Good Afternoon:

I would ask everyone to rise for the Pledge of Allegiance – flags are located in the front and in the rear of the room.

I am proud to be here today and honored to be joined by Ranking Member Lamborn in a bipartisan effort to present this historic legislation that will reform the VA Benefits Claims Processing System.  This is in no way a unilateral effort. Many of the provisions within this legislation were independent bills offered by members of this Committee on both sides of the aisle. I am confident that when it is voted on, it will leave this Committee as a seamless, fluid piece of legislation that will grant the wounded warriors of this great country the service they deserve.

I once read, “Veterans programs are not perfect.  Much remains to be done by way of improvements along forward looking and constructive lines.  The dominant problems are the carry-over from past decades of a backward-looking pension philosophy and our failure to adjust the existing veterans’ programs to fundamental changes in our society.” I found this quote to be striking as it also captures my observations of the Veterans Benefits Administration, yet unfortunately those observations were made by Omar Bradley in 1956.  We should have listened to the General then, but it is imperative that we do it now, especially since we have our troops in harm’s way around the world. 

The Subcommittee has conducted extensive oversight during this Congress and has listened to the testimonies of disabled veterans, their families, and survivors who explained their problems with VA benefits.  Many of their concerns led back to issues with claims processing delays, denials, and avoidable remands.  For a moment, I want to reflect on what they said, since these are the very people at the heart of this bill. 

We’ve heard from a paralyzed veteran who went a year without compensation because of lost files and poor communication with VA that put his family in dire financial stress and forced his children to drop out of college.  There were parents who talked to us about suicide and mental health problems and the inability of their beloved child to get VA health care – in many cases, service connection is necessary to accessing that care. Another veteran who suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury and an amputation, along with his wife, confronted us with how exhausting it is to figure out VA benefits and the gaps that exist because the model is outdated and archaic – even for a case that is so obviously clear cut and simple.  It does not account for the loss in their quality of life, or their “real-world” needs.

And these atrocities are not just affecting veterans from current occupations. They affect veterans of every age and every conflict. I heard a story of a World War II veteran who had a mortar shell that landed directly in front of his face. He recalled the medic who attended him on the battle field and his difficulty in telling the difference between his burns and his facial hair. After being taken to a medical facility he then learned that this incident had never been reported by the medic. As a result, this brave soldier, who served his nation in a time of dire need, had to fight the VA for 51 years before finally being awarded his benefits due to the requirements of finding witnesses of the event and the burden of proof that is all too often impossible or extremely difficult for veterans to both understand and complete. As he stood and told me this story, I watched as he grasped a folder that contained his disability claim and heard him state that he would never let it go in fear that the VA would rescind his claim and take back his money.

For too long the VBA has been allowed to skirt their responsibility to reward our veterans with the same type of selfless, heroic service that the veterans themselves gave to our country.  However, reciprocity is at hand.  The Veterans’ Disability Benefits Commission, Dole/Shalala, and other task forces have all made recommendations to improve the system. We have data from the Institute of Medicine, the Center for Naval Analyses, the Institute of Defense Analyses, and several Government Accountability Offices and Inspector General Reports that highlight inconsistencies, variances, disparities, and errors.   The Veteran Service Organizations have shared their ideas and experiences to reform VBA and have played an integral part in shaping this legislation.

Expert medical, legal, and technological witnesses have enlightened us on what is possible in our modern world.  VA employees have also worked with us to tackle these problems and there is no doubt that this is a workforce dedicated to assisting disabled veterans.  Unfortunately, they work in a broken, outdated environment.  So, I am grateful to them, and everyone who has been willing to work with us on developing the improvements in this legislation. 

With the Veterans Disability Benefits Claims Modernization Act of 2008, we hope to address the centric issues that have lead to the enormous and mounting claims backlog, delays in processing, avoidable errors, inconsistencies in ratings and lack of accountability that amounts to a “system of injustice” for our veterans.  

Title I of this bill encapsulates several sections that will:

• Address evidence problems with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) claims,

• Study, report, and implement a plan for readjusting the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities so that it includes:

• Medically recognized standards, codes and practices,

• Appropriate compensation for the average loss of earnings capacity,

• Quality of life impacts,

• Mental health parity,

• Encouragements for Vocational Rehabilitation, and

• Creates an Advisory Committee on Disability Compensation.

It will also:

• Study the VBA Work Credit  and Management Systems,

• Require certification and training for VBA employees and managers,

• Assess annually quality assurance,

• Expedite fully-developed clams and require a checklist for evidence,

• Report on employing medical professionals at VBA,

• Assign Temporary Ratings for severely injured veterans while deferring other conditions,

• Enhance information technology that includes:

• A Web portal for claim submission and tracking by veterans,

• Rule base expert systems, and

• Automated decision support.

Title I also contains provisions to assist survivors by allowing them:

• A year to submit additional evidence upon the death of a veteran, and

• To transfer the claim to another dependent.

Title II of this bill addresses the service member’s transition from the Department of Defense to VA with the creation of a single VA/DOD disability evaluation examination process, whereby DOD determines fitness for duty and VA rates level of severity.  This reduces the duplicity for injured an ill service members who must navigate two different systems at a time when they need support and assistance the most.

Title III focuses on matters related to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. It establishes annual tracking requirements for the Court’s workload and gives the Court the authority to affirm, modify, reverse, or vacate, and remand decisions of the board.  The Court must also first decide all assignments of error raised by an appellant for each benefit claimed. 

Make no mistake – this is an ambitious, landmark piece of legislation which will take a great deal of cooperation and collaboration on multiple fronts.  No doubt, this will need to be a collective effort that goes well beyond Congress and VA.  It will require the support and expertise of the VSOs, DoD, leading experts and professionals, academics, and technicians, and other government entities, all of whom bring information and experience to the table.  I know that VA is moving in the general direction of some of the efforts outlined in the bill, and I applaud your efforts in this vein–they are not overlooked.  

Also, I do not want to fail to recognize the hard work and dedication of the VA employees throughout the VBA, from the Regional Office to the Central Office.  I know that the problems we face today are the result of a culmination of events beyond their control, which run the gamut from inadequate funding and poor leadership to a corporate culture that does not foster accountability. Just as I have heard stories of calamity, I have also heard stories of the care and compassion of VA employees who genuinely care about our veterans and work tirelessly to provide them every service they can.

But today, time is of the essence and we must stop this incomprehensible cycle of ignoring the lack of accountability for outcomes of claims at the VBA.  Outcomes matter, not just process.  I repeat, outcomes matter, not just process and I believe that we need to modernize our nation’s claims processing system to make it accountable to producing better outcomes for our veterans, their families and survivors.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the time has come when we must envision a VA of the future, and not leave Omar Bradley’s warning unheeded at the expense of another generation of veterans. 

I now yield to Ranking Member Lamborn for his opening statement.