Veterans' Disability Compensation, Housing, and Memorial Benefits Amendments of 1981
Public Law 97-66 · S. 917 · 97th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Oct 17, 1981 · Armed Forces and National Security
Sponsor: Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY)
Cosponsors (11): Sen. Alan Cranston, Sen. Strom Thurmond,
Passage votes
- HouseMethod not stated
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
(Senate agreed to House amendments with an amendment)
Veterans' Disability Compensation, Housing, and Memorial Benefits Amendments of 1981 - Title I: Veterans' Disability Compensation Benefits - Increases effective October 1, 1981, the rates of veterans' compensation for: (1) wartime disability compensation; (2) additional compensation for dependents; (3) clothing allowances paid to certain disabled veterans; and (4) the anatomical loss or loss of use of both hands or both arms.
Title II: Survivors' Dependency and Indemnity Compensation Benefits - Increases the rates of veterans' dependency and indemnity compensation for: (1) a surviving spouse; (2) surviving children; and (3) supplemental children's benefits.
Title III: Automobile Assistance and Adaptive Equipment Amendments - Increases the amount of assistance for providing an automobile or other conveyance to eligible veterans. Directs the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to provide automobile adaptive equipment for veterans entitled to compensation for ankylosis.
Title IV: Life insurance Program Amendments - Increases the maximum amount of insurance coverage under the Servicemen's Group Life Insurance Program. Permits a member of the Retired Reserve of a uniformed service to obtain increased coverage as specified. Increases the maximum amount of insurance coverage under the Veterans' Group Life Insurance Program. Directs the Secretary of Defense to prescribe regulations for the administration of the Servicemen's Group Life Insurance Program by the Secretaries of the military departments. Permits the first beneficiary under a National Service Life Insurance policy to elect to receive payment in a lump-sum.
Title V: Veterans' Administration Housing Benefits - Permits the Administrator to guarantee graduated-payment plan home loans. Increases the maximum amount of assistance for specially adapted housing for disabled veterans. Extends the maximum terms of Veterans' Administration guaranteed loans for mobile home purchases.
Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Requires the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, before reorganizing or redistributing the functions of the bureaus, agencies, offices, or activities within the Veterans' Administration, to submit to Congress a detailed plan describing proposed changes.
Requires the continued payment of a pension to a veteran undergoing a prescribed program of rehabilitation services while institutionalized.
Directs the Administrator to furnish a memorial headstone or marker to commemorate any veteran whose remains are unavailable because of a donation to science, a burial at sea, or other causes. Directs the Administrator to set aside suitable areas in national cemeteries to honor such veterans.
Sets forth the minimum active-duty service requirement to establish eligibility for veterans' benefits.
Extends the delimiting period for educational benefits for surviving spouses of certain service-connected disabled veterans. Permits the Administrator, in the case of certain State and local government institutions of higher learning, to waive the requirement that an institution make pro rata refunds to students who drop a course before completion before the Administrator can approve nonaccredited courses for the purposes of veterans' educational benefits.
Designates the Veterans' Administration Medical Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia, as the "Louis A. Johnson Veterans' Administration Medical Center."
Designates the Veterans' Administration Medical Center in Reno, Nevada, as the "Ioannis A. Lougaris Veterans' Administration Medical Center."
Title VII: Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates for the various provisions of this Act.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Veterans' Affairs Committee · Senate · hearings by (full committee), markup by, referred to, reported by
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 13 actions.
- Oct 17, 1981Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 97-66.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Oct 7, 1981PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Oct 5, 1981FloorFloor · S.CON.RES. 38 agreed to in Senate relating to this measure.
- Oct 2, 1981Resolving differencesResolving differences · House Agreed to Senate Amendments to House Amendments.
- Oct 1, 1981Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate concurred in House amendments with amendments SU462 by Voice Vote.
- Sep 21, 1981FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- Jul 24, 1981FloorFloor · Passed Senate with amendments and an amendment to the Title by Voice Vote.
- Jul 16, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
- Jun 25, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
- Jun 11, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
- Apr 8, 1981CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.