News & Opinion

Three bills aimed at helping America's veterans have moved to the full House of Representatives. House Resolutions 4057, 5747 and 5948 all unanimously passed the House Committee on Veteran's Affairs July 11. HR 4079, The Safe Housing for Homeless Veterans Act, introduced by Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., was included in HR 4057. That bill is known ad the Military Family Home Protection Act. Read more »

Chester Edwards was a "tunnel rat" during the Vietnam War, assigned to crawl through the Vietcong's labyrinth of underground fortresses to find and fight the enemy. The Ten Mile resident returned from his 13-month tour of duty with a list of health woes that only grew longer as years passed, from post-traumatic stress syndrome to diabetes and heart problems. Read more »

A congressional committee has advanced a bill by Rep. Todd Akin, of Missouri, that would create a government registry for veterans who may have been exposed to toxic smoke while in Iraq and Afghanistan. Read more »

The director of Punchbowl cemetery plans to call about 380 families to inform them that memorial markers of their loved ones were moved six years ago, and likely will apologize for not informing the families back then, a Department of Veterans Affairs official said Thursday. Read more »

A House panel moved Wednesday to prevent financially incompetent veterans from being cheated by fiduciaries appointed to help manage their money. Read more »

Veterans' advocacy groups, Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs have a variety of explanations for the backlog of disability claims, but one fact remains clear: Far too many disabled vets are waiting far too long for the benefits they need. Read more »

Veterans Affairs Department officials pledged Wednesday that its backlog of benefits claims will begin to shrink, with hopes for a modest 5 percent improvement by the end of the year and a more significant drop in 2013 as changes in claims handling and employee training take root. Read more »

Express service is on the way for tens of thousands of pending veterans benefits claims. Veterans Affairs officials on Wednesday announced plans for a new processing model designed to get through those claims more efficiently, including an “express lane” for simpler or fully documented claims. Read more »

The House of Representatives moved Monday to try to eliminate one bit of financial uncertainty by passing a bill guaranteeing a Dec. 1 cost-of-living adjustment in veterans disability and survivor benefits that will match whatever increase is provided to Social Security beneficiaries. Read more »

VA’s goal within two years is to have a claims-adjudication system that gets a first-time claim decision to a veteran within 125 days with 98% accuracy. The agency has a long way to go. Read more »