Jeff Bingaman: “this is merely a sense-of-the-Senate resolution regarding an element of pay and benefits to service members, and…”

“this is merely a sense-of-the-Senate resolution regarding an element of pay and benefits to service members, and particularly those service men and women who have already served their country or are retired from the military service. In all of our discussions about the need to provide greater incentives for young Americans to serve and to remain in the military, we can't forget how important it is for the Nation to follow through on the promises that we have made to our veterans; to know that the benefits that are promised will be delivered is a very important tool in recruiting and retaining quality personnel in our military. I have been disturbed, as I am sure some of my colleagues have been, by the recent reports in the press that have indicated that getting claims by our Nation's veterans actually resolved and paid by the Veterans' Administration has become an increasing problem. Many veterans are having to wait an unconscionably long period of time before their cases have been resolved. I hear about this in my home State. I was there all last week and heard about it at several points. I recently read of a case that originated in 1967 that has still not been conclusively resolved. Veterans in my State of New Mexico have complained that the time taken to process individual claims has grown considerably worse over the past year. We have a billboard that has been put up in our State by a veterans group complaining about this issue.”