OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Va Tele-Hearing Modernization Act

Floor Speech

Date: Nov. 12, 2019
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Technology and Communication Veterans

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Madam Speaker, today I am proud to rise in support of my bill, the VA Tele-Hearing Modernization Act, which will make it easier for our Nation's veterans to appeal their claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Currently, the Board of Veterans' Affairs only conducts tele-hearings from certain VA locations, meaning veterans have to travel to testify in support of their claims; and, in many cases, this forces Lowcountry veterans to drive all the way to Columbia.

My bill offers a commonsense solution to this problem by allowing veterans to teleconference into these hearings from the comfort of their own homes using their personal computers.

Further, this legislation will require these hearings to take place via a secure platform so that veterans do not have to sacrifice the security of their sensitive personal information to take advantage of this new process. This change will not only benefit those veterans who may be otherwise unable to travel for their hearing, but will also help to expedite the appeals process for veterans across the board.

With veterans given the freedom to participate in their appeals hearing from a place of their own choosing, no-shows, which add to the appeals backlog and slow down the process for everyone, will be significantly reduced, all with no additional cost to taxpayers.

The VA Tele-Hearing Modernization Act is exemplary of the sorts of advances that we can make when both parties come together for the sake of our veterans.

Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Katko for signing on as an original cosponsor. I also want to thank Chairman Takano and Ranking Member Roe for their leadership on the committee and for expediting this legislation, as well as their staffs for all their hard work.

Madam Speaker, I urge all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join in supporting this legislation for our veterans, who have sacrificed too much to need to jump through hoops for a fair hearing on their claims.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT


Source
arrow_upward