Bishop Statement on VA 2015 Budget Request

March 27, 2014
Press Release
Bishop Statement on VA 2015 Budget Request

Mr. Chairman, we have done a lot to ease the burden of military service, for example, the Congress passed the 9/11 GI bill, the Hiring Heroes Act, and the Caregivers Act, all with strong bipartisan majorities.

However, we are still struggling in the claims process area but we are making progress. The last update I saw there were a total of 672,000 claims and of that 389,000 are considered backlogged. So Mr. Secretary we still have a ton of work to do on this.

I have heard from many on the reasons for the backlog, the inclusion of Agent Orange, the winding down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the complexity of new wounds both physical and mental of our veterans, and more which I completely understand.

However, Mr. Secretary I am concerned about the current drawdown of troops and what affect that will have on the claims process. I look forward to a discussion on what the VA’s plans are to handle this developing situation.

I want to talk about results and how this FY 2015 budget is going to achieve those results. How are the initiatives and funding in this budget going to meet the Department’s goal to “End the backlog by 2015”, which if the VA stays on its current pace the backlog would end on November 2, 2015 so you would be cutting it close.

Now we can talk about increases in spending for VA until we’re blue in the face, but if there are no results then we’re just wasting time and resources.

And Mr. Chairman, when it comes to wasting resources in this current budget climate I cannot tell you how frustrated and disappointed I am Electronic Health Record program.

I hope that this new path you and Secretary Hagel are going down will have some results and I look forward to an update on this issue.

Mr. Secretary, when I talk to veterans their number one issue is always VA claims and the number one issue being worked by my staff in Southwest Georgia is VA claims. The veterans of my district are growing impatient and so am I.

Mr. Chairman, today is a very important hearing and I know I speak for many of our colleagues and Secretary Shinseki when I discuss how frustrated we all are with the situation.

I know this a problem that will not be fixed overnight but my hope today is that we can focus on how we fix this problem together and quickly. Not just for the veterans waiting today, but for future generations of veterans to come.

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to share my concerns. I yield back.
 

113th Congress