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Appreciates Congressman Hall's efforts on Behalf of Disabled Veterans
To the Editor:
As a disabled Vietnam veteran, I am pleased to see Congressman John Hall working hard to improve the physical, mental and economic health of our nation's veterans.
Congressman Hall sits on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and chairs the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. Both committees have been holding hearings about the problems veterans and their families face while they wait for a disability claim to be processed. The average processing time is almost six months, and the backlog of claims is above 600,000.
If a veteran's first application is denied, an appeal takes an average of two years. A claim can be sent back many times from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to the lower level Board of Veterans' Appeals because the Court only rules on one aspect of a complicated claim at a time. Many veterans have died while their appeal for benefits was pending for years, so their surviving spouses or children have to start the process all over again.
With severely wounded soldiers returning from Iraq, Congressman Hall has proposed to freeze bonuses for the VA's top brass until the backlog can be reduced from over 600,000 to under 100,000. He has also cosponsored the Wounded Warrior Act and other legislation to increase funding for veterans' healthcare, including research and development on Traumatic Brain Injury and prosthetics.
I appreciate Congressman Hall's efforts to ensure that the disabled veterans of New York's 19th District are treated quickly, and with respect for their service.
John W. Allen Putnam Valley
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