WASHINGTON- U. S. Senator Herb Kohl today recognized the Administration’s plan to add 84 new employees to the Milwaukee Veterans Affairs (VA) regional office to help process claims for VA benefits using funds included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress last year.

“This is welcome news for veterans who encounter frustrating waits for the benefits and services they have earned, and for the Milwaukee VA office which has been stretched thin in its efforts to accommodate growing caseloads with limited resources.  This is an excellent investment of federal recovery funds and we hope it will put many qualified people to work quickly,” Kohl said.

According to a notice from the Department of Veterans Affairs, “the MilwaukeeVA regional office was authorized to hire 84 new employees to assist with processing Veterans’ claims for VA benefits. The new hires are involved in administrative work supporting the professional adjudicators who make compensation, pension or education decisions, or process changes in Veterans’ benefits.  VA expects the additional staffing will help to deliver Veterans their benefits as quickly as possible.