Panel Votes Benefit Hike for Gulf Troops : Legislation: Senate bill would raise combat pay, life insurance. Congress passes Agent Orange measure.

The Senate Armed Services Committee Wednesday approved a new benefits package for those serving in the Persian Gulf, including a raise in combat pay and a doubling of life insurance.

“The welfare of every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine and Coast Guardsman in the Persian Gulf is foremost in the minds of all Americans,” Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), chairman of the committee, said in a statement.

The bill “recognizes the unique circumstances under which our military personnel are carrying out their duties in Operation Desert Storm,” he said. “It is important that the military men and women have (the) support of a grateful nation. These bills are another clear indication of such support.”

The legislation would increase the maximum benefit of servicemen’s and veterans’ group life insurance to $100,000 from $50,000 and raise imminent danger and hostile fire pay to $150 a month from the current $110, retroactive to Aug. 1, 1990.

The package also provides unemployment compensation for military personnel leaving the service. Further, it provides that retired military personnel recalled to active duty be reinstated at the highest grade they had held.

In another action Wednesday, the Senate unanimously approved legislation granting disability compensation to Vietnam veterans suffering from certain conditions related to their exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange. The House unanimously passed the measure Tuesday.

The bill, which will be sent to President Bush for his signature, will compensate veterans for two forms of cancer--non-Hodgkins’ lymphoma and soft-tissue sarcoma--and for chloracne, a skin ailment. The Department of Veterans Affairs already recognizes these as service-connected disabilities.

The Bush Administration has asked Congress for legislation that would make veterans of Operation Desert Storm and others from the post-Vietnam era eligible for readjustment counseling, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Edward J. Derwinski said Wednesday.

Now, such counseling is available only to Vietnam era veterans.

“We believe that veterans who served in combat since Vietnam, particularly those now serving in the Persian Gulf, may also need readjustment counseling,” Derwinski said. “We want to reach out to those who may need our help when they return to civilian life and who could benefit from the unique services that VA provides.”

The draft bill submitted to Congress would amend existing legislation to extend eligibility to veterans who served in hostilities that occurred after the Vietnam War, including Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, and the Persian Gulf.

Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, introduced similar legislation earlier this month. Cranston’s bill goes beyond the Administration’s proposal, however, by including veterans of World War II and the Korean War.

The program was begun 11 years ago, largely in response to the many Vietnam veterans who suffered from combat-related post traumatic stress disorder.

Since its inception, the VA’s Readjustment Counseling Service has provided a range of counseling and outreach services to more than 1 million veterans and members of their families, the department said.

The program includes 195 community-based Vietnam Veteran Outreach Centers, known as Vet Centers, that, in addition to counseling, refer Vietnam veterans to other VA services, community programs and employment, education and family counseling.

“Many of the Vet Center counselors are themselves combat veterans,” said Anthony J. Principi, VA deputy secretary and a Vietnam veteran. “They have the experience, compassion and dedication to help these veterans early on during the sometimes difficult readjustment to civilian life.”