Veterans Record Reconstruction Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address an issue that touches veterans in hundreds of congressional districts across this Nation.

In 1973, a fire at a U.S. Government archives facility destroyed as many as 18 million official military records. This loss has made it incredibly difficult for many veterans to prove the details of their service, and it has even prevented some from getting the benefits that they deserve. In the year since the fire, some affected files have been painstakingly reconstructed by using unofficial pieces of information, including postmarked letters and photographs, but this process can be confusing, time consuming, and costly to the veteran.

Somehow, in 42 years, no system has been established to assist these veterans--whose files were lost by no fault of their own--in reassembling their records. We simply must do better. That is why I have introduced the Veterans Record Reconstruction Act: to establish a clear set of guidelines for reconstructing a veteran's service record when it has been damaged or destroyed.

As we commemorate Veterans Day this next week, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense, straightforward bill so that every veteran has the opportunity to receive the benefits he or she has earned.

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