Establishing Commission or Task Force to Evaluate the Backlog of Disability Claims

Floor Speech

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Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the ranking member for yielding me time, and I also want to thank Chairman Miller for his hard work on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2189. This legislation takes important steps to address the deplorable disability claims backlog at the Veterans Affairs Administration.

It does so by establishing a special task force to evaluate the full extent of the backlog and, more importantly, to determine solutions to eliminate the backlog. We all agree our veterans deserve better.

It is in this same spirit that I introduced H.R. 2185, Veterans Day Moment of Silence Act. This bill brings together all Americans to observe 2 minutes of silence each Veterans Day. It is a time when we all, regardless of ideology, can stop and reflect on the brave service of generations of U.S. veterans.

I want to thank Chairman Miller and Ranking Member Michaud for including the text of my bill into the text of H.R. 2189. Particularly, I want to thank Daniel and Michael Bendetson and their father, Dr. Peter Bendetson. As a family, they have worked relentlessly to bring the moment-of-silence provision to fruition, and I am honored to present this proposal today on their behalf in this 113th Congress.

Again, I am thankful to Mr. Michaud and to Chairman Miller for enabling this provision to come to a vote today, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2189. It is a very timely bill. With hundreds of thousands of returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan and with over 700,000 veterans waiting for disability determinations, it is a very important bill.

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