Jon Runyan: “Thank you again. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2349, as amended, the Veterans' Benefits Training Improvement…”

“Thank you again. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2349, as amended, the Veterans' Benefits Training Improvement Act of 2011. There are several components to this legislation, and they are all aimed towards ensuring the veterans' benefits process is more efficient, accountable, and fair for all veterans and their families. The first piece of this legislation addresses the minimalist approach that the VA has adopted in complying with its employees' skill certification mandate. This section will reverse the current trend within the VA of using the employment certification process solely to increase an employee's pay grade by introducing a pilot program to conduct a biennial assessment for all claims processors and managers. The key to this program's success will be individualized remediation. This will facilitate individual accountability of employees while addressing disparities in experience and training at the pilot sites and eventually throughout the VA. Section 3 prevents the offset of pension benefits for veterans and their family members due to the receipt of payments by insurance or settlements to reimburse expenses incurred after an accident or theft. This will be accomplished by exempting reimbursements of expenses related to accident, theft, loss, or casualty loss from determinations of annual income. The next section implements the use of electronic communication within the VA to provide notices of responsibility to claimants.…”