Veterans legislation before Congress

[wrbones]

http://www.woa.com/legislation/senatebills.htm-35k Click on status bar and see who's supportin ya!

[dnelson]

Your link is not working, I even tried to cut and paste still did not work.

[wrbones]

http://www.vvoa.com/legislation/senatebills.htm




Sorry, Marine. I transcribed it wrong. My fault.

[wrbones]

http://www.vva.org/Pubs/otherlnks.htm

[wrbones]

Claims Equity Bills Restore VA Duty to Assist Veterans
Legislation introduced in both houses of Congress would reverse federal court actions that have seriously eroded veterans legal right to assistance from the government in gathering evidence needed to prove their claims for disability benefits.

S. 1810 introduced by Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and H.R. 3193 introduced by Representative Lane Evans (D-Ill.) are some of the most important pieces of veterans rights legislation to be considered by the 106th Congress, said Washington Headquarters Executive Director David W. Gorman. The DAV commends Senator Murray and Congressman Evans for seeking to restore and protect veterans rights and urges swift passage of these bipartisan measures.

Under administrative rules dating back to the 1920s and subsequent federal legislation, the VA has had a duty to assist veterans seeking compensation for service-connected disabilities in gathering the proper and necessary evidence to substantiate their claims. Unfortunately, the DAV believes, the courts have misconstrued that statutory principle, thereby requiring veterans to submit, without assistance, enough evidence to prove that the claim is well grounded before the veteran is entitled to government assistance in obtaining evidence. This obviously defeats the purpose of the duty to assist, said Mr. Gorman, because veterans are refused any government assistance until they have first done the very thing for which the government assistance is needed.

This summer, a ruling by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in Morton v. West further eroded the long-standing responsibility of the VA to assist veterans in developing claims for benefits. Under the court ruling, the VA is prohibited from assisting veterans with claims until after the veterans establish that their claims are well grounded.

By disregarding congressional intent regarding the governments duty to assist veterans and standing this long-held principle on its head,we believe the courts have wrongly placed an unnecessary burden not only upon the veteran but also VA adjudicators, said Mr. Gorman. Congress now has the opportunity to pass legislation to reinstate the VAs duty to assist veterans in obtaining the necessary and proper records to substantiate their claims for benefits.

S. 1810 will reinstate the VAs duty to assist veterans in obtaining from government and private sources the proper and necessary records to substantiate claims for benefits. Among its other provisions, the bill requires courts to enforce the statutory benefit-of-the-doubt rule in favor of veterans and reinforces the existing provision of law that prohibits the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from appealing his own decisions.

The changes proposed in S. 1810 and H.R. 3193 will not only benefit veterans but will also remove some of the court-imposed rules that make the process more complex, more burdensome, and less efficient for the federal government, Mr. Gorman said. Anyone who has ever dealt with a veterans claim for benefits knows the process can be very difficult and frustrating, especially if the evidence to support that claim can only be obtained from the government.

Under the proposed legislation, the VA would be required to assist any veteran who submits a claim for veterans benefits and to develop information pertinent to a decision on the claim.

That assistance from the VA is essential to veterans in establishing a well-grounded claim, which is critical if veterans are to receive a fair decision, said Mr. Gorman. DAV members should contact their Senators and Representatives and urge them to support S. 1810 and H.R. 3193 as a matter of justice for disabled veterans.

[wrbones]

http://osdbuweb.dot.gov/translink/oct2001/index5.htm


VA center for entreprenuership for dis-abled vets

[wrbones]

Plus some interseting links http://santorum.senate.gov/Issues/Veterans/veterans.html

[wrbones]

http://www.gemusa.com/vec/vsofed.htm

[wrbones]

http://www.legis.state.il.us/legisnet/legisnet92/sbgroups/sb/920SB1785LV.html

[wrbones]

http://www.vetswork.org/bennies5.htm

[wrbones]

http://www.avva.org/legislation.htm Vietnam Veterans of Americe site

[wrbones]

Might be some resources to be found here http://www.nchv.org/resourcedev.cfm

[wrbones]

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/gvtoc.html

[wrbones]

http://www.thelivingwall.com/news/index2.html

[wrbones]

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/othergovernment.html

[wrbones]

http://www.countyofinyo.org/samtest3/government_links.htm

[wrbones]

http://www.nasdva.com/southcarolina.html

[wrbones]

http://dmoz.org/Regional/North_America/United_States/Government/Executive_Branch/Departments/Veterans_Affairs/

[wrbones]

http://dir.yahoo.com/Government/U_S__Government/Legislative_Branch/

[wrbones]

http://www.in.gov/veteran/benefits/