Veterans Affairs

 

The Hall Disability Claims Bill
H.R. 5892, the Disability Claims Modernization Act, legislation I wrote to overhaul the way the VA processes veterans' disability claims, has passed both the House and Senate and has been signed into law by President Bush.  This legislation truly came as the result of the tireless work of veterans and their families to finally receive the treatment and benefits they deserve. Over the past two years, hundreds of veterans have contacted my office seeking help with their long-overdue claims.  They told stories of waiting months and years to receive benefits – benefits earned by their selfless sacrifice -- being given the run around by a Veterans Administration plagued by archaic processing systems and a lack of accountability.

 

As Chairman of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, I held a series of hearings in Washington, DC, and a field hearing on October 8, 2007, in New Windsor, NY, about this unacceptable situation. With the information obtained during these hearings and from meetings with countless veterans, I crafted HR 5892, the Veterans Disability Benefits Claims Modernization Act, legislation that will overhaul the outdated veterans disability claims process and replace it with one that reflects today's medical conditions and diagnoses, eliminates the unnecessary backlog, accelerates approvals by separating easy to confirm disabilities from more complicated ones, and other improvements.

 

H.R. 5892 comprehensively modernizes the Veterans Benefits Administration and arms it with the up-to-date tools and paradigms it needs improving accountability, timeliness, and quality. Once fully implemented, this bill will help VA become a 21st century, world-class entity that reflects the selfless sacrifices of those it serves – our veterans, their families, and survivors.

 

I am grateful to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, a stalwart proponent of veterans, for carrying this legislation on the Senate side. With her support and her tireless work on behalf of veterans we were able to get this legislation signed into law before the 110th Congress adjourned. 

 

 

Claims Backlog
Our nation must do a better job of caring for our current and future veterans.  It’s unconscionable that we ask the men and women of our Armed Forces to be ready to defend America at a moment’s notice, and then force them to wait months to receive the assistance they’ve earned through service and sacrifice.  There are currently almost 600,000 backlogged claims at the VA, and with the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this number is only going to increase unless we act.  The Veterans Committee will focus on this issue in detail and reducing the claims backlog will be my top priority in the Committee.
 
Veterans Healthcare
One of my first votes in Congress was to increase the VA healthcare budget by    nearly $3 billion.  The Bush administration has continuously underfunded veterans healthcare and Congress, once again, will have to provide more funding than the President requested to ensure our veterans receive the service they deserve.  In the Veterans Committee, I will work to repeal the President’s proposal to increase veterans co-pays for prescription drugs.  I also support mandatory funding for VA healthcare to take the annual battle over funding out of the hands of politicians.
 
Concurrent Receipt
I will work to insure all veterans receive the benefits they have earned.  We must end the practice of reducing a veterans pension because he is also receiving disability pay.  No other federal employee faces this tax and this discrimination against veterans is unfair. 
 
Montrose and Castle Point VA Hospitals
The veterans of the Lower Hudson Valley deserve great medical care.  I will monitor the CARES process closely to ensure that its decisions serve veterans and not VA bureaucrats.