 1, 23 |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | 2025. 24 |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1685.IH H1685 |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | •HR 1685 IH |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | SEC. 3. REPORT ON ADDITIONAL MEDICAL CONDITIONS. 1 |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | (a) R |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | EPORTREQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 2 |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 3 |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report that 4 |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | includes an identification of any service-connected dis-5 |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | ability, other than amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, that the 6 |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | Secretary determines should be treated in the same man-7 |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | ner as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is treated under sub-8 |
|---|
| 66 | 66 | | paragraphs (B) and (C) of section 1311(a)(2) of title 38, 9 |
|---|
| 67 | 67 | | United States Code, as added by section 2. 10 |
|---|
| 68 | 68 | | (b) C |
|---|
| 69 | 69 | | ONTENTS.—The report required by subsection 11 |
|---|
| 70 | 70 | | (a) shall include the following: 12 |
|---|
| 71 | 71 | | (1) A comprehensive list of service-connected 13 |
|---|
| 72 | 72 | | disabilities with high mortality rates. 14 |
|---|
| 73 | 73 | | (2) Detailed information on the average life ex-15 |
|---|
| 74 | 74 | | pectancy for persons with each such disability. 16 |
|---|
| 75 | 75 | | Æ |
|---|
| 76 | 76 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Mar 15, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1685.IH H1685 |
|---|
| 77 | 77 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS |
|---|