[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 130 (Monday, October 11, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1947]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            CORRECTING THE WASHINGTON POST RECORD ON THE VA

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                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 8, 2004

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to set the record 
straight on what is happening to recently-separated veterans who seek 
benefits and services from the Department of Veterans Affairs. There 
has been significant progress made in the last 3 years; some of that 
progress was reported correctly in a Washington Times article this past 
Sunday, but the headline in a piece from the Washington Post that 
appeared on the same day and was quoted by one of my colleagues on 
Monday made it seem that VA is totally unprepared to provide 
disability, compensation, rehabilitation and other benefit to America's 
veterans.
  It is inaccurate to describe the current inventory of 323,000 claims 
for VA benefits as a ``backlog,'' if by that term you mean to imply 
that veterans are waiting unnecessarily for an answer from VA. The 
truth is that at any given time, the VA is actively processing more 
than 250,000 claims while receiving more than 70,000 new and reopened 
claims each month. It's normal for the VA to have a working inventory 
of at least 250,000 claims.
  In fact, Mr. Speaker, at the request of this President, Congress 
provided additional funding to increase the number of VA claims 
processors by more than 1,300 since he took office. When we authorized 
these new employees, we effectively overstaffed the VA so that 
experienced employees would be available to train these new employees 
without an adverse effect on the timeliness of claims processing. These 
new employees are now fully trained and productive, and there should be 
no reduction in services to veterans.
  With respect to meeting veterans' benefits needs, the Washington Post 
article cited recently one of my colleagues failed to mention any of 
the documented improvements in VA claims processing. In the past four 
years, the VA has reduced the average time to decide disability claims 
from a high of 233 days to 160 days, reduced the percentage of pending 
claims for over six months from 48% in 2002 to 21% now, reduced rating-
related claims from 432,000 in 2002 to 323,000 currently and is on 
track to meet the VA goal of 250,000.
  Most importantly, VA has increased the number of claims decisions 
from an average of 40,000 per month in 2001 to nearly 70,000 in 2004. 
These are significant accomplishments by the Bush Administration on 
behalf of veterans, and all of us should be proud to have supported the 
increased funding which the Administration requested to make this 
possible.
  Mr. Speaker, the Washington Post article lead readers to believe that 
there was some delay in providing benefits to a soldier on active duty, 
and that the VA is unresponsive to America's veterans. In fact, I am 
advised that VA has already evaluated this particular soldier's 
disabilities and will begin awarding benefits on the first the day he 
is discharged from the Army. As all of my colleagues should know, VA 
cannot provide veterans benefits to a soldier until he or she is 
discharged from active duty.
  The Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense are working hard to 
ensure that military members have a ``seamless transition'' from active 
duty; this means prompt decisions on claims for disability benefits and 
quality health care when needed. Even before servicemembers are 
discharged, VA provides transition services at 136 military bases so 
that servicemembers can ask questions and be briefed about their VA 
benefits and how to file for those benefits as they approach discharge. 
The VA has even assigned its own professional staff to Walter Reed Army 
Medical Center, the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda and the 
Landstuhl Army Medical Center in Germany to ensure our wounded American 
heroes will be aware of their VA health care and benefits long before 
they are discharged.
  Mr. Speaker it is often said that you shouldn't argue with an entity 
that buys ink by the barrel, but the Washington Post has its facts 
wrong in this case. This is not that surprising since the Post has not 
reported on any of the hearings--and we've had many--on these issues 
held by either the House Committee on Veterans Affairs which I chair 
and the House Armed Service Committee during the past year. Had they 
done so, their readers could have learned about the problems which have 
faced separating service members in the past and what is being done 
today to prevent those problems from occurring in the future.
  Both the Armed Forces and VA are working more closely together than 
in any previous conflict to ensure that the benefits which service 
members earned by their faithful service are delivered in a timely and 
compassionate manner. Members who attended those hearings learned that 
while mistakes have occurred, no one is more dedicated to ensuring that 
these deserving veterans than the current VA Secretary Anthony Principi 
and his able staff. The VA, the Congress and the President are all 
working together to make sure that our newest generation of combat 
veterans are taken care of. They deserve nothing less.

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