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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release November 19, 1997

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Today I was pleased to sign into law H.R. 2367, the "Veterans' Compensation Rate Amendments of 1997."

Our Nation provides compensation payments to veterans who were disabled in service and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefits to the survivors of those who died in military service. By maintaining the real value of these payments, we honor their sacrifices.

This Act provides a 2.1 percent increase in compensation and DIC benefits, effective December 1, 1997. This increase is the same percentage increase that Social Security beneficiaries and veterans' pension recipients will receive in January. Approximately 2.3 million veterans and over 300,000 surviving spouses and children will benefit from this increase.

Time will never erode the supreme value of our veterans' and servicmembers' efforts in defending the Nation's freedom. We also must not allow it to erode the value of our commitments to them. This legislation ensures that the worth of their richly deserved benefits keeps pace with consumer prices. As such, it maintains our obligation to those individuals whose sacrifices we will always remember.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON

       THE WHITE HOUSE,
       November 19, 1997.

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