Veterans Law Judge Experience Act of 2025
Floor Speech
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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise to express my support for H.R. 659, the Veterans Law Judge Experience Act of 2025.
Madam Speaker, contrary to what the American public often thinks, sometimes in this body we actually do things that make sense.
That is very much the case with H.R. 659, the Veterans Law Judge Experience Act introduced by my friend and colleague, Representative Julia Brownley.
This bill is simple and straightforward.
It states that when recommending individuals to serve on the Board of Veterans' Appeals, priority should be given to those who have 3 or more years of experience in practicing veterans law.
The Veterans' Affairs Committee hears often about the complex nature of the disability compensation system at the Department of Veterans Affairs. That complexity, unfortunately, leads to mistakes and errors that cause our veterans' disability claims to be denied prematurely. Especially now at a time when we have seen that Secretary Collins has shifted the Department's focus from getting claims right to simply getting them fast, we are seeing higher rates of processing errors, higher denial rates, and consequently higher rates of appeals to the Board of Veterans' Appeals, the BVA.
In that context, it is imperative that the BVA has the staffing levels and experience levels to get things right for our veterans. I, along with everyone else, support efforts to ensure that veterans and beneficiaries are being served at every point of contact in VA by the best talent we can muster.
One way we can do that is by ensuring we have the right folks in the right roles. This legislation seeks to help that at BVA by focusing on hiring those with sufficient experience to best serve our veterans.
We can and should look to staff the Board of Veterans' Appeals with attorneys that have demonstrated expertise in this area, attorneys who are experienced and who can see beyond quotas and metrics to apply the law to the maximum benefit of veterans at the heart of the process.
So, Madam Speaker, I strongly support H.R. 659 and urge my colleagues to do the same.
I also want to mention another bill that the House should take up which would further improve the BVA. H.R. 2303, introduced by Representative Morgan McGarvey, increases the promotion potential for attorneys at the Board of Veterans' Appeals.
I know that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle balk at anything that might result in civil servants receiving more compensation, but if we agree that we need to hire board attorneys with greater experience, and we are asking them to do more work and more complex work at that, we ought to see fit to pay them what they are worth. I hope that my colleagues see fit to advance that bill very soon, as well.
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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, before I actually yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Brownley), I want to--in recognition of her announced retirement, though she is going to be with us for the rest of the year, but I don't know if I will ever have this chance of a moment on the floor with her again--point out that she was the leader of the very first Women Veterans Task Force that resulted in the Deborah Sampson Act, which unfortunately, is really substantively the bill that she put forward and is really the real author of, but it carries somebody else's name. It is the same with the Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act. It is an amazing piece of legislation and amazingly substantive. The Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act has laid the groundwork for our senior veterans who want to age in place at home. Congresswoman Brownley has worked on that and many other pieces of legislation as the chair and then ranking member of the Subcommittee on Health.
It is with a heavy heart that I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Brownley), my good friend and colleague, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Health, and the author of this legislation.
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Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 659, the Veterans Law Judge Experience Act of 2025. It is clear to me from the words on the floor from the ranking member of the House subcommittee, Julia Brownley, that this bill is wise, it is warranted, and it is well-thought-out.
The arguments for it are about helping our veterans receive their claims and get their claims approved in a timely manner. Again, I repeat my sentiment that we appreciate her service to this body. She has left an indelible mark on veterans' policy, on veterans' affairs, and I look forward to serving the balance of this year with my colleague and congratulate her on a brilliant career in the House of Representatives.
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