Modernizing All Veterans and Survivors Claims Processing Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3854, the Modernizing All Veterans and Survivors Claims Processing Act, as amended.

We are living in an era of remarkable technological advancement. It seems every day that there is a new story about how artificial intelligence is shaping data visualization or modeling. In fact, there are AI models that are helping to detect diseases before traditional detection periods.

As the world around us continues to advance in this way, we cannot handcuff the Department of Veterans Affairs and bar them from utilizing this remarkable technology, but neither can we let them proceed unfettered without considering all the implications of its use.

H.R. 3854 directs the VA to plan for the use of automation tools to aid in retrieving service records, medical evidence, and claims decision support, and to generate correspondence to the veteran. It requires the VA to share this report with Congress so that we may provide the proper oversight of this burgeoning technology.

This bill also provides an analytical structure to assess the feasibility and extent of collaboration required between offices utilizing artificial intelligence.

Lastly, it seeks to modernize and expedite the processing of benefits for certain children of veterans, a uniquely vulnerable community.

Beyond just addressing the use of emerging AI technology at the VA, H.R. 3854, as amended, also seeks to bolster the VA's data collection. Currently, the VA does not collect cause-of-death data on veterans. This is problematic, and it creates a challenge when assessing trends in veteran deaths.

The collection of cause-of-death data would allow the VA to begin to build datasets that can be tracked and assessed, a promising thing in this era of rapid technological advancement.

It is not a stretch to say that this data can one day be used to anticipate and prevent potentially catastrophic diagnoses in veteran populations with similar markers. I, for one, look forward to a day when we are preventing deaths from occupational exposures instead of merely tracking them. This bill begins to tackle that.

This isn't a magic wand to fix and modernize all of VA, but it is a start. I am confident that with modernization efforts like this legislation, as well as my colleagues' efforts in other areas, we can make a concerted effort to give our veterans the best care and experience they deserve.

There is one very large caveat in this effort to modernize the VA and its systems that I would be remiss not to mention, which is any push to increase the use of automation, artificial intelligence, and big data at the VA must not simultaneously remove the humanity from the system. AI is no substitute for a well-trained workforce, especially one that is as mission-driven and dedicated as the one we have at the VA.

Even as chaos unfolds around them, I know that VA employees are trying hard to continue to deliver for veterans. We should not lose sight of that. Even with the promise of evolving technologies, we know that the human element is still the most important when delivering world-class care and service to veterans. It is what veterans want, and it is what serves them best.

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Mr. TAKANO. Morrison), my good friend who serves on our Health Subcommittee and our Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues, once again, to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 3854, Modernizing All Veterans and Survivors Claims Processing Act, as amended.

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