VETERANS BENEFITS IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1999
H.R. 2280, as amended

JUNE 29, 1999

I thank the gentleman from Arizona, Mr. Stump, for his leadership on this important legislation and for his continuing efforts on behalf of the Nation’s veterans.

I also thank the gentleman from New York, Mr. Quinn, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Benefits, and the gentleman from California Mr. Filner, the ranking Democratic member of the subcommittee, for their hard work in crafting this important legislation.

H.R. 2880, the Veterans Benefits Improvements Act of 1999, provides improvements to a number of veterans benefit programs. In addition, it supports the timely construction of the World War II Memorial which will recognize the contributions made by all Americans to the war effort. This measure is deserving of the support of every member of this body.

I am pleased several of the provisions in this bill are based on measures I authored and introduced.

Section 104 of H.R. 2280 is taken from H.R. 708. It will restore eligibility for CHAMP-VA medical care, education benefits and home loan assistance to remarried surviving spouses who lost eligibility for these benefits upon remarriage and whose subsequent marriage has ended. During the 105^th Congress, legislation was enacted allowing for reinstatement of eligibility for dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) cash benefits after termination of the remarriage. The present measure completes the restoration of eligibility for all VA benefits to surviving spouses if the subsequent marriage is ended.

I am very pleased that section 211 of H.R. 2280 includes the provisions of my bill, H.R. 1476, the National Cemetery Act of 1999. This section would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish four new national cemeteries, each of which would be established in an area of the country, determined by the Secretary, to be most in need of cemetery space to serve veterans and their families. Although VA statistics show that the demand for burial benefits will increase sharply in the near future, with interments increasing 42% from 1995 to 2010, the Administration’s FY 2000 VA budget proposal did not include funding for additional national cemeteries. Unless new cemeteries are established soon, however, VA will not be able to meet the need for burial services for veterans in several metropolitan areas of the country. In response to this situation, I introduced H.R. 1476.

Section 301 includes the provisions of my bill, H.R. 1603, the Selected Reserve Housing Loan Fairness Act of 1999. This section would provide for permanent eligibility for veterans’ housing loans for members of the Selected Reserve who complete six years of service. Last year, Public Law 105-368 extended Guard and Reserve eligibility for VA housing loans, which was to expire this year, through fiscal year 2003.

The Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States pointed out, however, that this benefit cannot be used as a recruiting incentive because recruits must serve in the Selected Reserve for 6 years before they may participate in the VA housing loan program. Under current law, a recruit enlisting today will not be eligible for a VA loan before the authority for the loans expires. H.R. 1603, by making the home loan eligibility permanent, will give the Selected Reserve the incentive they need to recruit "the best and the brightest."

Section 502 of H.R. 2280 is drawn from H.R. 1214 which I introduced to assure that the Veterans Benefits Administration's (VBA) internal quality assurance activities meet the recognized appropriate governmental standards for independence and internal control. This measure requires VBA to have a quality assurance program which comports with generally accepted government standards for performance audits.

Because of the fundamental importance of accurate and effective claims processing and adjudication by VA regional offices, and the need for effective oversight of regional office claims processing and adjudication by the Veterans’ Benefits Administration (VBA), in July of 1997, I requested the Government Accounting Office (GAO) to review the quality assurance policies and practices of the VBA. On March 1, 1999, GAO issued its report which determined that further improvement is needed in claims-processing accuracy. In particular, GAO determined that VBA’s quality assurance activities do not meet the standards for independence and internal control.

While VBA has made some improvements by developing an accuracy measurement which focuses on VA’s core benefit work -- rating claims for benefits -- further improvements are needed in claims processing. In fiscal year 2000, the VA will pay over $22 billion dollars in monetary benefits to veterans. Without a mandated program of quality assurance, which meets generally accepted governmental auditing standards for program performance audits, impartial and independent oversight of the quality of claims adjudication decisions will not be assured.