S. HRG. 109–216 BATTLING THE BACKLOG: CHALLENGES FACING THE VA CLAIMS ADJUDICATION AND APPEAL PROCESS HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION MAY 26, 2005 Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 24-468 PDF WASHINGTON : 2006 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 03-FEB-2003 16:23 Feb 01, 2006 Jkt 024468 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 D:\VA\24468.TXT SSC2 PsN: SSC2 COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS LARRY CRAIG, Idaho, Chairman ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania DANIEL K. AKAKA, Ranking Member, KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas Hawaii LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia RICHARD BURR, North Carolina JAMES M. JEFFORDS, (I) Vermont JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada PATTY MURRAY, Washington JOHN THUNE, South Dakota BARACK OBAMA, Illinois JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia KEN SALAZAR, Colorado LUPE WISSEL, Majority Staff Director D. NOELANI KALIPI, Minority Staff Director (II) VerDate 03-FEB-2003 16:23 Feb 01, 2006 Jkt 024468 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 D:\VA\24468.TXT SSC2 PsN: SSC2 CONTENTS MAY 26, 2005 SENATORS Page Craig, Hon. Larry, Chairman, U.S. Senator from Idaho ...................................... 1 Obama, Hon. Barack, U.S. Senator from Illinois .................................................. 2 Akaka, Hon. Daniel K., U.S. Senator from Hawaii .............................................. 4 Rockefeller, Hon. John D. IV, U.S. Senator from West Virginia ......................... 5 Salazar, Hon. Ken, U.S. Senator from Colorado ................................................... 5 Murray, Hon. Patty, Ranking Member, U.S. Senator from Washington ............ 6 WITNESSES Cooper, Hon. Daniel L., Under Secretary for Benefits, Department of Vet- erans Affairs; accompanied by Ronald garvin, Acting Cahirman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals; and Robert H. Epley, Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Policy and Program Management, Veterans Benefits Administrarion ..................................................................................................... 7 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 8 Kramer, Hon. Kenneth B., Former Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ................................................................................................... 28 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 30 Bascetta, Cynthia, Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security, Gov- ernment Accountability Office ............................................................................. 33 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 34 Chisholm, Robert, Past President, National Organization of Veterans’ Advo- cates ...................................................................................................................... 38 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 40 Surratt, Rick, deputy National Legislative Director, Disabled American Vet- erans ...................................................................................................................... 42 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 44 APPENDIX Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Larry E. Craig to: Daniel L. Cooper ............................................................................................... 65 Robert V. Chisolm ............................................................................................ 73 Rick Surratt ...................................................................................................... 74 Kenneth B. Kramer .......................................................................................... 88 Response to written questions submitted by Hon. John D. Rockefeller IV to: ........................................................................................................................... Daniel L. Cooper ............................................................................................... 87 Kenneth Kramer ............................................................................................... 89 Kinderman, Quentin, Deputy Director, National Legislative Service, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, prepared statement .............................. 89 (III) VerDate 03-FEB-2003 16:23 Feb 01, 2006 Jkt 024468 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 D:\VA\24468.TXT SSC2 PsN: SSC2 VerDate 03-FEB-2003 16:23 Feb 01, 2006 Jkt 024468 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 D:\VA\24468.TXT SSC2 PsN: SSC2 BATTLING THE BACKLOG: CHALLENGES FACING THE VA CLAIMS ADJUDICATION AND APPEAL PROCESS THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2005 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:02 p.m., in room SR–418, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Larry E. Craig (Chairman of the Committee) presiding. Present: Senators Craig, Burr, Thune, Akaka, Rockefeller, Mur- ray, Obama, and Salazar. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LARRY CRAIG, U.S. SENATOR FROM IDAHO Chairman CRAIG. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. We have entitled this hear- ing, ‘‘Battling the Backlog: Challenges Facing the VA Claims Adju- dication and Appeal Process.’’ This afternoon, we will discuss the state of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ claims adjudication and appeals system. It is through this system that separated service members must proceed in order to receive VA disability compensation for injuries sus- tained during military service. Especially during the time of war, when we have thousands of wounded soldiers returning from the battlefield, it is essential that we ensure there is a system in place that will provide prompt and accurate decisions to those who have served, sacrificed, and suf- fered for our Nation. Over the years, there has been significant concern about the backlog of claims in the VA system, the length of time claims re- main pending; and the quality of the decisions being rendered. And in recent months, there have been serious questions raised by the press, members of Congress, my colleague who is a member of the Committee and has joined me, VA’s Office of Inspector General, re- garding the ability of this vast system to provide consistent deci- sions for veterans across the country. Earlier this year, Secretary Nicholson testified before this Com- mittee that, as a presidential initiative, improving the timeliness and accuracy of claims proceedings remains VA’s top priority for VA’s benefits program. And our Committee is also committed to en- suring that we continually strive to improve this system. (1) VerDate 03-FEB-2003 16:23 Feb 01, 2006 Jkt 024468 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 D:\VA\24468.TXT SSC2 PsN: SSC2 2 To that end, today we will discuss how well the current system is serving our Nation’s veterans, what challenges the system is fac- ing, and what steps can be and should be taken to ensure that, now and in the future, our veterans will not endure delays in re- ceiving a fair resolution of their claims. Joining us for this discussion we have on the first panel the Hon- orable Daniel Cooper, the Under Secretary for Benefits in the De- partment of Veterans’ Affairs. Welcome, sir. He is accompanied by Ronald Garvin, the Acting Chairman for the Board of Veterans’ Ap- peals. Welcome. And Robert Epley, Associate Deputy Under Sec- retary for Policy and Program Management for the Veterans Bene- fits Administration. Bob, welcome. On our second panel, we will be pleased to have a very distin- guished public servant, the Honorable Ken Kramer, who recently retired as the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims; and in a former life in which I first knew him, as a Congressman from Colorado. We also are pleased to be joined on the second panel by Cynthia Bascetta, Director of Education, Workforce, and Income Security for the U.S. Government Accountability Office; Rick Surratt, the Deputy National Legislative Director for the Disabled American Veterans; and Robert Chisholm, former president, National Organi- zation of Veterans Advocates. Ladies and gentlemen, we welcome you all. Our Ranking Mem- ber has just arrived. While he is getting his house in order, I know that the Senator from Illinois has an appointment awaiting him, so I am going to turn to Senator Obama for his comments, and then we will come back to Senator Akaka, the Ranking Member of the Committee. Senator. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BARACK OBAMA, U.S. SENATOR FROM ILLINOIS Senator OBAMA. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to my wonderful Ranking Member, for allowing me the prerogative of going quickly. I apologize in advance; I am going to have to leave in a few minutes, but will try to get back before the end of the hearing. I want to thank Admiral Cooper and the other persons on the panel for your appearance and participation in this important hear- ing. You know, when we call our armed forces to go into battle to de- fend