By Congresswoman Gloria Negrete McLeod
Each year on Memorial Day, Americans come together to remember those who have sacrificed their lives on behalf of our country. We remember the men and women in uniform who have served in present and past wars and give our thanks to their families who have put our country first.
While we continue to have troops deployed in Afghanistan, the President has kept his commitment to end the American war in Iraq in a responsible way and is making progress in the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. This honors the sacrifice and service of our men and women in uniform over the last ten years, and gives us the opportunity to make the United States stronger around the world and at home.
Building an American future worthy of our veterans’ service to our country requires us to ensure that they have the necessary tools and resources to help them reintegrate back into civilian society. Unfortunately, after serving our country too many veterans still wait too long for a decision on their disability compensation claims, a fact that is both unfortunate and unacceptable.
Serving on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, I have closely monitored this issue. As of March 30, 2013, the VA had 885,068 claims pending. Of those, almost 70% were pending over 125 days. More than half of this backlog consists of claims from Vietnam and Gulf War veterans.
Veterans should have timely access to the benefits they have earned through their service. We must take effective action to reduce the backlog of pending veterans’ claims and its impact now, and continue to promote innovative solutions at the VA to end the backlog over the long term.
Last month, I introduced H.R. 1623, the Veterans Administration (VA) Claims Efficiency through Information Act of 2013, which would put more pressure on the VA to be transparent in reducing the backlog. It would require more accountability from the VA by tracking the time spent evaluating each type of medical condition in a veteran’s disability claim: one of the biggest contributors to the claims backlog.
This bill would also make publicly accessible information about pending and completed claims for compensation, including detailed information of the performance of each regional office and would require the VA to provide all of this information in a weekly update that would be placed online and available to the public.
This legislation provides a tangible, forward-looking idea to modernize the VA and get veterans’ claims and compensation settled faster. It is also one of ten bills introduced by members from the House Committee on Veterans Affairs in a coordinated attempt to tackle this issue head on. These bills have bipartisan support and are backed by veterans’ service organizations across the country.
On this Memorial Day, let us renew our commitment to keep our promises to the nation’s more than 2 million troops and reservists, their families, and 22 million veterans, including over 19,000 veterans here in California’s 35th congressional district. As a nation, let it be our pledge that when our men and women in uniform return home, we leave no veteran behind. This day and every day, let us honor their service with actions that fulfill our commitment to our troops, their families, and our veterans.
If you’re a veteran or know someone that lives in California’s 35th congressional district that needs assistance with the Veterans Administration, please call the Montclair district office at (909) 626-2054.
U.S. Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod (CA-35) represents the communities of Bloomington, Chino, Montclair, Ontario, Pomona and portions of Rialto and Fontana.