Military Construction And Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (House of Representatives - June 15, 2007)

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Mrs. DRAKE. Mr. Chairman, as has been widely reported, the Department of Veterans Affairs continues to face challenges in improving service delivery to veterans and reducing the existing backlog of benefit claims.

While the VA made progress in fiscal years 2002 and 2003 reducing the size and age of its pending claims inventory, it has regrettably fallen behind in recent years. The VA's inventory of pending claims and their average time pending has increased significantly in the last 3 years and the Department is currently facing over 630,000 open benefit claims.

The VA reduced the average age of its pending claims from 182 days at the end of fiscal year 2001 to 111 days at the end of fiscal year 2003. However, by the end of fiscal year 2006, average days pending had increased to 127 days and is currently reported to be 177 days.

It should be noted that continued increases in the number and complexity of claims being filed have played a contributing role in the current backlog. In its fiscal year 2008 budget justification, the VA identified an increase in claims processing staff as essential to reducing the pending claims inventory and improving timeliness. However, the VA states that the budget request only provides resources to reduce the processing time to 145 days. Furthermore, even as increased funding is appropriated and staffing levels increase, the VA acknowledges that it still must take other actions to improve productivity.

Representatives from the VA have stated that there is a newly implemented strategy to manage the pending inventory and improve response time by getting more out of current resources, increasing staffing, and improving information technology. Given the current claims crisis, I believe that we need to know more about this strategy.

My amendment will require the VA to provide a report to Congress on the status of the number of pending disability benefit claims and the actions taken to reduce processing time for veterans' disability claims. As the House considers FY 2008 funding for the VA, I believe the Congress, the American people, and more importantly, our Nation's veterans are entitled to know how current and future resources will be implemented to address these concerns. This is the least we can do.

I understand that this amendment will be subject to a point of order and I will therefore not offer it. However, the current claims backlog is an issue of importance for our Nation's veterans. It is my hope that this Congress will address this issue in the near future.

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