Senate bill · 108th Congress · Public Law 108-454

Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004

S. 2486Introduced Jun 1, 2004Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Became law on Dec 10, 2004.

Sponsor: Sen. Arlen Specter R-PA

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Where it went

IntroducedJun 1, 2004
Committee actionJul 20, 2004
Passed SenateOct 8, 2004 · by unanimous consent
Passed HouseNov 17, 2004 · by voice vote
To the PresidentNov 29, 2004
Became lawDec 10, 2004

Latest action: Dec 10, 2004 — Became Public Law No: 108-454.

Cost and committee reports

Official records Congress.gov attaches to S. 2486.

CBO cost estimateThe Congressional Budget Office published “S. 2486, Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 2004” on August 19, 2004. CBO’s description reads “<p>Cost estimate for the bill as ordered repored by the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on July 20, 2004</p>”.
Read the CBO estimate ↗Source: Congressional Budget Office, August 19, 2004 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
cboCostEstimates
CBO publication
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/15935
CBO publication date
August 19, 2004
Congress.gov bill record
S. 2486, 108th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/108/s/2486
Record last updated by Congress.gov
May 29, 2026
PORKER copy retrieved
September 28, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
5c87840b003fe7c8177176909a34ece89a71fa7cf3561c3e1c33622dbe97d5c1
CBO cost estimateThe Congressional Budget Office published “S. 2486, Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 2004” on August 19, 2004. CBO’s description reads “Cost estimate for the bill as ordered repored by the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on July 20, 2004”.
Read the CBO estimate ↗Source: Congressional Budget Office, August 19, 2004 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
cboCostEstimates
CBO publication
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/15935
CBO publication date
August 19, 2004
Congress.gov bill record
S. 2486, 108th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/108/s/2486
Record last updated by Congress.gov
May 29, 2026
PORKER copy retrieved
September 28, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
5c87840b003fe7c8177176909a34ece89a71fa7cf3561c3e1c33622dbe97d5c1
CBO cost estimateThe Congressional Budget Office published “S. 2486, Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004” on December 9, 2004. CBO’s description reads “<p>Estimate of direct spending and revenues effects for the bill as cleared by the Congress on November 17, 2004</p>”.
Read the CBO estimate ↗Source: Congressional Budget Office, December 9, 2004 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
cboCostEstimates
CBO publication
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/16195
CBO publication date
December 9, 2004
Congress.gov bill record
S. 2486, 108th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/108/s/2486
Record last updated by Congress.gov
May 29, 2026
PORKER copy retrieved
September 28, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
5c87840b003fe7c8177176909a34ece89a71fa7cf3561c3e1c33622dbe97d5c1
CBO cost estimateThe Congressional Budget Office published “S. 2486, Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004” on December 9, 2004. CBO’s description reads “Estimate of direct spending and revenues effects for the bill as cleared by the Congress on November 17, 2004”.
Read the CBO estimate ↗Source: Congressional Budget Office, December 9, 2004 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
cboCostEstimates
CBO publication
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/16195
CBO publication date
December 9, 2004
Congress.gov bill record
S. 2486, 108th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/108/s/2486
Record last updated by Congress.gov
May 29, 2026
PORKER copy retrieved
September 28, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
5c87840b003fe7c8177176909a34ece89a71fa7cf3561c3e1c33622dbe97d5c1
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: S. Rept. 108-352 ↗. The Congress.gov committee record lists a “Reported By” entry for the Veterans' Affairs Committee on September 20, 2004.
Source: Congress.gov, reported September 20, 2004 ↗
Evidence
Field in the Congress.gov record
committeeReports
Report API records
https://api.congress.gov/v3/committee-report/108/SRPT/352
Congress.gov bill record
S. 2486, 108th Congress
Congress.gov API record
https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/108/s/2486
Record last updated by Congress.gov
May 29, 2026
PORKER copy retrieved
September 28, 2026
Stored copy, SHA-256 of the file
5c87840b003fe7c8177176909a34ece89a71fa7cf3561c3e1c33622dbe97d5c1
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 S. 2486, last updated May 29, 2026. 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

2 cosponsors — 1 Republican, 1 Democrat

1 of 2 cosponsors (50%) are from the other party.

Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Patty Murray (D-WA).

More from the sponsor

Other 108th Congress bills sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter.

Sponsor’s state and district

Pennsylvania in Congress

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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.