On the recordMay 23, 2017
I thank my ranking member, Mr. Walz, for yielding time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2288 the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017. Over the past 5 years, the number of pending appeals at the VA has skyrocketed by 40 percent and now sits at nearly half a million cases. The average processing time for an appeal is 3 years. Republicans and Democrats agree, the VA agrees, veterans service organizations agree, and, most importantly, veterans agree that we need to fix this broken process. I am pleased that my colleagues on the committee have come together to develop a bipartisan solution that reduces the overly complicated appeals process, shortens the time a veteran will wait for a decision, and preserves a veteran's full length of benefits if their appeal is decided favorably. This legislation has taken a lot of time and effort. I applaud my colleagues Ms. Titus and Mr. Miller for laying the groundwork in the last Congress, and Ms. Esty and Mr. Bost for carrying this legislation into the 115th Congress. I am very, very proud of all the work done by the committee staff to bring this together, and I am grateful to the dedicated VSOs and the VA for their input. This is a great example of how we can put aside our partisan differences and make our veterans' lives better. Mr. Speaker, I support this bill and urge all of my colleagues to vote for it.
