[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 187 (Monday, October 25, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H5868-H5870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROTECTING OUR VETERANS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 4, 2021, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Keller) until 10 p.m.
General Leave
Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that each Member
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
There was no objection.
Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, my distinguished colleagues and I stand
here on behalf of America's veterans. The last thing our veterans
should be burdened with is any delay, let alone a prolonged wait time
to access the benefits and programs they have earned through their
service.
The National Personnel Records Center is responsible for processing
these records, and at this moment, there is a backlog of more than half
a million requests, some dating back to February of 2020. Consequently,
some veterans have been waiting for over a year and a half for copies
of their service records which are needed to access VA benefits,
adjudicate disability claims, request campaign service medals, and much
more.
We in the United States of America honor the service and sacrifice of
our veterans and Active Duty military personnel, and any delay for them
is unacceptable.
That is why we introduced the RECORDS Act, legislation that would
compel the National Personnel Records Center to take the necessary
actions to eliminate the growing backlog of veterans' record requests.
Dating back more than a year, there has been a broad, bipartisan push
to deliver for our veterans and work toward addressing the National
Personnel Records Center's unacceptable backlog. The RECORDS Act is an
opportunity to achieve this.
Our veterans fought for us. We must always fight for them. I
appreciate my colleagues joining me this evening together in support of
this goal.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Rutherford).
Mr. RUTHERFORD. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding,
and I thank my good friend from Pennsylvania for this opportunity.
Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk about one of the fundamental
roles for a Member of Congress, and that is to help our constituents
navigate the Federal bureaucracy and get the documents or benefits that
they need and they deserve. This is especially true for veterans, who
often run into difficulty at the VA, even when it is not the VA's
fault.
Unfortunately, the National Personnel Records Center is still today
not fully open, and this is after we gave them money in last year's
appropriations bill to safely reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic. This
has prevented caseworkers in my office from properly assisting my
constituents in a timely manner.
In fact, there is a backlog that was just mentioned of over 500,000
requests from veterans and their families--over 500,000. To fix this
problem, I am proud to support the RECORDS Act, and I urge the Speaker
to bring to this bill to the floor.
This bill will ensure that the National Personnel Records Center is
operating full time and at fully-staffed capacity now. American
veterans deserve better than what they are currently getting from this
administration. Let's pass the RECORDS Act.
Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for joining us this
evening and so very well put about making sure that we help our
veterans and the fact that the records center had the resources in
previous legislation. We just need to make sure that they get the job
done. I thank the gentleman for joining us.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs.
Cammack).
Mrs. CAMMACK. I rise today, Madam Speaker, to speak in support of the
RECORDS Act to make urgently needed reforms to the National Personnel
Records Center which has failed our Nation's veterans through a
critical time.
I would like to share a recent story from my district about a 99-
year-old marine who has been suffering from Alzheimer's. Her family has
been attempting to obtain her DD-214 form to apply for her VA pension.
This would grant her a placement in a nursing home equipped to handle
an Alzheimer's patient. However, the National Personnel Records Center
has put an indefinite delay on sending her records to her and her loved
ones.
Their justification in writing: this request does not constitute a
medical emergency. She is 99 years old. She dedicated her life to
serving our country as a marine and is suffering from a debilitating
disease. As if this excuse was not poor enough, the center also
demanded that the family prove that she has been separated for 60 years
or more to justify pulling the records. Again, this is a 99-year-old
marine veteran.
The National Personnel Records Center can no longer be allowed to
lean on the crutches of COVID. This is their excuse to justify their
dereliction of duty. They have an obligation to fulfill these claims
for our Nation's veterans who have served our country bravely. If the
National Personnel Records Center does their job and still feels no
shame in letting veterans' care lapse while their needed records
requests go unfulfilled to the tune of 500,000-plus nationally,
hundreds within Florida's Third Congressional District--constituents of
mine--then it is time for us in Congress to intervene.
Madam Speaker, I urge the House to immediately take up this
legislation. Excuses be dammed.
{time} 2140
Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for those remarks.
What an outstanding lady that the gentlewoman represents.
The gentlewoman mentioned something that really makes me think of
something when you talk about excuses. I was raised by my grandmother,
and I can remember her telling me one time, my brother and I, she
looked at us and said: Boys, people that make excuses are weak.
It is time that we show strength, and we make them do their job.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Clyde), my
good colleague and friend.
Mr. CLYDE. I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Keller), my
good friend and colleague, for yielding.
Madam Speaker, veterans and their families have made many sacrifices
for our great Nation. Through their service, these men and women have
earned numerous benefits, and those benefits are validated by the
member's individual service record.
The repository for those records is the National Personnel Records
Center. The center is behind in its work. With the pandemic, the
backlog to obtain military records jumped from 56,000 to over 500,000
requests. That is a tenfold increase.
That is 500,000 veterans and their families who are waiting on
documentation that they need to apply for and receive benefits that
they earned, including the GI Bill education benefits, VA loans,
medical benefits, disability compensation, life insurance, and even
burial benefits for their families.
When these issues were first reported last year, the National
Personnel Records Center stated that the pandemic prevented their
employees from being able to process record requests in a safe
environment. As such, Congress appropriated additional funds to address
the center's concerns and to help expedite the digitization of records.
However, the center did not grant its employees the proper technology
to work from home during the pandemic until early 2021, nearly a year
after the pandemic began. This choice by the center only compounded the
worsening backlog.
Also, the Archivist of the United States, who oversees the NPRC's
operations, noted in his latest correspondence to Congress that he
expects the center to eliminate the backlog of veteran requests by the
end of fiscal year 2022. That means this time next year, a whole year.
This is simply unacceptable.
Each Member of this body has at least one veteran in their district
impacted by this backlog, probably many, many veterans. It is time for
all of us
[[Page H5869]]
to step up to the plate to demand results. Show us that these record
requests are being processed in a timely manner.
I commend Representative Keller for spearheading this tonight to fix
this issue. Part of that is through the introduction of his bill, the
RECORDS Act. I appreciate his efforts very much, and I am proud to join
him in this fight. I thank him for the invitation to participate.
Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Clyde for his
remarks and recognizing that there are veterans across our Nation in
every district we have the privilege to represent.
The gentleman mentioned the records center not wanting to--worried
about danger. Well, our veterans didn't worry about danger when they
went to protect our freedom and our way of life.
I am glad to be joined by my great friend and colleague from
Pennsylvania, Representative Kelly.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.
Kelly).
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, Representative Keller and I
indeed are very good friends and in complete agreement on what it is we
are trying to do tonight.
Madam Speaker, there are 54,511 veterans in Pennsylvania's 16th
Congressional District. These are men and women that have served in all
types of activities in the military.
Nearly 1 in 13 of my constituents are military veterans. Roughly
520,000 pending VA claims for disability, compensation, and benefits
are out there right now. And 191,000 of those that are considered to be
backlogged are older than 3 months old, 4 months old, and they can't
even get the information that they need.
Thirty-six percent of these cases this summer were considered
backlogged. Again, over 4 months, these people are waiting for their
records to be pulled.
The National Personnel Records Center is operating at 45 percent of
its pre-pandemic capacity--45 percent--while almost every other
business and government entity is operating at full capacity.
This delay prevents veterans from getting the benefits they deserve
for months or even years. A lack of digital records prevents staff from
accessing those records while working remotely during the pandemic.
Representative Keller's bill would require the National Personnel
Records Center employees to return to the job at 100 percent of
capacity and improve the efficiency and responsiveness of the
operations at the center.
This is not just a request. This is honoring the service of those who
have given all to defend this country.
They are not looking for anything special. They are not looking for
anything out of the ordinary. They are not looking for anybody to go
beyond what they were hired to do. All they are asking for is for their
records to be processed in the right time so they can receive their
benefits.
How can this Nation turn its back, and how can this group refuse to
do this in a timely fashion and prevent this from happening further?
All we are asking for is people to do their jobs. What an unusual
concept for somebody to go to work every day and be asked to do their
job, not doing it from home, but going on the job and actually doing
the job for those who put their lives on the line for this Nation.
Incredible that it would take a bill from Congress for people to
actually do the job they were hired to do and fulfill their
responsibility to our incredible veterans.
I thank Representative Keller for bringing this forward, and I would
urge this body to take a look at what we are doing right now and
somehow come to an agreement that there is not--this shouldn't be a
request. This is a responsibility to those who have served us so well.
I thank Representative Keller for including me tonight and all the
rest of my colleagues.
Again, this is not just a request. This is a responsibility.
Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for making a very
valid point, that the rest of America is going back to work and doing
what they need to do at full capacity, working at 100 percent. To have
a government agency working at 45 percent, as the gentleman pointed
out, for those who have done so much for us is unacceptable. I
appreciate his help with this.
I also look forward to hearing what my great colleague and friend
from Wisconsin has to say.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.
Grothman).
Mr. GROTHMAN. Madam Speaker, I would also like to speak on behalf of
Congressman Keller's bill.
One of the things we do as Congressmen back in our district is
constituent work. Probably one of the areas which we are busiest is in
the areas of helping our veterans. Whether it is getting burial
benefits, veteran benefits, or lost military awards, we have to contact
the National Personnel Records Center.
Unfortunately, as has been mentioned, for over a year now, the
National Personnel Records Center has been operating at well under
capacity. This is an insult to our veterans.
Their excuse for not operating is, of course, the COVID. My staff has
toured the National Personnel Records Center, and it is a large
warehouse, very spread out. Unlike where most Americans have had to
work the last 2 years, you are not squeezed up in a cubicle next to
somebody else.
Unfortunately--and this maybe is an indication of the overall caring
of the Federal Government. Unfortunately, they have not been open at a
time when not only our veterans have given so much, but a time when so
many taxpayers have been working around the clock.
Every night I go home, I go by a couple of cheese factories. I can
drive by there at 1 in the morning. They are packed with people. They
never stopped working.
Here we have a massive warehouse with lots of space between people,
and we are told it is too dangerous to go to work. That is
preposterous. It is an insult to our veterans. It is an insult to our
taxpayers.
I urge this body to pass Congressman Keller's bill as soon as
possible.
Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments, so
very well put, that we have people for which we work that are veterans
that go to work every day, that maybe aren't veterans but taxpayers
that go to work every day and expect our government to work. That is
all we are asking for.
People every day in America go to work, and they produce goods, they
provide services. The Americans that have served, our veterans, and
those that are serving deserve a government that is responsive to the
needs that they have because of what they have earned.
They are not asking for anything special. They are saying: Look, we
have earned these benefits, and to gain access to them, we need you to
do your job.
Who would have thought it would have taken an act of Congress to try
and get them to do their work. It is time that we make sure that the
National Personnel Records Center does its job for our veterans and to
make sure that they have a plan that this never happens again.
We cannot let down our veterans because of some bureaucracy, because
somebody doesn't want to make sure that it runs efficiently and
effectively.
{time} 2150
It needs to be done. It needs to be done now.
Madam Speaker, just let me say, we must first and always remember our
veterans and Active Duty military personnel.
Also, I would like to thank my colleagues for their participation
this evening. This is an important issue. It is widespread, and it
transcends party lines.
These are veterans. They are Americans. They are not Republicans;
they are not Democrats. They are Americans, and they are an outstanding
group of Americans.
I notice I was just joined here by a colleague of mine. So before I
close, I will recognize a gentleman I have known for quite some time,
actually a member of the military. When I knew him, he was still a
member of the military, so a veteran then, a good friend of mine, a
great American from Pennsylvania.
[[Page H5870]]
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.
Perry).
Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania, for bringing up the subject and offering me the
opportunity to stand in support of his legislation, the RECORDS Act, to
let you know, what you have probably heard, that literally hundreds of
thousands--500,000 to 600,000 veterans are awaiting their care based on
the inability of the VA to get to their records.
They can't prove that they are due the care, that they have earned
the care, without the records. The VA has this backlog, which takes
them a year, maybe two, where they can't access their records to get
the care that they have earned. So I commend the gentleman for his
efforts with the RECORDS Act.
I have a similar bill, the WINGMAN Act, which allows congressional
staffers, given the appropriate approvals, to go in and help the
veteran do the same thing, get through the backlog.
Mr. Keller has a response. He has a solution. I am working on a
solution. Who is not working on a solution? The VA. It is not the
people down in the trenches, down doing the hard work. As usual, it is
the administration, the upper staff, that has failed in this endeavor.
If we can do anything in the United States of America--of all the
billions we spend, here and across the globe, anywhere, and all the
different programs that we have--the least we can do is take care of
those who have safeguarded our freedoms and have earned the care that
they deserve to get. The only thing that stands between them and that
care is accessing their records. They cannot right now because of this
backlog.
The good gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Keller) has legislation
that will fix that, and I urge my colleagues to support it. I urge
everybody that is a veteran or a family member supportive of a veteran
to write, to contact their Congressman, their Member of Congress, and
urge them to support this legislation.
Let's see if we can fix the circumstances at the VA for these
veterans.
Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend, Mr. Perry, who
said it so very well. These people earned their benefits. Our veterans
earned these benefits. They protected our freedom and way of life. They
didn't question was it too dangerous to go do that job. They went and
did it. They have earned benefits.
What we need to do is we need to make sure that the bureaucrats that
are running this--as he said, it is not the people that get the work
done every day, but it is the managers of the National Personnel
Records Center that need to make sure they do their job and put
together a plan to address the issues, to get our veterans the
necessary records, in a timely fashion, that they need to gain access
to the benefits they have earned.
As I mentioned before, this is an issue that is not a Republican or
Democrat issue. It is an American issue, and it is about helping
Americans. It is about helping Americans who have helped humanity from
around the globe, stood up for freedom, stood on that wall and made
sure we were safe. Now, it is our time to stand up for them and make
sure they get the benefits they have earned.
We all urge the National Archives and Records Administration to
immediately take all steps to address this problem and prevent it from
ever happening again.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________