[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 171 (Thursday, November 19, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       THE INTRODUCTION OF THE VETERANS LEGAL SUPPORT ACT OF 2015

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 19, 2015

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the Veterans Legal 
Support Act of 2015, a bill to allow the U.S. Department of Veterans 
Affairs (VA) to provide certification and 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. There are already at least 22 law 
schools that have clinics devoted to veterans' legal needs, including 
the William & Mary Law School Veterans Benefits Clinic, which serves as 
a national model for this idea, as the law clinic was the first in the 
nation to receive a ``best practice'' certification from the VA. There 
are many other law schools, such as the University of the District of 
Columbia's David A. Clarke School of Law, that are interested in 
starting their own VA-certified clinics.
  More than 600,000 veterans are waiting for their disability claims to 
be processed by the VA. With the assistance of lawyers and law 
professors, clinical programs provide free legal resources to assist 
veterans with processing their claims. My bill would merely build on 
what some law schools have begun to do for the last several years. More 
needs to be done to sustain and increase these programs.
  Just as we honored our veterans on Veterans Day, I urge my colleagues 
to support this bill, a concrete measure that would assist our 
veterans, who have repeatedly put their lives on the line for this 
country, in their daily lives.

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