Political Quotes

“Mr. President, as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I am introducing legislation today to protect the rights of appeal by claimants before the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims when claimants erroneously file a document with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the document is not transmitted to the court in a timely fashion. Under current law, section 7266 of title 38, United States Code, a veteran or other claimant who seeks to have a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals reviewed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims must ``file a notice of appeal with the court within 120 days after the date'' on which the board mails its decision to the veteran or other claimant. This measure would respond to a problem identified in a recent decision of the court in the case of Posey v. Shinseki, decided April 23, 2010. In that case, a veteran sent a document purporting to be an appeal to the court to a VA regional office. The document was not forwarded to the court within the 120 day period. VA sought to have the appeal dismissed as untimely filed. However, the court found that the document qualified as a motion for reconsideration by the board. Judge Lawrence B.…”