Arlen Specter: “I take this action with the concurrence and support of the committee's ranking member, Senator Jay Rockefeller and…”

“I take this action with the concurrence and support of the committee's ranking member, Senator Jay Rockefeller and Senator Patty Murray, the original sponsor of Senate legislation, S. 1810, to reinstate VA's duty to assist claimants in the preparation of their claims. In 1999, the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans claims issued a ruling, Morton v. West, 12 Vet. App. 477 (1999), which had the effect of barring the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from offering its assistance to veterans and other claimants in preparing and presenting their claims to VA prior to the veteran first accumulating sufficient evidence to show that his or her claim is 'well grounded.' This decision overturned a long history of VA practice under which VA had taken upon itself a duty to assist veterans in gathering evidence and otherwise preparing their claims for VA adjudication.”