Congressional Hearing on Representatives Walz and Denham's Bipartisan Bill to Tackle VA Backlog to Take Place Wednesday

Press Release

The Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs will hold a hearing on the bipartisan Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery Act, authored by Representatives Tim Walz (D-MN) and Jeff Denham (R-CA), Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at 2:30p.m. CT/3:30p.m. ET in Washington DC. Senator Franken (D-MN) also worked tirelessly with Representative Walz on this legislation and introduced companion legislation in the Senate. The Hearing is the next step in the process before the legislation comes forward for a vote in the House.

"This bill is a step forward in our work to give our nation's veterans quicker access to the healthcare they deserve," Representatives Walz and Denham said. "It will cut through red tape and conserve VA resources by allowing veterans to see their own doctors, decreasing the wait and travel times that many vets in rural communities like ours experience. While there is no silver bullet to solve this problem, we believe this common sense solution will speed up the VA's current efforts to tackle the backlog and urge the House to take action on our legislation without delay."

The bill will work to reduce the backlog by allowing local doctors to conduct disability medical examinations for veterans. This conserves VA resources, cuts back on long wait times at VA hospitals, enables quicker diagnoses of disabilities and eliminates unnecessary trips to the VA for veterans in rural communities and redundant visits to the doctor.

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