John Cornyn: “I ask unanimous consent the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is…”

“I ask unanimous consent the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The amendment is as follows: (Purpose: To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a plan to reduce the current backlog of veterans claims) At the end of subtitle H of title X, add the following: SEC. 1084. PLAN TO PARTNER WITH STATE AND LOCAL ENTITIES TO ADDRESS VETERANS CLAIMS BACKLOG. (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings: (1) The Department of Veterans Affairs defines any claim for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs as backlogged if the claim has been pending for 125 days or more. (2) According to the Department, as of November 24, 2012, there were 899,540 pending claims, with 604,583 (67.2 percent) of those considered backlogged. (3) The Department's data further shows that, on November 22, 2010, there were 749,934 claims pending, with only 244,129 (32.6 percent) of those considered backlogged. (4) During the past two years, both the overall number of backlogged claims and the percentage of all pending claims that are backlogged have doubled.…”