Pub.L. 107-331 To amend the Indian Financing Act of 1974 to improve the effectiveness of the Indian loan guarantee and insurance program. <> ...

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                      VETERANS BENEFITS ACT OF 2002

[[Page 116 STAT. 2820]]

Public Law 107-330
107th Congress

                                 An Act


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve authorities of the 
   Department of Veterans Affairs relating to veterans' compensation, 
 dependency and indemnity compensation, and pension benefits, education 
 benefits, housing benefits, memorial affairs benefits, life insurance 
   benefits, and certain other benefits for veterans, to improve the 
    administration of benefits for veterans, to make improvements in 
procedures relating to judicial review of veterans' claims for benefits, 
                         and for other purposes.

<<NOTE: Dec. 6, 2002 -  [S. 2237]>>     Be it enacted by the Senate and 
House of Representatives of the United States of <<NOTE: Veterans 
Benefits Act of 2002.>> America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) <<NOTE: 38 USC 101 note.>>  Short Title.--This Act may be cited 
as the ``Veterans Benefits Act of 2002''.

    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. References to title 38, United States Code.

             TITLE I--COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS IMPROVEMENTS

Sec. 101. Retention of CHAMPVA for surviving spouses remarrying after 
           age 55.
Sec. 102. Clarification of entitlement to special monthly compensation 
           for women veterans who have service-connected loss of breast 
           tissue.
Sec. 103. Specification of hearing loss required for compensation for 
           hearing loss in paired organs.
Sec. 104. Assessment of acoustic trauma associated with military service 
           from World War II to present.

                       TITLE II--MEMORIAL AFFAIRS

Sec. 201. Prohibition on certain additional benefits for persons 
           committing capital crimes.
Sec. 202. Procedures for disqualification of persons committing capital 
           crimes for interment or memorialization in national 
           cemeteries.
Sec. 203. Application of Department of Veterans Affairs benefit for 
           Government markers for marked graves of veterans at private 
           cemeteries to veterans dying on or after September 11, 2001.
Sec. 204. Authorization of placement of a memorial in Arlington National 
           Cemetery honoring World War II veterans who fought in the 
           Battle of the Bulge.

                        TITLE III--OTHER MATTERS

Sec. 301. Increase in aggregate annual amount available for State 
           approving agencies for administrative expenses for fiscal 
           years 2003 through 2007.
Sec. 302. Authority for Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance to be carried 
           beyond age 70.
Sec. 303. Authority to guarantee hybrid adjustable rate mortgages.
Sec. 304. Increase in amount payable as Medal of Honor special pension.
Sec. 305. Extension of protections under the Soldiers' and Sailors' 
           Civil Relief Act of 1940 to National Guard members called to 
           active duty under title 32, United States Code.
Sec. 306. Extension of income verification authority.
Sec. 307. Fee for loan assumption.
Sec. 308. Technical and clarifying amendments.

[[Page 116 STAT. 2821]]

Sec. 309. Codification of cost-of-living adjustment provided in Public 
           Law 107-247.

                       TITLE IV--JUDICIAL MATTERS

Sec. 401. Standard for reversal by Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims 
           of erroneous finding of fact by Board of Veterans' Appeals.
Sec. 402. Review by Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit of 
           decisions of law of Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
Sec. 403. Authority of Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to award 
           fees under Equal Access to Justice Act for non-attorney 
           practitioners.

SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE.

    Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an 
amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal 
of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to 
be made to a section or other provision of title 38, United States Code.

             TITLE I--COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS IMPROVEMENTS

SEC. 101. RETENTION OF CHAMPVA FOR SURVIVING SPOUSES REMARRYING 
                        AFTER AGE 55.

    (a) Exception to Termination of Benefits Upon Remarriage.--Paragraph 
(2) of section 103(d) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(A)'' after ``(2)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:

    ``(B) The remarriage after age 55 of the surviving spouse of a 
veteran shall not bar the furnishing of benefits under section 1781 of 
this title to such person as the surviving spouse of the veteran.''.
    (b) <<NOTE: 38 USC 103 note.>>  Application for Benefits.--In the 
case of an individual who but for having remarried would be eligible for 
medical care under section 1781 of title 38, United States Code, and 
whose remarriage was before the date of the enactment of this Act and 
after the individual had attained age 55, the individual shall be 
eligible for such medical care by reason of the amendments made by 
subsection (a) only if an application for such medical care is received 
by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs during the 1-year period ending on 
the effective date specified in subsection (c).

    (c) <<NOTE: 38 USC 103 note.>>  Effective Date.--The amendments made 
by this section shall take effect on the date that is 60 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 102. CLARIFICATION OF ENTITLEMENT TO SPECIAL MONTHLY 
                        COMPENSATION FOR WOMEN VETERANS WHO HAVE 
                        SERVICE-CONNECTED LOSS OF BREAST TISSUE.

    Section 1114(k) is amended by striking ``one or both breasts 
(including loss by mastectomy)'' and inserting ``25 percent or more of 
tissue from a single breast or both breasts in combination (including 
loss by mastectomy or partial mastectomy) or has received radiation 
treatment of breast tissue''.
SEC. 103. SPECIFICATION OF HEARING LOSS REQUIRED FOR COMPENSATION 
                        FOR HEARING LOSS IN PAIRED ORGANS.

    Section 1160(a)(3) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``total deafness'' the first place it 
        appears and inserting ``deafness compensable to a degree of 10 
        percent or more''; and

[[Page 116 STAT. 2822]]

            (2) by striking ``total deafness'' the second place it 
        appears and inserting ``deafness''.
SEC. 104. ASSESSMENT <<NOTE: Deadlines.>>  OF ACOUSTIC TRAUMA 
                        ASSOCIATED WITH MILITARY SERVICE FROM 
                        WORLD WAR II TO PRESENT.

    (a) <<NOTE: Contracts.>>  Assessment by National Academy of 
Sciences.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall seek to enter into an 
agreement with the National Academy of Sciences for the Academy to 
perform the activities specified in this section. The Secretary shall 
seek to enter into the agreement not later than 60 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act.

    (b) Duties Under Agreement.--Under the agreement under subsection 
(a), the National Academy of Sciences shall do the following:
            (1) Review and assess available data on hearing loss that 
        could reasonably be expected to have been incurred by members of 
        the Armed Forces during the period from the beginning of World 
        War II to the date of the enactment of this Act.
            (2) Identify the different sources of acoustic trauma that 
        members of the Armed Forces could reasonably be expected to have 
        been exposed to during the period from the beginning of World 
        War II to the date of the enactment of this Act
            (3) Determine how much exposure to each source of acoustic 
        trauma identified under paragraph (2) is required to cause or 
        contribute to hearing loss, hearing threshold shift, or 
        tinnitus, as the case may be, and at what noise level.
            (4) Determine whether or not such hearing loss, hearing 
        threshold shift, or tinnitus, as the case may be, is--
                    (A) immediate or delayed onset;
                    (B) cumulative;
                    (C) progressive; or
                    (D) any combination of subparagraph (A), (B), and 
                (C).
            (5) Identify age, occupational history, and other factors 
        which contribute to an individual's noise-induced hearing loss.
            (6) Identify--
                    (A) the period of time at which audiometric measures 
                used by the Armed Forces became adequate to evaluate 
                individual hearing threshold shift; and
                    (B) the period of time at which hearing conservation 
                measures to prevent individual hearing threshold shift 
                were available to members of the Armed Forces, shown 
                separately for each of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine 
                Corps, and Coast Guard, and, for each such service, 
                shown separately for members exposed to different 
                sources of acoustic trauma identified under paragraph 
                (2).

    (c) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the entry 
into the agreement referred to in subsection (a), the National Academy 
of Sciences shall submit to the Secretary a report on the activities of 
the National Academy of Sciences under the agreement, including the 
results of the activities required by subsection (b).
    (d) Report on Administration of Benefits for Hearing Loss and 
Tinnitus.--(1) Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the 
Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the House of 
Representatives a report on the claims submitted

[[Page 116 STAT. 2823]]

to the Secretary for disability compensation or health care for hearing 
loss or tinnitus.
    (2) The report under paragraph (1) shall include the following:
            (A) The number of decisions issued by the Secretary in each 
        of fiscal years 2000, 2001, and 2002 on claims for disability 
        compensation for hearing loss, tinnitus, or both.
            (B) Of the decisions referred to in subparagraph (A)--
                    (i) the number in which compensation was awarded, 
                and the number in which compensation was denied, set 
                forth by fiscal year; and
                    (ii) the total amount of disability compensation 
                paid on such claims during each such fiscal year.
            (C) The total cost to the Department of Veterans Affairs of 
        adjudicating the claims referred to in subparagraph (A), set 
        forth in terms of full-time employee equivalents (FTEEs).
            (D) The total number of veterans who sought treatment in 
        Department of Veterans Affairs health care facilities during 
        fiscal years specified in subparagraph (A) for hearing-related 
        disorders, set forth by the number of veterans per year.
            (E) The health care furnished to veterans referred to in 
        subparagraph (D) for hearing-related disorders, including the 
        number of veterans furnished hearing aids and the cost of 
        furnishing such hearing aids.

                       TITLE II--MEMORIAL AFFAIRS

SEC. 201. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN ADDITIONAL BENEFITS FOR PERSONS 
                        COMMITTING CAPITAL CRIMES.

    (a) Presidential Memorial Certificate.--Section 112 is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c) A certificate may not be furnished under the program under 
subsection (a) on behalf of a deceased person described in section 
2411(b) of this title.''.
    (b) Flag to Drape Casket.--Section 2301 is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the following new 
        subsection (g):

    ``(g) A flag may not be furnished under this section in the case of 
a person described in section 2411(b) of this title.''.
    (c) Headstone or Marker for Grave.--Section 2306 is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(g)(1) A headstone or marker may not be furnished under subsection 
(a) for the unmarked grave of a person described in section 2411(b) of 
this title.
    ``(2) A memorial headstone or marker may not be furnished under 
subsection (b) for the purpose of commemorating a person described in 
section 2411(b) of this title.
    ``(3) A marker may not be furnished under subsection (d) for the 
grave of a person described in section 2411(b) of this title.''.
    (d) <<NOTE: Applicability. 38 USC 112 note.>>  Effective Date.--The 
amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to deaths 
occurring on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

[[Page 116 STAT. 2824]]

SEC. 202. PROCEDURES FOR DISQUALIFICATION OF PERSONS COMMITTING 
                        CAPITAL CRIMES FOR INTERMENT OR 
                        MEMORIALIZATION IN NATIONAL CEMETERIES.

    Section 2411(a)(2) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The prohibition'' and inserting ``In the 
        case of a person described in subsection (b)(1) or (b)(2), the 
        prohibition''; and
            (2) by striking ``or finding under subsection (b)'' and 
        inserting ``referred to in subsection (b)(1) or (b)(2), as the 
        case may be,''.
SEC. 203. APPLICATION OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS BENEFIT 
                        FOR GOVERNMENT MARKERS FOR MARKED GRAVES 
                        OF VETERANS AT PRIVATE CEMETERIES TO 
                        VETERANS DYING ON OR AFTER SEPTEMBER 11, 
                        2001.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (d) of section 502 of the Veterans 
Education and Benefits Expansion Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-103; 115 
Stat. 995; 38 U.S.C. 2306 note) is amended by striking ``the date of the 
enactment of this Act'' and inserting ``September 11, 2001''.
    (b) <<NOTE: 38 USC 2306 note.>>  Effective Date.--The amendment made 
by subsection (a) shall take effect as if included in the enactment of 
such section 502.
SEC. 204. <<NOTE: 38 USC 2409 note.>>  AUTHORIZATION OF PLACEMENT 
                        OF A MEMORIAL IN ARLINGTON NATIONAL 
                        CEMETERY HONORING WORLD WAR II VETERANS 
                        WHO FOUGHT IN THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE.

    The Secretary of the Army is authorized to place in Arlington 
National Cemetery a memorial marker honoring veterans who fought in the 

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