Va Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Ms. TITUS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the ranking member for yielding, and I thank the chairman. Even though we may disagree on this piece of legislation, I believe he has been a fair chairman to work with all members of the committee.

When I became a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and the ranking member of the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee back in 2013, much of the focus was on the disability claims backlog. It had ballooned, and it was causing some veterans to wait almost 2 years just for their initial claim decision.

After that backlog was reduced, after considerable work by Congress and the administration, the problem shifted to the appeals process, where 450,000 veterans are currently waiting in an overburdened and overcomplicated system. The average claim takes more than 3 years to adjudicate, and claims that progress to the Board of Veterans Appeals can languish for more than 2,000 days. Both of these figures are also rising. So, if we miss this historic opportunity to reform the outdated and overcomplicated appeals system, the wait for our Nation's heroes will continue to lengthen. By 2027, we will be telling our veteran constituents that they will likely have to wait a decade for their appeal to be resolved. That is just unacceptable.

It is important to keep in mind that the appeals process was first developed back in 1933, and it was last updated in the late 1980s; so, surely, true reform is long overdue. Accordingly, this has become a top priority for the VA and for veterans service organizations, and it should be a priority for Congress as well.

Over the past months, the VA has been working closely with experts from the VSOs and other veterans advocacy groups to reform this broken system and replace it with a streamlined process designed to provide quicker outcomes for veterans while also preserving their due process rights.

Before you in this bill is the result of that effort. The new plan creates three lanes from which veterans can choose to appeal their claim. The first is a high-level de novo review for veterans who want to have a fresh set of well-trained eyes review their claim. The second is a lane for veterans who wish to add additional information or evidence to their claim. The third is for veterans who choose to have a full review done by the board, either with new evidence or as an expedited review without new supporting documents.

Veterans will be able to choose their own lane, depending on the specifics of their particular case. As part of this new system, the VA will provide more details to veterans when their initial claim decisions are delivered. This enhanced claims decision will better help veterans decide if they want to appeal and which lane will best suit their needs.

I appreciate that so many veterans organizations, including Disabled American Veterans, The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, AMVETS, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and others have all endorsed this appeals reform legislation.

It is unfortunate that my bill has been attached to controversial legislation regarding accountability at the VA. While we all agree that accountability for employees at the VA is critical for ensuring that our veterans receive the services and the care that they have earned and deserved, we should separate the two issues, pass appeals reform, and then work in a bipartisan manner on the accountability proceedings.

Last summer, this House passed an accountability bill; so, rather than passing another one that is very similar and which we know the administration opposes and feels is unconstitutional, let's get the appeals reform process done instead of playing politics that could hurt our Nation's heroes.

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Ms. TITUS. I thank my friend from Minnesota (Mr. Walz) for yielding to me and for helping me with this amendment.

Mr. Chair, this is very simple. It would just remove all of the accountability provisions from the bill and give the House an opportunity to send a clean reform bill to the Senate.

While we all agree that accountability for employees at the VA is critical, we should separate these two issues, pass appeals reform, and then work in a bipartisan manner on the accountability issues.

Rather than send another accountability bill to the Senate, which is opposed by the administration, we should pass this amendment and send to the President a clean bill that can be signed right away and fix this deeply flawed, old, outdated appeals process.

I am proud to have worked with various VSOs and the VA to develop the overhaul of appealing VA benefits claims. As I said earlier, the current system is broken, and every day it gets worse. More appeals are added to the backlog. It has ballooned to 450,000 claims. If we don't act now, veterans will soon have to wait a decade before their appeals can be adjudicated.

Passing this amendment will allow us to address this growing problem now instead of subjecting our veterans not to good policy, but to bad politics.

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