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P R E S S R E L E A S E - -
Wednesday September 20, 2006
Committee hears legislative views of millions of veterans
Washington, D.C. — Today, in the first of two “Look Back, Look Ahead”
legislative hearings, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs heard the
issues and concerns of 11 veterans’ and military service organizations
(VSOs and MSOs) in what Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) termed
“the opening of the Fiscal Year 2008 VA budget process.”
“Last February, before we developed the FY 2007 views and estimates, the
committee heard from 19 VSOs and MSOs, some of whom we had not heard
from before. That was powerful,” Buyer said. He scheduled this week’s
hearings to review the fiscal year just ending and look forward into the
next year. “The timing of a September hearing is auspicious because the
administration is now beginning to develop its next-year budget
request,” he said. For that reason, Buyer commended the sensible example
set by The American Legion as well as the House Armed Services Committee
in having fall hearings.
Top issues voiced by VSOs and MSOs included funding for veterans’ health
care, with many calling for mandatory funding to ensure that all
veterans eligible for VA health care; essentially 26 million veterans
are eligible for VA health care. Buyer opposes mandatory or “assured”
funding.
“According to the Congressional Budget Office, mandatory funding would
cost nearly half-a-trillion dollars over ten years. That would be a
costly experiment. In contrast, the strong discretionary budgets of the
past decade have proven responsive to change,” Buyer said, citing the
near-doubling of VA’s budget in the last ten years and the high-quality
medicine that strong VA funding has supported.
Most testimony also highlighted concern over the growing backlog of
disability compensation claims at VA. “This issue is the elephant in the
room,” Buyer said. He noted that he would soon be meeting with his task
force on accountability. The task force comprises veterans’ advocates
examining issues across the VA to improve accountability
department-wide.
Buyer linked the urgent need to reform VA’s information technology and
security to his top priorities, which are caring for veterans who have
service-connected disabilities, those with special needs, and the
indigent; ensuring a seamless transition from military service to the
VA; and providing veterans every opportunity to live full, healthy
lives.
“The recent theft of personal data belonging to millions of veterans has
shown the utter necessity that VA must have centralized management over
information technology, information policy, and information security,”
Buyer said. “If you are outraged by lapses in security and unnecessary
risks to your members, join with me in dislodging the status quo and
doing the right thing for veterans.”
Last month, Buyer, VA Secretary Nicholson, Economic Opportunity
Subcommittee Chairman John Boozman (R-Ark.), and committee member John
Salazar (D-Colo.) visited U.S. military health care facilities in
Kuwait, Iraq and Germany to assess the continuum of health care from
medical corpsman to level-4 medical facility.
“We were impressed by the quality of care,” Buyer said. “Yet between DoD
and VA, we still have a gap. Wounded GIs arriving at Landstuhl Regional
Medical Center minutes after we arrived had paper medical records in
files on their chests. Largely because of the Pentagon’s foot-dragging,
VA and DoD still do not have a truly interoperable system of electronic
medical records. We must do better.”
The issue of attorney representation for VA claims applicants produced
disagreement among VSOs and MSOs, some fearing that legal wrangling
would increase the backlog; others believing that legal representation
would help claimants prevail in what they called an “adversarial”
relationship that has developed between VA and veterans. “Some think
that if we bring lawyers into the process that will help solve the
problem. I am apprehensive at the prospect of more lawyers. But I will
be a good listener,” Buyer said.
“These are issues that are not going to go away,” Buyer told the
commanders and leaders of the VSOs and MSOs. He thanked them for their
substantive testimony and said, “You make a great difference in the tone
and tenor of our country. We are at war in two theaters and still have
responsibilities globally. Our men and women in uniform are performing
their duty magnificently. They are coming home with the simple
expectation that we will be there for them.”
“It is up to all of us to help these returning servicemembers transition
into civilian life. VA has its structure, but personal contact, which is
your strength, plays an irreplaceable role,” Buyer said. “When you put
your arm around a young lance corporal just back from — you name the
province or city — you help honor our promise.”
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Larry Scott
