[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 161 (Wednesday, November 13, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1643-E1644]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       THE INTRODUCTION OF THE VETERANS LEGAL SUPPORT ACT OF 2013

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 13, 2013

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, at a time when 900,000 veterans and 5,000 
active duty service members face Supplemental Nutritional Assistance 
Program cuts, I introduce a bill to allow the U.S. Department of 
Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide financial support to law school 
clinical programs that provide pro bono legal and support services to 
veterans, including, among other things, assistance with disability 
claims and appeals and foreclosures. The enormous backlog of disability 
claims at the VA and homelessness among veterans remain critical 
problems for our veterans. Approximately 107,000 veterans are homeless 
on any given night in this country and over 600,000 veterans are 
waiting for their disability claims to be processed by the VA. 
Providing clinical programs with the resources to assist veterans can 
result in faster processing of claims and quicker housing assistance to 
our veterans, who have repeatedly put their lives on the line for this 
country.
  This bill, introduced by my colleagues Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Amy 
Klobuchar and Chris Murphy in the Senate, would allow the

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VA to work with and support clinical programs for veterans. This bill 
merely builds on what some law schools have begun to do for the last 
several years while providing vital legal services to our veterans and 
reducing the backlog that has plagued the VA for many years. However, 
more needs to be done to sustain these programs and to recruit and 
retain qualified attorneys to supervise law students.
  Mr. Speaker, just as we honored our veterans on Veterans Day, I urge 
my colleagues to support this bill, which would further honor and 
assist our veterans in their daily lives.

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