Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Health-Care and Benefits Improvement Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. LUTTRELL. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Bost for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to be here today to speak on S. 141, the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act. S. 141 includes provisions of my bill, H.R. 4461, the Modernizing Department of Veterans Affairs Disability Benefit Questionnaires Act.

Current practice does not require VA contractors who perform disability exams to submit disability benefit questionnaires, or DBQs, in a format that can easily be processed by VA claims automation software.

This leads to backlogs and delays that could be avoided by submitting the DBQs based on a standard that computers can read. Computerizing the data is the key to helping VA process and adjudicate veterans' claims faster.

The Modernizing Department of Veterans Affairs Disability Benefit Questionnaires Act would improve the DBQs, which are a critical part of the disability compensation process. As the VA moves forward with automation, standardizing the DBQ data will be crucial to timely and accurate claims processing.

Our veterans who have sacrificed so much for our country deserve a system that works for them and processes their disability compensation claims in an efficient manner.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support S. 141.

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