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STATEMENT OF GEORGE
H. STEESE, JR. NATIONAL
COMMANDER OF THE DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANSBEFORE
THE
COMMITTEES
ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS U.S.
SENATE/U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WASHINGTON,
D.C. FEBRUARY
27, 2002 MESSRS.
CHAIRMEN AND MEMBERS OF THE VETERANS’ AFFAIRS COMMITTEES:
As National Commander of the more than one million members of
the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and its Auxiliary, it is an honor
and a privilege to appear before this joint meeting of the United
States Senate and House of Representatives Veterans’ Affairs
Committees to discuss the legislative agenda and foremost concerns of
our nation’s service-connected disabled veterans, their families and
survivors.
Messrs. Chairmen, as we begin 2002, America’s young men and
women are again committed to war—a War on Terror.
These brave men and women have the overwhelming support of all
Americans as they put their lives on the line both here and abroad to
protect our freedoms. Our
government must not forget them when they return to civilian life.
All that can be done must be done to allow them to rapidly
transition to civilian life, especially those disabled as a result of
their military service.
The tragic events of September 11, 2001, have had profound and
long-term consequences on America.
How we Americans conduct our business and go about our daily
lives have been forever altered. I am proud to say, however, that the services provided by DAV
to veterans and their families have not changed.
As it has done for the past 82 years, DAV was there to give a
hand to those veterans and their families who were adversely affected
on that catastrophic day in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Further in my statement, I will elaborate on the assistance DAV
provided to these families. At
that time, it will become obvious that I am extremely proud of the DAV
and our Auxiliary for the services we continue to provide to our
country and our fellow veterans and their families.
In large part, the success of our mission is due to the
dedication and hard work of our members and professionally trained
staff.
Before I discuss the critical issues facing disabled veterans,
let me convey the thanks and the sincere appreciation of the DAV for
the support your committees have continually given us.
Last year, the members of these committees worked hard to pass
legislation that was particularly important to veterans, and we are
especially grateful for your efforts. We are encouraged by the dedication and deep sense of purpose
that was evident in your actions.
Legislation enacted into law during the first session to
provide new or enhanced benefits and services to disabled veterans and
their families addressed many DAV legislative goals.
These measures included: ·
a 2.6%
cost-of-living allowance ·
new and expanded
programs to assist homeless veterans break the cycle of homelessness ·
replacement of
the 30-year presumptive period for respiratory cancers associated with
Agent Orange exposure with an open-ended period ·
repeal of the
estate limitation for mentally incompetent veterans ·
expanded
eligibility for presumptive service connection for Persian Gulf War
veterans and extension of the presumptive period until September 30,
2011 ·
increase in the
grant for specially adapted housing ·
increase in the
Automobile and Adaptive Equipment Grant ·
increase in
burial and funeral expense benefits ·
an appropriate
government marker for privately marked gravesites ·
increase in the
Home Loan Guaranty Program ·
expansion of the
Service Dog Program for severely disabled veterans ·
requirements for
the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to maintain specialized
medical programs for sick and disabled veterans ·
new incentive
and recruitment programs to attract and retain nurses to provide
medical care to sick and disabled veterans ·
expansion of the
CHAMPVA program for certain surviving spouses. These
new or enhanced benefits and services will improve the lives of
disabled veterans and their families.
Again, we are very grateful for your hard work to introduce and
pass this beneficial legislation.
Unfortunately, disabled military retirees were again denied the
enactment of meaningful legislation to remove the prohibition against
the concurrent receipt of VA disability compensation and military
longevity retired pay. This
injustice has continued notwithstanding the fact that more than three
quarters of the members of Congress have cosponsored legislation to
eliminate this travesty of justice, and both Congress and the
Administration have placed high importance on stimulating our economy.
What better approach to stimulate the American economy than to
pay earned longevity retirement benefits to those men and women who
have protected our cherished freedoms and our way of life during a
career in America’s Armed Forces.
DAV will continue to fight for the removal of
the prohibition on concurrent receipt of VA disability compensation
and military longevity retired pay.
We greatly appreciate the efforts to keep this issue before the
Administration and Congress by Representative Michael Bilirakis.
It is also regrettable that Congress failed to provide a
sufficient health care budget to meet the medical requirements of our
sick and disabled veterans. It is frustrating to observe that the amount appropriated for
VA health care in fiscal year (FY) 2002 was not only less than your
committees recommended, but also less than recommended in the
Congressional Budget Resolution.
VA health care spending for FY 2002 was $1.5 billion less than
recommended by the Independent Budget.
In fact, the funding level approved for VA health care will not
even fund the mandated wage increase for VA’s employees.
A January 7, 2002 New York Times article titled, “Propelled by Drug and Hospital Costs, Health Spending Surged in 2000,” noted national health care spending shot up 6.9 percent in 2000, as reported by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS also indicated that health costs and spending are likely to climb faster, even in a weak economy. Yet VA health care funding for FY 2002 was only increased by slightly more than five percent. This year, the Administration’s budget calls for a $1.3 billion net increase in VA health care. But what President Bush calls “an historic increase” is no such thing when you consider that his budget request attempts to shift more of the cost of care onto veterans. Without adequate resources, the VA cannot meet the increasing demands for medical care.
Congress and the Administration have an obligation to provide
adequate appropriations to meet those needs.
The VA must not be forced to rely on subsidies from patients or
their health insurance to cover the cost of caring for veterans.
The VA’s medical care budget must be based on the principle
that third-party collections are not a substitute for appropriations.
It is difficult to believe that health care for veterans,
especially veterans with combat or service-connected disabilities, is
not an entitlement. Veterans’
health care is discretionary, and the level of VA health care funding
is judged in light of pork barrel politics or other priorities.
While billions of dollars are earmarked for special legislative
favors each year, service-connected disabled veterans suffer the
consequences of an inadequate health care budget.
Why should sick and disabled veterans have to fight year after
year for timely access to health care they have earned and rightfully
deserve as a result of their military service to this nation?
It is disingenuous for our government to promise health care to
veterans and then make it unattainable because of inadequate funding.
Hospital administrators throughout the country are now
struggling to meet veterans’ increased health care needs with fewer
dollars. Within weeks of
passage of the FY 2002 appropriations, VISN directors were ordered to
develop a plan to cut two percent from their budgets.
We are receiving reports from the field that, because of the
budget shortfalls, many hospital directors will likely have to cut
back on full-time employees, which will result in increased waiting
times for primary and specialty services.
Many facilities are considering consolidation of services
within their VISN, which would require veterans to drive longer
distances to get the care they need.
Proposed cutbacks threaten to reduce the number of joint
replacement procedures in an attempt to save dollars.
We have also received accounts of 100 percent service-connected
veterans on waiting lists for some health care and other specialty
services they need today. Everything
we are hearing leads us to believe rationed VA health care is a trend
nationwide and not just a few isolated incidents.
The Administration and Congress cannot continue to ignore the
negative repercussions of the inadequate veterans’ health care
budget they have approved. Rationed
health care is no way to honor America’s obligation to the defenders
of her freedom.
Disabled veterans must wait too long now for vital health care
services. It is
absolutely imperative that VA be provided an adequate health care
budget to enable it to reverse this negative trend.
We have recommended in the Independent Budget a
“current service” budget of $24.5 billion for VA medical care in
fiscal year 2003. This
amount will allow the government to honor our nation’s obligation to
those who served our country, especially those disabled in military
service.
However, if the Administration and Congress truly want to honor
veterans with appropriate benefits and services for their dedicated
service to this nation, we suggest making VA health care benefits an
entitlement, like TRICARE for Life. Enactment of TRICARE for life provides an entitled benefit
military longevity retirees richly deserve.
The men and women injured during combat and in military service
to this nation, who will bear the burdens of those disabilities for a
lifetime, deserve no less than those who made the military a career. Further, Congress and the Administration have recognized the
special circumstances and the need for health care services of other
veterans and have placed them in Priority Groups 4, 5, and 6. DAV strongly urges these committees to make health care benefits for veterans in Priority Groups 1 through 6 an entitlement, and not part of discretionary funding, subject to parochial politics common in the annual appropriations process.
As we move ahead to ensure the future of VA and its
indispensable programs and services, the members of DAV and their
families look forward to working with the members of these committees
to reaffirm our nation’s commitment to veterans. DAV and Auxiliary members will do their part to get our
message out; however, as the principle advocates within Congress for
our nation’s veteran population, we call upon you to provide the
critical leadership necessary to make sure that America honors its
moral obligation to the men and women who served in our Armed Forces
and fought to preserve the freedoms enjoyed by the citizens of our
nation and countless others throughout the world.
It is our genuine hope that you will educate and remind your
colleagues of the service performed and sacrifices made by veterans
when it is time to decide whether to honor America’s obligation to
veterans and their families or to let parochial concerns control.
The members of these committees must continue to send a strong
message by your own actions. It
is extremely important that you set the example.
You must make sure that you have taken care of veterans.
Veterans must become a national priority for those who set our
government’s agenda. Remember
that veterans ask far less from our government than what they have
given to our nation. Educate your colleagues on the higher merits of veterans’
programs. Jointly, we can
change the government mindset and make veterans a national priority.
However, time is of the essence.
Not long ago, war was dramatically brought to the shores of
America. On September 11,
2001, everyone in America was a victim of terrorism.
We witnessed events that had never before been seen or even
imagined. We observed the
horror of airliners crashing into buildings in New York City and
Washington, D.C. and an open field in Pennsylvania.
We watched as two of the world’s tallest buildings crashed to
the ground. We witnessed
the horrors of terrorism reach an unprecedented scale.
At the same time, we witnessed the courage, strength, and
determination of our country. Airline passengers fought to the death with hijackers.
Men and women willingly gave their lives to rescue others.
Who will ever forget the determination and self-sacrifice of
the police officers, firefighters, and rescue workers who climbed
floor after floor of the World Trade Center to rescue the victims,
only to become victims themselves when the buildings collapsed.
We witnessed unprecedented horror, but we also observed
unprecedented heroism. In
the days following the attack on our nation, our sorrow and grief
turned to anger and resolve. America
will not be deterred in seeking justice against those who precipitated
these attacks. We are all
victims and we all seek justice.
Sadly, seeking that justice will have its costs.
The finest and best young people of our nation’s armed
services are being called upon again to sacrifice themselves for
freedom and justice for all. They have left behind loved ones and a safe and comfortable
environment in order to carry out their mission.
War, all war, has casualties.
Thus, this war is no different.
Some young men and women have died, and the sad reality is that
more will perish. Their
hopes and aspirations will die with them, their potential will be
lost, and their families will grieve.
But their memories will remain in the hearts of all of us.
The highest price we pay as a nation for freedom is the loss
and disability war brings to those who are asked to fight it.
Men and women will be maimed and crippled.
They will be blinded. They
will suffer mental disabilities from seeing unimaginable horrors.
It is our duty as Americans to care for them. It is the duty of the DAV to ensure that the gratitude and
promise of our nation are not forgotten.
Today, there are 2.3 million veterans who have been disabled in
service to our nation. They
ask very little, and the American public deeply appreciates their
sacrifices.
Look at what the American public did for the victims of
September 11. Americans
gave more than one billion dollars to charities for those victims.
And, at the request of President Bush, American children gave
more than a million dollars to help Afghan children.
Additionally, as part of the government’s $15 billion bailout
of the airline industry, a Victim Compensation Fund was established to
compensate victims for the loss of a loved one.
Because a victim’s lost earnings are considered along with
several other factors, some families could receive settlements in the
millions of dollars. It
is estimated, however, that the average payout will be $1.6 million,
once life insurance awards and pensions are deducted. Compare this to the maximum of $250,000 received by a family
member of a servicemember who is killed in action defending our
freedoms and a great disparity becomes very apparent.
Furthermore, imagine how the American public would respond if
they realized VA is ill-prepared to care for our nation’s heroes,
both young and old, due to the inadequate funding provided by our
government. Or that the
surviving spouse and children of a deceased servicemember must
struggle not only with their grief, but also to meet financial
burdens. Paradoxically,
the public widely believes that veterans and their families are being
generously provided for. As
a result, our government continues to under fund veterans’ health
care programs.
Therefore, it remains incumbent on the DAV to be prepared to
help the disabled veteran, the families of veterans who will lose
their lives or become profoundly disabled, and to help the children
whose mothers and fathers will not return or will return, but
different than they were before the military action which followed the
tragic events of September 11. As I mentioned earlier, your support of our
mission—building better lives for America’s disabled veterans and
their families—is of the utmost importance.
We must help our nation give those disabled veterans the tools
they need to restore their lives, because we can morally do no less.
They will be our heroes. They
will suffer the wounds of war. And
they all should be loved and cared for because of the prices they have
paid for our individual freedoms.
We are asking a great sacrifice of these young men and women,
and of their families. We must be there when they turn to us for our help.
Our nation’s gratitude must not be limited to caring for
their wounds but to fully restoring their lives.
The price of war will be our finest and best young Americans.
Let us return the best to them when they will need us the most.
Let us not forget that caring for those disabled in service to
our country and our way of life is a continuation of the costs of war.
Far too often, our government forgets this very important fact.
No
one would cut off or reduce funding to pay for needed munitions or
equipment for our men and women while they are engaged in war,
protecting our cherished freedoms.
There is no doubt that such action would result in severe,
adverse consequences to our troops.
Yet, veterans’ benefits and health care delivery programs are
continually under funded. The result, sick and disabled veterans are denied the timely,
quality benefits and services they have earned. We cannot continue to ask men and women to fight our wars and
then fail to provide them the means to restore their lives when they
return.
When the guns fall silent and the terrorists are neutralized,
will we forget about the brave men and women who, at great sacrifice
to themselves, brought us peace? I can guarantee that the DAV will not forget their sacrifice.
We will be there for them in their time of need, as we have
been for other generations of veterans since 1920.
But what of our government’s responsibility to them?
Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that this nation’s public
policy towards veterans continues to be little more than broken
promises and false expectations.
Much more must be done for our nation’s sick and disabled
veterans. Our government
must make an investment in VA programs to ensure that our nation’s
service-connected disabled veterans and their families receive, in a
timely manner, the benefits and services promised them.
In our nation of vast riches and resources, it is a sad
commentary that their needs have gone unheeded for far too long.
It is the dedication and devotion of America’s veterans.
These brave men and women—represented by the men and women
who sit before you today—have served our country and protected our
freedoms with honor and pride while in uniform.
The white crosses and forgotten monuments that mark
battlefields both far and near are symbolic of their sacrifices.
Many who served and sacrificed still bear the scars of those
battles in defense of our liberty. Our nation owes them so very much.
In that regard, Messrs. Chairmen, I am proud to report that
America’s disabled veterans will soon have a long-overdue memorial
honoring their service and sacrifice in our nation’s capital, about
two blocks west of the Capitol, and across from the U.S. Botanic
Garden. The National
Capital Planning Commission gave final approval to the site late last
year.
And, when built, this shrine will provide a reminder of war’s
human costs and will serve as a lasting tribute to the men and women
whose sacrifices have guaranteed our rights as a free and democratic
society.
The past sacrifices made by the men and women seated before you
today and others like them represent only a small portion of their
commitment to our great nation and their fellow veterans.
Many of these men and women continue to serve by unselfishly
volunteering their valuable time to assist America’s sick and
disabled veterans in VA facilities around the nation.
Between October 1, 2000, and September 30, 2001, these men and
women of the DAV and the DAV Auxiliary provided more than 2.5 million
hours of critical service to veterans, saving taxpayers almost $39
million in employee costs.
Our dedicated and resourceful volunteers are out there all
across the nation lending care and support to sick and disabled
veterans and their families. There
are more than 10,000 DAV and Auxiliary volunteers today.
Sadly, that number is growing smaller as our volunteers age.
At the DAV National Convention last July, I announced an
exciting new effort to recruit new volunteers for the DAV Voluntary
Services Program. The
reason is we need to begin rebuilding our corps of volunteers with
younger people to take the place of our aging volunteers.
We are doing that with two programs, the National Commander’s
Volunteer Recruitment Initiative and the National Commander’s Youth
Volunteer Scholarship (NCYVS).
My goal is to increase the DAV’s corps of volunteers by 10
percent above the current level, or 820 new DAV volunteers.
At the same time, I have asked the DAV Auxiliary to increase
its volunteer force by 10 percent as well.
Together we hope to build a corps of more than 11,000
volunteers.
On January 15, 2002, joined by Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Anthony J. Principi, we started with a kickoff ceremony at the VA
medical center in San Diego, California.
Beginning this month, DAV departments and chapters launched
their own vigorous efforts to recruit new volunteers on the local
level in support of this initiative.
I hope to boost our DAV Voluntary Services Program by 1,000
people. We would increase
our total volunteer contributions by 235,000 hours.
An easy goal, but critical for those who need our help.
Additionally, to encourage our young people to get involved in
volunteer work to assist sick and disabled veterans in local
communities, we created the NCYVS program to honor outstanding young
volunteers who are active participants in the VA Voluntary Service
program. The annual
scholarships are awarded to deserving young men and women who have
generously donated their time and compassion to sick and disabled
veterans in their communities. A
generous donation from Ford Motor Company last year allowed us to
expand the number of scholarships we award.
The DAV is deeply appreciative of Ford Motor Company for
helping us recognize the thousands of hours these outstanding students
have donated to care for and comfort disabled veterans.
Through this program, DAV is able to offer 12 valuable
scholarships to worthy recipients. The first place award includes a $15,000 scholarship and an
expense paid trip to DAV’s National Convention with the winner’s
parent(s)/guardian(s) to accept the award.
The second place scholarship is $10,000. There are two $7,500
scholarships for third place and eight $5,000 scholarships for fourth
place recipients.
In addition to our volunteers, the DAV also employs 190
Hospital Service Coordinators at VA facilities around the country to
assist our nation’s sick and disabled veterans and their families.
The DAV transportation program provides essential
transportation to and from VA health care facilities to those veterans
who could not otherwise access needed medical care.
As of September 30, 2001, DAV volunteer drivers transported
more than a half million veterans almost 27 million miles to and from
VA medical appointments during a 12-month period.
From its inception in 1987, the DAV’s National Transportation
Network logged in more than 250 million miles and transported 6.5
million veterans to VA health care facilities.
Since our transportation program began in 1987, DAV has donated
1,108 vans to VA medical facilities at a cost of more than $22
million. This June, DAV
will donate an additional 86 vans at a cost of $2 million.
Additionally, in what can only be described as a true
partnership between the DAV and the corporate world for the benefit of
our nation’s sick and disabled veterans, the Ford Motor Company has
donated the use of 67 vans to VA medical centers since 1996 for the
transportation of sick and disabled veterans. In addition, Ford Motor Company has also donated 12 vans for
use in the DAV Homeless Veterans Initiative.
Messrs. Chairmen, we are extremely proud of the volunteer
services we provide to our nation to assist it in fulfilling its
mission to sick and disabled veterans.
Since its inception in 1920, the DAV has been dedicated to one,
single purpose: building
better lives for our nation’s disabled veterans and their families.
During the past 81 years, the DAV has never wavered in its
commitment to serve our nation’s service-connected disabled
veterans, their dependents and survivors.
In fulfilling our mandate of service to America’s
service-connected disabled veterans and their families, the DAV
employs a corps of 246 National Service Officers (NSOs), located
throughout the country. Between
July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2001, these men and women, all wartime
service-connected disabled veterans, represented almost a quarter of a
million veterans and their families in their claims for VA benefits,
obtaining for them more than $1.8 billion in new and retroactive
benefits.
In our continuing quest to ensure that future generations of
America’s service-connected disabled veterans and their families
receive professional representation in filing claims for benefits and
services from the federal government, the DAV continues to hire and
professionally train recently discharged men and women to provide this
vital service. In striving to even more effectively meet
veterans’ needs and ensure they receive the benefits our grateful
nation has authorized for them, DAV opened two new National Service
Offices in Orlando and West Palm Beach, Florida, and we inaugurated
two new programs in 2001 to enhance and expand benefits counseling and
claims representation services to veterans.
The first of the two programs involves outreach to members of
the Armed Forces at the location and time of their separation from
active service. The
second involves services to veterans in the communities where they
live. For benefits counseling and assistance in
filing initial claims, the DAV has hired and specially trained 24
Transition Service Officers (TSOs) who provide these services at
military separation centers, under the direct supervision of DAV
National Service Officers. This
initiative corresponds to goals in the strategic plans of both VA and
the DAV. By accepting and
deciding compensation claims at separation centers where the service
medical records and examination facilities are readily available,
VA’s strategic plan envisions better, more prompt service to
veterans in a way that is also more efficient and effective for VA.
This enhancement in assistance to those seeking veterans’
benefits will contribute to the DAV’s strategic goal of maintaining
its preeminent position as a provider of professional service to
veterans.
Since March 2001, DAV TSOs have conducted 744 briefing
presentations for 29,232 transitioning servicemembers.
During that same time frame, our TSOs conducted 14,689 personal
interviews and filed more than 14,000 claims for benefits. The DAV’s new Mobile Service Office (MSO)
program is part of the same goal.
By taking its service offices on the road to rural America and
assisting veterans where they live, the DAV will increase
accessibility to the benefits our nation provides for veterans.
The DAV has initially put 12 of these specially equipped MSOs
on tour to make stops in communities across the breadth of the
country. Between March
and July 2001, our MSOs have traveled more than 200,000 miles while
visiting 667 cities and towns. We
have interviewed 18,593 veterans and other potential claimants.
We accepted new powers of attorney to represent 7,027
claimants, and we completed 16,732 applications for benefits.
This program promises to be very successful. Next month, our MSOs will be back on the road assisting
veterans and their families. In
June of 2001, the DAV Department of Florida purchased an MSO for its
service program.
Following the attack on our nation on September 11, the DAV
dispatched one of our MSOs to the World Trade Center disaster site to
distribute nearly 5,000 comfort kits, 1,000 flag pins, and other
patriotic items to firefighters, police, and emergency rescue workers.
Another DAV MSO rolled into Washington D.C. to provide all
assistance possible to the victims of the Pentagon attack.
During a three-day period, our NSOs distributed 300 flag pins,
and other patriotic items to the family members of victims, active
duty servicemembers, and other agency volunteers.
In addition, the DAV assists veterans and their families
through disaster relief grants and a variety of other ways.
In New York City, our National Service Officers, unable to
return to their office immediately following the attack on our nation,
began volunteering their time at Giants Stadium, the Javits Center,
and the ruins of the World Trade Center.
On September 21, 2001, the DAV established an office at the
Family Relief Center on Pier 94 with a host of other agencies.
From this location, and with the assistance of the FBI, New
York Fire and Police Departments, and the companies located in the
World Trade Center, we identified veterans and their families who were
victims of the attack to provide whatever assistance possible.
The DAV has issued 250 disaster relief grants and provided
claims assistance to veterans and their families who fell prey to the
cowardly attacks on the World Trade Center.
Through the efforts of several individuals, we
set up at the Pentagon Family Assistance Center at the Sheraton
Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia.
The DAV issued 100 disaster relief grants to veterans and their
families. Additionally,
our NSOs made personal visits to those veterans who remained
hospitalized from injuries sustained during the Pentagon attack,
assisted them with their claims, and presented them with disaster
relief grants and patriotic items.
The DAV continues to be actively involved in meeting the needs
of veterans and their families devastated by the heinous terrorist
attacks. Our disaster relief efforts in New York and
Washington allowed those veterans or their families affected by the
attacks to receive their $1,000.00 disaster relief grants immediately,
without having to wait or hassle with red tape restrictions.
I am proud to state that our efforts had an immediate, positive
impact on the lives of those effected and were greatly appreciated.
In fact, the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval
Operations recently acknowledged our efforts at the Pentagon with a
plaque and letter expressing their gratitude.
Another issue that has received our support and assistance is that of
homeless veterans. DAV’s
Homeless Veterans Initiative, established to help homeless veterans
break the cycle of poverty and isolation, and move from the streets to
self-sufficiency, has helped us focus attention on the needs of
homeless veterans. Many of our departments and chapters are actively involved in
homeless veterans programs in their communities. Since 1989, homeless veterans program and projects have
benefited from the $1.2 million in grants that have been provided
through the DAV Charitable Service Trust.
The homeless veterans legislation passed last session is
greatly appreciated and will do much to combat the serious problem of
homelessness among the veteran population. The above-mentioned items represent but a few
of the many services and programs DAV offers to veterans and their
families. We are extremely proud of all that we do to help build better
lives for disabled veterans, their dependents and survivors.
As you can see, Messrs. Chairmen, the DAV
devotes its resources to the most needed and meaningful services for
our nation’s disabled veterans.
These services aid veterans directly and support and augment VA
programs. Of course, we
are only able to accomplish these benevolent tasks because of strong
support from a generous American public and selfless dedication of our
members, who often volunteer despite their advanced age and their own
painful and debilitating disabilities.
Many of our supporters and volunteers are from what Tom Brokaw
has described as “America’s Greatest Generation,” but the rest
exhibit those same admirable, steadfast qualities of character and
devotion to the welfare of others.
They all deserve our respect and gratitude. Yes, our commitment to America’s
service-connected disabled veterans and their families is unwavering. Naturally, our ability to work for the
betterment of disabled veterans and serve them on such a large scale
gives us a deep sense of pride and accomplishment, but let us not
forget that benefits and services for veterans remain primarily the
responsibility of our government.
The citizens and government of a country that sends its sons
and daughters to defend its homeland and fight its wars have a strong
moral obligation to repay them for bearing this heavy burden.
Our indebtedness to veterans is more important than any other
part of our national debt because, without their sacrifices and
bravery, we would not exist as a nation.
Therefore, just as it is imperative that a nation maintain a
strong national defense, a nation must ensure that veterans’
programs, like national defense, are and remain a top priority.
While we can never fully repay those who have stood in the
nation’s defense, a grateful nation has established a system to
provide benefits and health care services to veterans as a measure of
restitution for their personal sacrifices and as a way for all
citizens to share the costs of war and national defense.
Unfortunately, disabled veterans continue to pay more than
their fair share of that burden.
And the system designed to provide them with the benefits and
health care services earned in service to our country needs fixing.
Today, we are at a crossroads in veterans’
affairs. Delivery of
health care is undergoing a radical transformation.
Modernizing and reforming the delivery of veterans’ health
care in ways that best serve them is made all the more difficult
because of their advanced age and, due to their disabilities, they are
in poorer health than the civilian population.
Yet their access to needed health care is severely hampered by
new mandates coupled with an insufficient budget.
This will undoubtedly result in further rationed health care
and longer delays. VISN directors will have no choice but to close beds,
consolidate services, and reduce the number of full-time employees.
This pressure on the system will especially hurt sick and
service-connected disabled veterans and affect their access to timely
health care.
Furthermore, without the proper resources, VA cannot
effectively fulfill its “fourth mission,” to function as a backup
to the Department of Defense during a time of conflict and to the
Federal Emergency Management Agency during a national emergency.
It makes good fiscal sense to keep this system functioning
well, especially now while our nation is at war. Also of critical concern to the DAV is the
delivery of claims benefits, which has received attention at all
levels of government. Despite
its efforts, the VA has been unable to overcome its quality and thus
its timeliness problems. In
addition to strong leadership and accountability in the Veterans
Benefits Administration (VBA) and the Compensation and Pension
Service, the VA must have highly skilled personnel to make up for the
unwarranted past reductions in claims adjudicators, to meet increased
workload demands, to provide essential training, to ensure quality,
and to achieve and maintain satisfactory timeliness in claims
processing. The VBA continues to struggle with its serious
and long-standing problems in processing benefit claims.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Principi has pledged to make
fixing this problem one of his highest priorities and foremost goals.
His determination and good intentions alone are not enough,
however. He needs the
full support of Congress. One root cause of the current situation is
federal budgets over several successive years that failed to provide
adequate resources. As a
consequence, the VA was forced to reduce staffing levels in the face
of increasing workloads and demands on the system.
The ensuing emphasis on production resulted in even poorer
quality than already existed. These
pervasive quality problems required work to be redone, which put added
strain on an already overburdened system.
Large claims backlogs and protracted claims
processing times pressure VA into focusing on production quantity at
the expense of quality. This
has created a vicious cycle. The
push for faster decisions to reduce the backlog becomes self-defeating
because so much of the work must be redone to correct errors and the
backlogs and waiting times become even worse.
To break free of this vicious cycle, VA must focus first on the
root causes of its claims backlog. VA must have well-trained employees who are capable of
properly applying the law in veterans’ claims.
VA must change its culture so that lawful, accurate claims
decisions are the first goal. VA
must have quality control reviews of each employee’s work product,
and VA must have the will and the processes in place to make
adjudicators and management truly accountable for accurate claims
decisions. Only then can
VA begin to effectively and efficiently reduce its large inventory of
pending claims and the long delays veterans experience in obtaining
disability benefits. To address the root causes in this manner, VA must have strong, decisive management that is determined to tackle the difficult problems first. Sufficient resources are key to this effort. In the short term, VA still needs to increase its staffing for its claims processing system. VA must have substantial numbers of staff to train new employees, retrain existing employees, and conduct regular quality reviews of individual adjudicators, without neglecting or reducing work on pending claims.
With the primary focus on overcoming the root causes, VA can
also begin to implement the changes recommended in the October 2001
report of the VA Claims Processing Task Force.
The changes will add to the efficiency of the system and aid in
making it function better once VA begins to attain some stability in
the claims processing environment. It is important not to be misled by arguments that VA
suddenly has the ability to overcome its longstanding problems by
simple process changes alone, that additional resources are
unnecessary. Those are merely convenient arguments for an inadequate
budget, seized upon opportunistically because increased VA staffing in
recent years has not remedied the problems.
Increase staffing alone has not resolved VA’s systemic
deficiencies because VA has not firmly resolved to correct the root
causes. Sufficient
resources and serious reforms are both necessary.
Assistance from these two Veterans’ Affairs Committees is
essential. You can work
to ensure VA has the resources it needs to meet this enormous
challenge, and you can intensify your oversight role to ensure VA
management stays on course in implementing real and meaningful
reforms. Finally,
major policy positions of the DAV in the framework of our national
legislative program are derived from resolutions adopted by the
delegates to our annual National Conventions.
Since our first National Convention in 1921, the DAV’s annual
legislative program has served to guide our advocacy for disabled
veterans in accordance with the will of our members.
Our 2002 mandates cover a broad spectrum of VA programs and
services and have been made available to your committees and to
individual members of your staffs. Promoting meaningful, reasonable, and responsible public
policy for veterans has always been at the heart of who we are and
what we do. Our will and
commitment come from the grass roots, nurtured in the fertile ground
of veterans’ sacrifices and strengthened by the vitality of our
membership. With
the realization that we shall have the opportunity to more fully
address those resolutions during hearings before your committees and
personally with your staffs, I shall only briefly comment upon a few
of them in my testimony. What
we communicate to you here today echoes the hopes and desires, and in
some areas, the despair, of disabled veterans, who appeal to the
conscience of the nation to do what is right and just.
We call on the members of these committees to:
As you can see, our work for veterans
continues to involve many issues and many challenges.
As I observed earlier, we are at a crossroads in veterans’
affairs. There is no reason why what is in front of us cannot be much
better than what is behind us. Our
nation’s history of meeting our obligations to veterans has fallen
short not only of its highest ideals but also of its capabilities.
We simply have not always kept veterans at the top of the list
of national priorities. Our
government can longer excuse its failure to provide veterans the
benefits and services they rightfully deserve by saying it cannot
afford to fully honor its promises.
We have the means to meet those obligations.
Now our nation must demonstrate it has the will to do so. Though we can be proud that we have
accomplished much for veterans in the past, much remains to be done.
In the work we do, we have no room for complacency.
When it comes to justice for disabled veterans, we cannot be
timid in our advocacy. These
committees and the DAV, working together with mutual cooperation, must
battle for what is best for veterans.
Veterans have every right to expect their government to do
justice toward them. We call upon you, the members of these committee,
to educate and appeal to your colleagues about the priorities of
veterans’ needs.
I hope that I have demonstrated that America’s veterans,
rather than being satisfied to rest on their laurels, continue to
stand ready to actively and unselfishly be involved in their
communities and across the nation to assist our government in meeting
the needs of service-connected disabled veterans, their dependents and
survivors. In considering the message I have brought you
today on behalf of disabled veterans and in your work on veterans’
issues in the future, I ask that you, as I do, remain mindful that the
freedoms and prosperity enjoyed by the citizens of our nation has been
paid for with the lives and health of many brave Americans.
The only thing they ask in return for their sacrifices and
their service is for this great nation to honor its sacred contract
with America’s veterans. We
must, therefore, honor and care for those who distinguished themselves
in defense of freedom—whatever the cost. They deserve nothing less.
Messrs. Chairmen, this completes my testimony.
I hope that the committees recognize that my testimony comes
from one who not only cares for the well-being of his fellow veterans
and our nation, but also one who deeply appreciates the men and women
who volunteer their time to care for our nation’s veterans and their
families.
Thank you for all that your committees have done and for all
that you will do for veterans in the future.
Thank you also for allowing me the opportunity to appear before
you on behalf of the Disabled American Veterans to share our proud
record of service to our great nation, to discuss our concerns about
the state of the VA’s benefits and health care delivery systems, and
to outline our agenda for this session of Congress.
May God bless those men and women who have been placed in harm’s way in our War on Terror and their families. And, may God bless America. Back to Witness List |