Wittman Urges Partnership to Improve VA Claims Backlog

Press Release

Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-1) sent a letter today to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric K. Shinseki, recommending an innovative way to address the serious claims backlog at the VA. Citing the performance of the Lewis B. Puller, Jr. Veterans Benefits Clinic at William and Mary Law School and its associated Helping Military Veterans through Higher Education Consortium, Wittman urged Secretary Shinseki to consider a formal partnership between the VA and the many pro bono law school veterans clinics nationwide that provide assistance to veterans mired in the claims process. Wittman released the following statement:

"Our nation's veterans have made immeasurable sacrifices to defend our freedom, and the abysmal state of the VA's claims backlog is preventing them from receiving the benefits and care that they have earned. The great folks at William and Mary Law School have done and continue to do a phenomenal job helping our veterans navigate the claims system, whether through compiling necessary documentation, submitting complex claim forms, or even coordinating medical evaluations. Without this assistance, these veterans would simply be at the mercy of a bloated, tangled system. A formal partnership between the VA and these pro bono clinics would allow for more effective representation and assistance for veterans struggling with the claims system. These veterans law clinics exist in nineteen states and others are considering adding them as well; we can and should use programs like William and Mary's as national templates to improve the VA claims process and, more importantly, to help our veterans, whose service and sacrifice deserves better treatment than the status quo."

The letter serves as a formal follow-up after the VA asserted their willingness to work with schools' veterans law clinics upon a question from Wittman, of VA Deputy Under-Secretary Danny Pummill at a joint hearing of the House Armed Services and House Veterans' Affairs Committees on July 10, 2013.

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