I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1685
To amend title 38, United States Code, to extend increased dependency
and indemnity compensation paid to surviving spouses of veterans who
die from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, regardless of how long the veterans
had such disease prior to death.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY27, 2025
Mr. F
ITZPATRICK(for himself and Mr. PAPPAS) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to extend increased
dependency and indemnity compensation paid to sur-
viving spouses of veterans who die from amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis, regardless of how long the veterans had
such disease prior to death.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Justice for ALS Vet-4
erans Act of 2025’’. 5
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SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF INCREASED DEPENDENCY AND IN-1
DEMNITY COMPENSATION TO SURVIVING 2
SPOUSES OF VETERANS WHO DIE FROM 3
AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS. 4
(a) E
XTENSION.—Section 1311(a)(2) of title 38, 5
United States Code, is amended— 6
(1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘The rate’’; and 7
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-8
paragraph: 9
‘‘(B) A veteran who died from amyotrophic lateral 10
sclerosis shall be treated as a veteran described in sub-11
paragraph (A) without regard for how long the veteran 12
had such disease prior to death. 13
‘‘(C) For purposes of the payment of compensation 14
under this subsection by reason of the death of veteran 15
described in subparagraph (B), the term ‘surviving spouse’ 16
means a person who was married to the veteran for a con-17
tinuous period of eight years or longer prior to the death 18
of the veteran.’’. 19
(b) A
PPLICABILITY.—Subparagraphs (B) and (C) of 20
section 1311(a)(2) of title 38, United States Code, as 21
added by subsection (a), shall apply to a veteran who dies 22
from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis on or after October 1, 23
2025. 24
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SEC. 3. REPORT ON ADDITIONAL MEDICAL CONDITIONS. 1
(a) R
EPORTREQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 2
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 3
Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report that 4
includes an identification of any service-connected dis-5
ability, other than amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, that the 6
Secretary determines should be treated in the same man-7
ner as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is treated under sub-8
paragraphs (B) and (C) of section 1311(a)(2) of title 38, 9
United States Code, as added by section 2. 10
(b) C
ONTENTS.—The report required by subsection 11
(a) shall include the following: 12
(1) A comprehensive list of service-connected 13
disabilities with high mortality rates. 14
(2) Detailed information on the average life ex-15
pectancy for persons with each such disability. 16
Æ
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