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Honorable
Lane Evans May 24, 2001 The
Bush Administration Has Not Kept Faith Mr. Speaker, on Monday we will commemorate Memorial Day. We will pause to humbly and gratefully remember the service and sacrifice of the men and women who have served in uniform and have defended and preserved our shared ideals.
Shamefully, on Memorial Day 2001, hundreds of thousands of disabled
veterans and their families, continue to wait for action on claims for
veterans benefits now pending before the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA). To his credit, the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Anthony Principi, has been candid with
veterans and their advocates about the crisis that exists today in
veterans’ claims adjudication. Repeatedly,
Secretary Principi has stated that addressing the backlog of 513,309
claims currently pending before regional offices of the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) is his number one priority.
In acknowledging the claims adjudication crisis, Secretary Principi
recently stated in an interview with the Veterans of Foreign Wars, “In
the short-term, we will train more specialists.
The staff will be increased to assist in clearing the backlog.”
Secretary Principi is to be commended for recognizing the size and
scope of the problem. He has taken action to authorize the hiring of additional
staff needed to begin addressing the claims crisis.
He has made known the need for additional resources to resolve this
crisis successfully.
However, President Bush and his Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) have failed to promptly take actions needed to ameliorate the
burgeoning veterans claims adjudication crisis.
For its part, OMB established a significant roadblock by refusing
to submit to Congress a supplemental funding request for less than $30
million needed to pay for the critically needed additional VA staff
Secretary Principi is hiring.
Early this year, VA requested a supplemental appropriation of $29.1
million for this fiscal year to pay for the additional staff needed to
address the backlog of compensation, pension and education claims.
Despite the evident need for this funding, VA’s request has been
held hostage to the Bush Administration’s $1.6 million tax cut proposal. The requested supplemental was denied by OMB.
VA was told to try to find the money elsewhere, such as in the
budget for health care. As most Members of Congress know, VA has no surplus of funds
in its health care budget. Stealing
from Peter to pay Paul does not honor the service of America’s veterans.
Those who have taken the time to talk with and listen to veterans
understand that the time veterans are forced to wait for medical care is
long and excessive, especially for certain specialized care from many VA
medical facilities. The
Committee on Veterans Affairs submitted a bipartisan request to the Budget
Committee pointing to a more than $1 billion shortfall in the
Administration’s 2002 budget.
Since the Bush Administration took office, the backlog of
veterans’ claims has increased by more than 100,000.
The number of claims awaiting a decision for more than six months
also continues to grow — from 95,680 on January 19, 2001, to 143,777 on
May 16, 2001.
A number of factors have caused the increased backlog. The processing of VA claims is a complex and labor-intensive
job. Recent legislation
requires VA to obtain records in the custody of the federal government,
including military records and medical evidence, before deciding a claim
for service-connected compensation. This
assistance to veterans supported by President Bush is intended to assure
that veterans’ claims would be treated with fundamental fairness and
result in an accurate and fair decision.
I am under no illusion that by bringing in additional staff, the
backlog will disappear overnight. Similarly,
I understand the backlog of claims will not be reduced while quality
decision-making is maintained and improved unless and until additional
resources are made available – resources needed to hire additional
personnel and train them appropriately.
Critically needed additional funding must be requested by the
Administration. Alternatively,
the backlog will continue to increase and the time taken to resolve it
will likewise continue to increase. Surely this will not honor our veterans.
The question today is how soon will VA exhaust funds to pay for the
costs of needed additional staff? What
other programs are being cut to cover the costs of the additional
employees desperately needed to adjudicate claims?
How many veterans will die while awaiting the adjudication of their
claims? This is certainly no
way for a grateful nation to honor its veterans.
Mr. Reyes and I have today introduced H.R. 1981.
This bill would authorize an emergency supplemental appropriation
to provide the funding needed to address the crisis in VA claims
adjudication that exists today. I
call on President Bush to support this legislation or submit a similar
request to the Congress now.
This Memorial Day, our Nation’s veterans will be the subject of
many finely crafted speeches delivered to honor them.
Words, however, are not enough.
Our deeds are a better measure of how well we truly honor our
veterans. The need for
additional resources is real. Claims adjudication is, and will remain for some time, a
labor-intensive work. Let our
deeds match our words of commemoration and remembrance. Let us provide the critically needed funding to pay for the
resources needed to address the backlog and let us do this now.
During the campaign for President, then candidate Bush said,
“health care for veterans is a complicated, bureaucratic process
involving too many delays and uncertainties in coverage. Disability
compensation claims can be an even longer ordeal, taking an average of 165
days to complete. So chaotic
is the process there is now a backlog of nearly one half-million claims.
This is no way to treat any citizen, much less a veteran of our
armed forces. The veterans
health-care system and the claims process will be modernized, so that
claims are handled in a fair and friendly way.” Mr. President, I agree and now is the time for you to act. Candidate Bush also said, “I have great faith in those who serve our nation – in the temper of their will and the quality of their spirit. Our men and women in uniform love their country more than their comfort. They have never failed us, and we must not fail them.” Mr. President, we must not fail those who have served and sacrificed. Take action now to request the additional funding so desperately needed for our Nation to keep faith with our veterans. It is time for your words and deeds to be one. |