Hearing Of The Subcommittee On Disability Assistance And Memorial Affairs Of The House Committee On Veterans' Affairs - Legislative Hearing On H.R. 761, H.R. 2243, H.R. 3485, H.R. 3544, And Draft Legislation

Good Morning:

I would ask everyone to rise for the Pledge of Allegiance -- flags are located in the front and in the rear of the room.

I would first like to thank all of the witnesses for their testimonies on these five insightful and critical bills, concerning memorial benefits, survivors' benefits, income exemptions for receipt of the non service- connected pension, the Department of Veterans Affairs' claims processing and appeals systems and the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals for Veterans' Claims. I would specifically like to thank my colleagues, Mr. Filner, Chairman of our Committee, Ranking Member Buyer, Mr. Frank and Mr. Higgins for joining us today. I look forward to hearing their testimony on their respective legislation.

Two of the bills that we will consider today address memorial affairs issues. First, the National Cemeteries Expansion Act of 2009, H.R. 3544, authored by the Chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Bob Filner, which would require the Secretary of VA to change its national cemetery establishment requirements of 170,000 veterans in a 75-mile radius to 110,000 veterans in a 75-mile radius and radius. We will also consider H.R. 731 authored by Congressman Frank that would allow surviving parents to be buried with their fallen son or daughter if no other dependent is eligible for this honor. Both of these bills also underscore how important it is that we honor our veterans' service and sacrifice, as well as the often silent sacrifice of our survivors.

In H.R. 2243, we will also consider the appropriateness of our current level of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) paid to our survivors, as well as the longstanding SPB/DIC offset. I look forward to hearing from Mr. Buyer on his progress with this legislation.

We will also hear from Congressman Higgins, a new Member who is trying to make a difference for blinded veterans in our state of New York with his bill, the Veterans Pension Protection Act, H.R. 3485.

Lastly, we will look at draft legislation currently entitled the Veterans Appellate Review Modernization Act. The provisions of this draft aim to continue the process started with H.R. 5892, now incorporated into law in P.L. 110-389 and to start again the process of making positive changes to the way our veterans' claims and appeals are handled by the VBA, the AMC, the BVA, and Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Additionally, this bill would also establish a Commission to examine some of the overarching and long-standing judicial and administrative issues that contribute to what many refer to as the "hamster wheel". I look forward to delving again into these issues with all of the stakeholders in a bipartisan manner.

We have a full agenda today and I know that a lot of the Members are double- and triple-booked, so I'll turn it over now to Ranking Member Lamborn for his opening statement.

Source