[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5962]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           VA CLAIMS, OPERATIONS, AND RECORDS EFFICIENCY ACT

  (Mrs. KIRKPATRICK asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. KIRKPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduced a bipartisan piece 
of legislation to help tackle the substantial backlog of veterans' 
claims. My bill is called the VA Claims, Operations, and Records 
Efficiency Act, or CORE. It directs the Department of Defense to enact 
an efficient electronic transfer of veterans' records instead of the 
outdated paperwork process that is currently being used.
  The average veteran waits more than 250 days for a decision on a 
claim. About 175 days of that time is the VA waiting for the DOD to 
send the complete records. In Arizona's District One, one of my 
veterans' caseworkers is helping several vets who waited more than 2 
years. This wait time is simply unacceptable. Federal agencies must 
leave paperwork in the past and adopt an efficient electronic approach.
  I thank my colleague, Chairman Coffman, for cosponsoring this bill. 
Helping our veterans isn't a partisan issue; it's a national 
responsibility. Let's end the backlog so we can keep the promises we've 
made to our veterans.

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