I would like to start by thanking Chairman Hall and Ranking Member Lamborn for including my legislation, H.R. 1197, on today’s hearing agenda.  The Prisoners of War Benefits Act is a bill that my father, former Representative Mike Bilirakis, first introduced several congresses ago.  He was able to make some progress on the legislation before he retired in 2006, and I am pleased to be continuing his efforts on this important issue in the 110th Congress.

The Prisoners of War Benefits Act is intended to improve the benefits currently available to former POWs.  In 1981, Congress established several service-connected presumptions for certain medical conditions that affect former prisoners of war.  However because a very high level of research certainty (95%) was required before establishing presumptive status, many other medical problems common in POWs have been excluded. 

My legislation establishes service-connected presumptions for two additional medical conditions: Type II diabetes and osteoporosis.  My staff has worked with the American Ex-Prisoners-of-War to identify these conditions as having strong evidence of a relationship between the POW experience and the onset of the disease. 

Congress has passed legislation giving the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) specific standards for determining whether the addition of new presumptive diseases for Vietnam and Gulf War veterans is warranted.  These standards require a positive association for the adoption of a presumptive condition.  However, Congress has not established a process for VA to add to the list of former POW presumptive diseases established in 1981.  In 2001, the VA Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of War recommended that the burden for establishing POW presumptions be adjusted to match the standards used for other beneficiary groups.   Therefore, H.R. 1197 includes a provision to establish a process by which the VA could determine future presumptive conditions for former POWs when there is a positive association between the experience of being a prisoner of war and the occurrence of a disease or condition.  Under my legislation, the VA Secretary would have to review the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of War and all other sound medical and scientific information and analyses available when making these determinations.

Under current law, to be eligible for disability compensation for certain conditions presumed to be service-connected for former POWs, a veteran must have been held in captivity for 30 or more days. 

At the time when some of the original POW presumptions were enacted, short-term prisoners of war were unusual.  Prisoners of war from more recent conflicts have been confined for shorter periods of time.  H.R. 1197 would remove the 30-day minimum requirement, making all former POWs eligible regardless of how long they were held captive.  This provision is based on the recommendations of the VA’s Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of War, which concluded in 2001 that this 30-day requirement should be repealed.

The 108th Congress did enact a partial repeal of the 30-day minimum requirement as part of the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-183).  Specifically, this law eliminated the requirement that a POW be held for 30 days or more to qualify for presumptions of service-connection for certain disabilities.  Although I am pleased that Congress took this initial step, I believe that more can be done in this regard and urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1197 for this reason.   

Before I close, I would like to mention how pleased I am that we have also included H.R. 5454 on today’s agenda.  H.R. 5454, which I have cosponsored, would establish a presumption of service-connection for ALS.  I have heard from some of my constituents whose loved ones suffer from this devastating disease.  They firmly believe there is a link between their loved ones military service and their developing ALS. 

In closing Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you once again for including my bill in today’s hearing.  I hope that you and our other colleagues on the Subcommittee will support H.R. 1197 and H.R. 5454.  I look forward to hearing the testimony from today’s witnesses.