House bill · 108th Congress · Public Law 108-183

Veterans Benefits Act of 2003

H.R. 2297Introduced Jun 2, 2003Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Became law on Dec 16, 2003.

Sponsor: Rep. Christopher Smith R-NJ

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Where it went

IntroducedJun 2, 2003
Committee actionJun 26, 2003
Passed HouseOct 8, 2003 · 399–0
Passed SenateNov 19, 2003 · by unanimous consent
Resolving differencesNov 20, 2003
To the PresidentDec 5, 2003
Became lawDec 16, 2003

Latest action: Dec 16, 2003 — Became Public Law No: 108-183.

Cost and committee reports

Official records Congress.gov attaches to H.R. 2297.

CBO cost estimateThe Congressional Budget Office published “H.R. 2297, Veterans Benefits Act of 2003” on July 14, 2003. CBO’s description reads “<p>Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs on June 26, 2003</p>”.
Read the CBO estimate ↗Source: Congressional Budget Office, July 14, 2003 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
cboCostEstimates
CBO publication
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/14625
CBO publication date
July 14, 2003
Congress.gov bill record
H.R. 2297, 108th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/108/hr/2297
Record last updated by Congress.gov
April 7, 2025
PORKER copy retrieved
September 28, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
17896dbc97671ad7ba42883176b96f02fadb85bf792f393738567bdd37c253a6
CBO cost estimateThe Congressional Budget Office published “H.R. 2297, Veterans Benefits Act of 2003” on July 14, 2003. CBO’s description reads “Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs on June 26, 2003”.
Read the CBO estimate ↗Source: Congressional Budget Office, July 14, 2003 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
cboCostEstimates
CBO publication
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/14625
CBO publication date
July 14, 2003
Congress.gov bill record
H.R. 2297, 108th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/108/hr/2297
Record last updated by Congress.gov
April 7, 2025
PORKER copy retrieved
September 28, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
17896dbc97671ad7ba42883176b96f02fadb85bf792f393738567bdd37c253a6
CBO cost estimateThe Congressional Budget Office published “H.R. 2297, Veterans Benefits Act of 2003” on December 8, 2003. CBO’s description reads “<p>Direct spending and revenues effects estimate for the bill as cleared by the Congress on November 20, 2003</p>”.
Read the CBO estimate ↗Source: Congressional Budget Office, December 8, 2003 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
cboCostEstimates
CBO publication
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/15074
CBO publication date
December 8, 2003
Congress.gov bill record
H.R. 2297, 108th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/108/hr/2297
Record last updated by Congress.gov
April 7, 2025
PORKER copy retrieved
September 28, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
17896dbc97671ad7ba42883176b96f02fadb85bf792f393738567bdd37c253a6
CBO cost estimateThe Congressional Budget Office published “H.R. 2297, Veterans Benefits Act of 2003” on December 8, 2003. CBO’s description reads “Direct spending and revenues effects estimate for the bill as cleared by the Congress on November 20, 2003”.
Read the CBO estimate ↗Source: Congressional Budget Office, December 8, 2003 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
cboCostEstimates
CBO publication
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/15074
CBO publication date
December 8, 2003
Congress.gov bill record
H.R. 2297, 108th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/108/hr/2297
Record last updated by Congress.gov
April 7, 2025
PORKER copy retrieved
September 28, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
17896dbc97671ad7ba42883176b96f02fadb85bf792f393738567bdd37c253a6
PORKER links to the estimate and does not repeat its dollar figures. Each estimate is for the version of the bill its description names; the bill may have changed since.
Committee reportCongress.gov lists 1 committee report for this bill: H. Rept. 108-211 ↗. The Congress.gov committee record lists a “Reported By” entry for the Veterans' Affairs Committee on July 15, 2003.
Source: Congress.gov, reported July 15, 2003 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
committeeReports
Report API records
https://api.congress.gov/v3/committee-report/108/HRPT/211
Congress.gov bill record
H.R. 2297, 108th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/108/hr/2297
Record last updated by Congress.gov
April 7, 2025
PORKER copy retrieved
September 28, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
17896dbc97671ad7ba42883176b96f02fadb85bf792f393738567bdd37c253a6
A committee report is the committee’s own explanation of the bill. PORKER lists it and links to it; reading it is up to you.

Sent to: Veterans' Affairs Committee, Veterans' Affairs CommitteeBills with a CBO estimate Bills with a committee report See it in the Data Web

From the Congress.gov bill record for H.R. 2297, last updated April 7, 2025. PORKER’s copy was retrieved September 28, 2026 and is refreshed nightly. Open “Evidence” on any line for the record, field and file fingerprint.

Vote results

No recorded roll-call votes on this bill in PORKER’s records (voice votes and unanimous consent are not roll calls; roll-call records start in 2011).

Cosponsors

9 cosponsors — 2 Republicans, 7 Democrats

7 of 9 cosponsors (78%) are from the other party.

Corrine Brown (D-FL), Henry Brown (R-SC), Lane Evans (D-IL), Bob Filner (D-CA), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Michael Michaud (D-ME), Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX), Ed Royce (R-CA), Tom Udall (D-NM).

More from the sponsor

Other 108th Congress bills sponsored by Rep. Christopher Smith.

Sponsor’s state and district

New Jersey in Congress · NJ-4 district

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Data as of Sep 28, 2026 · bill record checked by PORKER from Congress.gov · votes from Senate.gov and the House Clerk. PORKER is non-partisan.