Clinton Honors Vets on Holiday With Boost in Benefits

President Clinton marked Veterans Day on Wednesday by signing legislation increasing benefits for disabled veterans and survivors of Americans who died serving their country.

Clinton announced he had signed the Veterans Programs Enhancement Act to applause at the Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

“Today, as a free nation, we come together to honor the men and women to whom we owe our freedom,” Clinton said.

The act provides a 1.3% increase in payments to veterans with service-related disabilities and to survivors of those whose deaths were service-related.

It will apply to about 2.3 million veterans and more than 300,000 surviving spouses and children.

Clinton also said he had directed the secretaries of Defense, Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services to establish a Military and Veterans Health Coordinating Board to improve the health protection of the U.S. armed forces.

On a mild autumn day with white clouds blowing across the blue sky, Clinton also said he had released $1.1 billion in federal funds to improve the readiness of the U.S. military.

The money will be used to reduce the backlog of equipment awaiting maintenance; buy spare parts for Air Force and Navy aircraft; improve Army training; and improve recruiting efforts.

Before his speech, Clinton laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, which contains unidentified casualties from U.S. wars.