Battling the Backlog: Hearing Before the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Ninth CongressU.S. Government Printing Office, 2006 - Electronic government information |
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Page 1
... 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 ...
... 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 ...
Page 2
... months ; we will be ready then . " Instead , what they do is , they respond immediately , and go bravely into battle to fight for our democracy . Their prompt response to their Nation's call to arms stands in stark contrast to how our ...
... months ; we will be ready then . " Instead , what they do is , they respond immediately , and go bravely into battle to fight for our democracy . Their prompt response to their Nation's call to arms stands in stark contrast to how our ...
Page 5
... month here in Washington , D.C. , so I am the number - 100 Senator . But this Committee to me is one of the most important things that I work on here . And it is because in Colorado , as I travel around my State , I hear so much from ...
... month here in Washington , D.C. , so I am the number - 100 Senator . But this Committee to me is one of the most important things that I work on here . And it is because in Colorado , as I travel around my State , I hear so much from ...
Page 7
... month . Coincident with this growth , the number of claims we receive each month is increasing , and the number of issues on each claim for each veteran is also rising steadily . Legislative changes also affect our process . Most ...
... month . Coincident with this growth , the number of claims we receive each month is increasing , and the number of issues on each claim for each veteran is also rising steadily . Legislative changes also affect our process . Most ...
Page 8
... months , until Congress passed amending legislation . Our appeals process is another key component of this VA dis- ability claims process . Our Board of Veterans ' Appeals was estab- lished in 1933 to review evidence , to hold hearings ...
... months , until Congress passed amending legislation . Our appeals process is another key component of this VA dis- ability claims process . Our Board of Veterans ' Appeals was estab- lished in 1933 to review evidence , to hold hearings ...
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Common terms and phrases
administrative Admiral Cooper agency of original Agent Orange ALJs Answer Appeals for Veterans appeals process attorney average impairments award backlog believe Board of Veterans CAVC Chairman CRAIG claimant claims adjudication Committee compensation and pension compensation program Congress consistency COPPER Court of Appeals decisionmaking decisions delay develop disability compensation disability programs earning capacity employees ensure erans evidence Federal Circuit field office filing fiscal year 2004 goal hearing improve increase individual unemployability initial issues Judge Kramer judicial review KEN SALAZAR Law Judges military discharge NAPA original jurisdiction pending percent problem PTSD question rating schedule recommendations remand result Robert Chisholm Secretary Senator AKAKA Senator BURR Senator SALAZAR service members service-connected specific staff staffing substantive appeal SURRATT Task Force Report testimony Thank timeliness tion U.S. Court U.S. SENATOR United States Code VA's VA's disability VBA's VSOS workload
Popular passages
Page 68 - The ratings shall be based, as far as practicable, upon the average impairments of earning capacity resulting from such injuries in civil occupations...
Page 83 - Under our adversary system the role of counsel is not to make sure the truth is ascertained but to advance his client's cause by any ethical means. Within the limits of professional propriety, causing delay and sowing confusion not only are his right but may be his duty. The appearance of counsel for the citizen is likely to lead the government to provide one — or at least to cause the government's representative to act like one. The result may be to turn what might have been a short conference...
Page 82 - ... positions and to contest with vigor all adverse evidence and views. The role of the hearing body itself, . . . may become more akin to that of a judge at a trial, and less attuned to the rehabilitative needs of the individual probationer or parolee. In the greater self-consciousness of its quasi-judicial role, the hearing body may be less tolerant of marginal deviant behavior and feel more pressure to reincarcerate rather than to continue nonpunitive rehabilitation.
Page 82 - The introduction of counsel into a revocation proceeding will alter significantly the nature of the proceeding. If counsel is provided for the probationer or parolee, the State in turn will normally provide its own counsel; lawyers, by training and disposition, are advocates and bound by professional duty to present all available evidence and arguments in support of their clients' positions and to contest with vigor all adverse evidence and views. The role of the hearing body itself, aptly described...
Page 82 - There can be little doubt that invalidation of the fee limitation would seriously frustrate the oft-repeated congressional purpose for enacting it. Attorneys would be freely employable by claimants to veterans' benefits, and the claimant would as a result end up paying part of the award, or its equivalent, to an attorney. But this would not be the only consequence of striking down the fee limitation that would be deleterious to the congressional plan. A necessary concomitant of Congress...
Page 83 - Thus, even apart from the frustration of Congress' principal goal of wanting the veteran to get the entirety of the award, the destruction of the fee limitation would bid fair to complicate a proceeding which Congress wished to keep as simple as possible. It is scarcely open to doubt that if claimants were permitted to retain compensated attorneys the day might come when it could be said that an attorney might indeed be necessary to present a claim properly in a system rendered more adversary and...
Page 83 - ... continue nonpunitive rehabilitation. Certainly, the decisionmaking process will be prolonged, and the financial cost to the State — for appointed counsel, counsel for the State, a longer record, and the possibility of judicial review — will not be insubstantial.
Page 35 - VSR, also called a rating specialist, evaluates the claim and determines whether the claimant is eligible for benefits. If the veteran is eligible for disability compensation, the rating specialist assigns a percentage rating based on degree of disability. Veterans with multiple service-connected disabilities receive a single composite rating. For veterans claiming pension eligibility, the regional office determines if the veteran served in a period of war, is permanently and totally disabled for...
Page 76 - This is not, however, to be interpreted as an erratic deviation from the underlying principle of compensation law— that benefits relate to loss of earning capacity and not to physical injury as such. The basic theory remains the same; the only difference is that the effect on earning capacity is a conclusively presumed one, instead of a specifically proved one based on the individual's actual wage-loss experience. Larson § 58.11 at 10-323-324 (footnotes omitted).
Page 67 - Generally, reexaminations will be required if it is likely that a disability has improved, or if evidence indicates there has been a material change in a disability or that the current rating may be incorrect. Individuals for whom reexaminations have been authorized and scheduled are required to report for such reexaminations.