This Bill does very little other
than to expand the JURISDICTION
paragraph of the Court of Veterans
Appeals to include very precisely
worded, and exacting approaches
to challenging the VA Disability
Rating Schedule.

To those who hold the full copies
of the Veterans Disability Benefits
Commission report to Congress,
which includes the findings and
challenges put on by the Institute
of Medicine, those people will
have a clear advantage over all
others in knowing what the weaknesses
in the Rating Schedule truly are.
Again this helps a few but not
everybody, but the real winners
in it will be chemical and hazardous
exposure cases.

Nonetheless, the Bill does NOT
exactly "harm" veterans but it
does entrench and pad the existance
of the LITIGATING PROCESS itself
inside of Veterans claims. We
have opposed that featured and
entered a limited Endorsement
of the Bill. If it comes down
to whether or not the Bill should
be passed, yes it should be.
But what it delivers is small
at best, and we are still looking
for the massive claims amnesty
bill that will take care of
everyone who is caught in the
crisis.

The larger part of the problems
with the VA process lies in
the Code of Federal Regulations
and NOT the USCA. So we have
again pitched to them to get
busy in the CFR and to stop
all the Piddle and Diddle in
the USCA which amounts to little
more than breadcrumbs when
it's all said and done to the
Veterans.

_________________________________
Start of Text of the Bill


Veterans' Rating Schedule Review Act (Introduced in Senate)

S 2737 IS


110th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 2737

To amend title 38, United States Code, to grant jurisdiction to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to review the compliance of the schedule of ratings for disabilities under section 1151 of that title with statutory requirements applicable to entitlement to disability compensation under chapter 11 of that title, and for other purposes.


IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

March 10, 2008

Mr. AKAKA introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs


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A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to grant jurisdiction to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to review the compliance of the schedule of ratings for disabilities under section 1151 of that title with statutory requirements applicable to entitlement to disability compensation under chapter 11 of that title, and for other purposes.


Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Veterans' Rating Schedule Review Act' .

SEC. 2. REVIEW BY UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS OF COMPLIANCE OF SCHEDULE OF RATINGS FOR DISABILITIES WITH STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO ENTITLEMENT TO DISABILITY COMPENSATION.

Section 7252(b) of title 38, United States Code, is amended--

(1) by inserting `(1)' after `(b)';

(2) by striking the third sentence; and

(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

`(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Court may not review the schedule of ratings for disabilities adopted under section 1155 of this title or any action of the Secretary in adopting or revising that schedule .

`(B) The Court may review whether, and the extent to which, the schedule of ratings for disabilities complies with applicable requirements of chapter 11 of this title.'.