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87–666 2014

HEARING TO RECEIVE LEGISLATIVE 

PRESENTATION OF THE DISABLED AMERICAN 

VETERANS (DAV) 

JOINT HEARING 

WITH

The United States Senate Committee on 

Veterans’ Affairs 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2014 

Serial No. 113–53 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov 


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COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

JEFF MILLER, Florida, Chairman 

DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida, Vice-Chairman 

DAVID P. ROE, Tennessee 

BILL FLORES, Texas 

JEFF DENHAM, California 

JON RUNYAN, New Jersey 

DAN BENISHEK, Michigan 

TIM HUELSKAMP, Kansas 

MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado 

BRAD R. WENSTRUP, Ohio 

PAUL COOK, California 

JACKIE WALORSKI, Indiana 

DAVID JOLLY, Florida 

MICHAEL H. MICHAUD, Maine, Ranking 

Member 

CORRINE BROWN, Florida 

MARK TAKANO, California 

JULIA BROWNLEY, California 

DINA TITUS, Nevada 

ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona 

RAUL RUIZ, California 

GLORIA NEGRETE MCLEOD, California 

ANN M. KUSTER, New Hampshire 

BETO O’ROURKE, Texas 

TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota 

JON TOWERS, Staff Director 

NANCY DOLAN, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY (EO) 

BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont, Chairman 

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia 

PATTY MURRAY, Washington 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

JON TESTER, Montana 

MARK BEGICH, Alaska 

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut 

MAZIE HIRONO, Hawaii 

RICHARD BURR, North Carolina, Ranking 

Member 

JONNY ISAKSON, Georgia 

MIKE JOHANNS, Nebraska 

JERRY MORAN, Kansas 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

DEAN HELLER, Nevada 

Pursuant to clause 2(e)(4) of Rule XI of the Rules of the House, public hearing records 

of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs are also published in electronic form. The printed 

hearing record remains the official version. Because electronic submissions are used to 

prepare both printed and electronic versions of the hearing record, the process of converting 

between various electronic formats may introduce unintentional errors or omissions. Such occurrences are inherent in the current publication process and should diminish as the process 

is further refined. 


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C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Tuesday, February 25, 2014 

Hearing to Receive Legislative Presentation of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) .......................................................................................................... 1 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Hon. Jeff Miller, Chairman ..................................................................................... 1 

Senator Richard Blumenthal .................................................................................. 4 

Hon. Michael Michaud, Ranking Minority Member ............................................. 5 

Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 28 

WITNESS 

Joseph W. Johnston, National Commander, Disable American Veterans .......... 8 

Prepared Statement ......................................................................................... 28 

Accompanied by: 

Jim Marszalek, National Service Director; 

Joseph A. Violante, National Legislative Director; 

Garry J. Augustine, Executive Director Washington Headquarters; 

J. Marc Burgess, National Adjutant; 

Barry A. Jesinoski, Executive Director National Headquarters; 

And 

Susan K. Miller, National Commander, Disable American Veterans, 

Auxiliary 


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HEARING TO RECEIVE LEGISLATIVE PRESENTATION OF THE DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS (DAV) 

Tuesday, February 25, 2014 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON SENATE VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, 

Washington, D.C. 

The committees met, pursuant to notice, at 1:59 p.m., in Room 

345, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Jeff Miller [chairman of 

the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs] presiding. 

Present from the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs: Representatives Miller, Roe, Runyan, Wenstrup, Michaud, Takano, 

Brownley, Kirkpatrick, McLeod, and Walz, 

Present from Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs: Senators 

Blumenthal, Boozman, and Heller. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN JEFF MILLER 

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. 

Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for being with us on this 

wonderful Florida sunshiny day. It is my privilege to welcome you 

to today’s joint hearing on the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs 

Committees to receive testimony on the legislative priorities for the 

Disabled American Veterans. 

Before we get started, I have a little bit of housekeeping that we 

need to address, and I would like to say in the interest of time and 

in keeping with the tradition of these hearings, after hearing from 

myself, Chairman Blumenthal, Ranking Member Michaud, and 

Acting Ranking Member Heller, I would like to ask all other committee members to waive their opening statements. There is going 

to be an opportunity for remarks following testimony today. 

Hearing no objection, so ordered. 

It is truly an honor for me to be here this afternoon with so 

many DAV members, and I thank you all for coming to the Hill 

once again. Due to the hard work and dedication of DAV’s 1.4 million members, especially DAV service officers, veterans are provided with professional benefit counseling and claims assistance, 

and transportation to and from VA healthcare facilities. DAV also 

assists with transition assistance services and on-site care at military treatment facilities, at VA medical centers, and clinics, and at 

home. That is just to name a few of the many programs that you, 

DAV, provide every single day. 

I have witnessed many of these efforts firsthand, and I am personally grateful to each of you for the hard work that DAV does 

across the country, as well as right here in Washington, D.C. 


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On behalf of a grateful Nation, thank you all for your commitment to our veterans, for your time this afternoon, and for your 

brave and honorable service to our Nation. 

I now want to take a few moments to welcome several individuals who have transitioned into new leadership roles with DAV. I 

begin with National Commander Joseph W. Johnston, who was 

elected to the position at DAV’s 2013 national convention. 

Mr. Johnson retired from the United States Army in 1992 and 

subsequent to his military service has dedicated his efforts towards 

working with nonprofit organizations. Commander Johnston, we 

welcome you here today. 

Other new placements within the professional leadership of DAV 

include Navy veteran J. Marc Burgess, who now serves as Chief 

Executive Officer and National Adjunct; Army veteran Garry Augustine, the new Executive Director. Garry, nice to have you back. 

Marine Corps veteran Jim Marszalek now serves as DAV National 

Service Director, and his fellow Marine Corps veteran, Barry 

Jesinowki, leads as Executive Director DAV National Headquarters 

in Cold Spring, Kentucky. Very good to have you back, too. 

And with us today, is Ms. Susan Miller, who was elected to the 

Office of National Commander of the DAV Auxiliary. Ms. Miller 

previously served as a registered nurse with the Veterans Health 

Administration and I note that Ms. Miller’s son, Trent, is a member of the United States Army, recently serving in his second deployment to Afghanistan. 

Gentlemen and Ms. Miller, thank you for your leadership, and 

for your service. I look forward to working with each of you in your 

new roles and continuing to work with those of you that are continuing in the roles that you have had for a number of years. 

I would also like to recognize the DAV members from my home 

State of Florida who may be with us today. If you could, please just 

raise your hand up so we can say hello. Isn’t this just like home? 

This is just like home, right? 

Welcome to those from the Sunshine State. We are glad to have 

you here. Each of you are a credit to our State of Florida and to 

your communities. I am proud to have you here in your Nation’s 

Capital. Thank you for your military service and for your ongoing 

service to veterans. 

Commander Johnston, officers and members of the DAV, you 

have a tremendous force behind you to accomplish the immense 

mission that is before each of us. Our charge, yours and mine, is 

to assist and oversee that the Department of Veterans Affairs, carries out America’s promise to those who have worn the uniform of 

this country. This includes ensuring that veterans receive timely, 

accurate, and consistent decisions when seeking service-connected 

disability compensation, safe, and high quality health care and 

prompt access to earned benefits. It demands that in dealing with 

the Department of Veterans Affairs, veterans be treated with the 

dignity and professionalism that is earned through honorable service to our Nation. The need for oversight is crucial, but the need 

for accountability is paramount. 

Speaking directly to the Disabled American Veterans, you and 

your members understand that leaders must set the example. True 

leaders lay out clear expectations and put others in positions to 


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succeed. They follow through and most importantly, they hold 

themselves accountable for their actions. Follow me! That is the 

motto of the infantry. Yet, those words can be easily translated to 

organizational leadership at VA. When there is a mission to be accomplished, those who put themselves on the line are the leaders 

that others want to follow. And it is a lack of accountability that 

corrodes trust within a chain of command. That said, an undeniable, widespread, systematic lack of accountability exists today in 

the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

In fact, if you look at recent preventable deaths at VA medical 

centers, patient safety incidents, and claims backlog increases, department senior executives who presided over negligence and mismanagement are more likely to have received a bonus than punishment. It is a leadership model that is primed for failure. 

Today, I ask for your support of a measure that I have introduced, H.R. 4031, The Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act of 2014. This bill would provide tools to 

the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to better manage Senior Executive Service employees; those who are directly responsible for the 

day-to-day success, or failure of VA programs. H.R. 4031 would 

give the Secretary the power to hold leaders accountable when they 

fail to perform their duties in a manner that properly serves the 

veterans entrusted to their care. DAV, you know leadership and I 

hope that you will support this bill and work with us to empower 

the Secretary to lead VA into the future. 

And I also want to comment on something from your written remarks. You noted that the Department, specifically the Veterans 

Benefits Administration, has exhibited reduced transparency and 

openness of late. I can assure you that this shift has been noted 

by this Congress and I will underscore these ongoing concerns to 

the Secretary. 

If VA is to effectively carry out its duties, the Department, as 

well as Congress and veteran service organizations, must be open 

to candid and honest conversation. I will be paying close attention 

to the matters of transparency as VBA pushes towards 2015 and 

I encourage you to continue your dialogue with Congress and VA 

to the maximum extent possible. 

I look forward to hearing your testimony today and I am certain 

that we will work together over the coming months on many items 

that are on your list of legislative priorities. 

But before I yield my time, I want to touch upon one specific 

area that you have noted is a top priority for DAV in 2014: The 

expansion of advanced appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Thank you for your resounding support of H.R. 813, The Putting 

Veterans Funding First Act. While the Veterans Health Administration is largely shielded from budgetary impasse, other functions 

critical to the department and to veterans are not; including accounts for information technology, and construction spending on 

vital maintenance and improvement projects. I am also going to 

continue to advocate for passage of this measure as well. Gridlock 

must not compromise the functionality of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 


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There is great work ahead for all of us, but with your help, I am 

confident that there is also great potential for success for America’s 

veterans. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR RICHARD BLUMENTHAL 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you once again for being here today, and 

I now yield time to my colleague and friend from the Senate, 

Chairman Blumenthal, for his opening statement. Senator. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. Thank you very much, Chairman Miller, 

and thank you to the leadership of the DAV, Commander Johnston 

and others who are here today. 

A most important thank you to all of the DAV members who are 

here. Thank you so much for making the trip, and sending a message by your presence about not only the concern and interest, but 

your knowledge and power by your numbers and your presence 

here today. 

I would like to ask that Chairman Sanders’ full opening statement be placed in the record. He could not be here today because, 

indeed, he is helping to manage the bill, the comprehensive bill 

that is under consideration this week before United States Senate. 

And indeed, I may have to—I will have to leave early to go back 

and assist him in that effort. I hope you will forgive me, but with 

the chair’s permission, I would like to ask that his opening statement be placed in the record, and I would like to make a few opening brief remarks. 

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection. I thought it was probably 

going to be because of the snow that he was not able to be here. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. We are here in the warmth compared to 

Connecticut and Vermont. Let me ask all of the Connecticut DAV 

members who are here to please raise your hand so I can thank 

you personally for being here, all of the Connecticut members. I 

know that Connecticut DAV State Commander Robert Werlich, 

First Junior Vice Commander Barry Bernier, and Dominick Cortez, 

the DAV State Vice Commander, all regularly advise me, and their 

guidance and thinking is so very valuable to me. 

Let me begin by thanking the DAV for its support for the Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits Military Retirement Pay 

Restoration Act which is the bill on the floor of the Senate this 

week. 

The DAV said about this bill—this bill is, and I am quoting, ‘‘unprecedented in our modern experience, would create, expand, advance, and extend a number of VA benefits, services, and programs 

that are important to the DAV and to our members.’’ Your help and 

support has been critical along with the help and support of virtually every veterans’ and military service organization in the 

country, including the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign 

Wars, the Disabled American Veterans, the Vietnam Veterans of 

America, the Military Officers Association of America, the Iraq and 

Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Gold Star Wives, and many more. 

We thank you for your support for this bill, which includes many 

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whelmingly bipartisan vote. There is nothing partisan about supporting this bill or any other measure that provides what we owe 

to our veterans. They should be above partisan politics. 

And this bill is big and broad because the needs and challenges 

of all of our veterans are big and broad. That is why it is comprehensive. It would provide the restoration of COLA for military 

retirees, improve VA health care and benefits, expand educational 

opportunities for our veterans, help end the benefits backlog, which 

we know bedevils many parts of our country still, and would help 

put our veterans back to work, and I am very proud to be supporting this measure. It is a historic effort to be comprehensive, to 

reach and aid our veterans in a multi-pronged, multifaceted way. 

Of particular interest to me is hearing from you about where you 

think the priorities ought to be and how we can address the problem of uniting, for example, uniting the medical records and personnel data of the Department of Defense, and the Department of 

Veterans Affairs. There are gaping divisions in that system where 

there should be none, and I am appalled by the delays that often 

occur in the transfer of information. I am deeply appreciative of the 

work of the DAV experts who help every day in aiding our veterans 

with their claims and I value your expertise in addressing this 

challenge. 

I am also personally committed to determining what we can do 

more and better to help veterans who suffer from posttraumatic 

stress. We should assist equally a veteran from today’s conflicts as 

well as those from past conflicts, including our Vietnam veterans 

who suffered posttraumatic stress before this debilitating condition 

was medically diagnosed or perhaps even seen for what it is. 

That is why I am working to get the Department of Defense to 

give a second look at the records of our veterans of past wars, including Vietnam, who may have been less than honorably discharged, or otherwise disadvantaged because their condition was 

undiagnosed and untreated. 

Given what we now know, those individuals who today are upstanding members of the community and suffered from 

posttraumatic stress ought to be given a second look, and their discharge status reevaluated if necessary. 

On all of these issues, again, your expertise and guidance not 

only today, but every day is very, very valuable, and I want to welcome you and thank you for your service to America in uniform, 

and when you have returned to your communities, and today as 

you come back to the Capitol. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF MIKE MICHAUD, RANKING 

MINORITY MEMBER 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator. 

I now yield 5 minutes or as much time as he may consume to 

the ranking member of the full House committee, Mr. Michaud. 

Mr. MICHAUD. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank 

you for your service to this great Nation of ours as well. 


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Good afternoon, Commander. I want to thank you and all members of DAV and the Auxiliary for your service. We also thank you 

for your continued dedication to our Nation’s veterans. 

I want to take an opportunity, also, to welcome those in the audience from Maine. The sons and daughters of Maine have a history 

of serving our Nation and I am glad to see that they are continuing 

that tradition as well by fighting for veterans’ issues. 

DAV and other veterans groups are active and valued partners 

with us in Congress as we work to keep our promise to America’s 

veterans. I want to thank you for your work of advocating and the 

passage and enactment of H.R. 813, The Putting Veterans Funding 

First Act. We have seen how well advanced appropriation has 

worked for VA’s medical care. It is time that the rest of VA’s discretionary budget be treated the same way. We owe it to America’s 

veterans to provide certain and stable VA budget funding. 

VA is pursuing a wide range of initiatives from new methods of 

healthcare delivery, to electronic benefit management. These investments will help bring the Department into the 21st century. 

Working with you in the Department of Veterans Affairs, we will 

make sure that these initiatives are implemented fairly, transparently, and in the best interest of veterans and the American 

taxpayers, making sure that the Department of Veterans Affairs 

can meet the challenges of the 21st century is a job of all of us. 

And I know the DAV, your members across the country, and your 

staff here in Washington are ready and eager for that challenge. 

I look forward to your testimony today, Commander, and again, I 

want to thank you and DAV’s long history of distinguished service 

for the men and women who wear the uniform. And it is because 

of VSOs such as this organization that actually will give Members 

of Congress the information we need so that we can make those decisions important for our veterans and their families in this country. So once again, thank you very much. 

And thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back. 

[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE MICHAUD APPEARS IN

THE APPENDIX ] 

The CHAIRMAN. I recognize for as much time as he may need, the 

Acting Ranking Member, Mr. Heller from Nevada. 

Senator HELLER. Mr. Chairman, thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Glad to have you here. 

Senator HELLER. Good to be back seeing old colleagues and some 

old friends that I have on this side of the Capitol. 

I want to thank the commander for being here today and everybody that will be testifying and answering questions today. Thanks 

for taking time and it is always a wonderful view to see this crowd, 

everybody here in your advocacy for issues that are important to 

all of us. 

I want to take a moment though to acknowledge the veterans 

who have flown here from my home State, Bill Bowman, and John 

Hanson. Are you out there today? There we go. Any other 

Nevadian veterans out there, please raise your hand. 

Anyway, they are tremendous advocates. They had appointments 

in my office at 9:30 this morning, and they were there at 8:30. So 

if that gives you any idea how aggressive they are, and I appreciate 


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all the work that they do and they are great advocates and they 

represent the Battle Born State quite well. 

Commander Johnston, I think we can all agree that there remains a lot to be improved upon when it comes to—and for our caring of our American veterans, which is why the work that the DAV 

does as an advocacy group and resource for our veterans is so important. 

This is the second year I have had the privilege to sit on the Senate Veterans Affairs’ Committee. While that may not be for as long 

a period of time compared to some of the other Members here, it 

is clear that one issue continues to be a primary focus, and that 

is the disability claims backlog at the VA. 

The VA promised veterans that their claims would be completed 

in less than 125 days. Yet more than 4,300 veterans in Las Vegas, 

Reno, and across Nevada have waited much longer than that. In 

fact, Nevada has the longest waiting time in the Nation. That is 

why I have made it a top priority on this committee to work to address this issue in a bipartisan manner. The claims backlog is the 

greatest challenge facing the Department of Veterans Affairs today. 

But this issue has been plaguing the VA for over 20 years, or two 

decades and the reality is we must update the process. It is a 1945 

system for a 21st century veteran. The VA needs a claims process 

that is proactive rather than reactive; one that can anticipate the 

needs of veterans to keep a backlog from happening. 

Some may want to point fingers, place blames, but at the end of 

the day, Congress, the VSOs, and the VA all have a part to play. 

For the past year I worked with Senator Casey through a bipartisan VA backlog working group to learn more about why the backlog exists and what can be done to fix it. I am also pleased that 

Senators Moran and Tester have joined us in this effort. It has 

taken significant time and resources to dig into this issue, and 

shortly, I look forward to rolling out suggestions that we have developed with the help of the DAV. Our Nation owes it to our veterans to keep our promise to care for them and resolve this problem together. 

This is just one of the many important issues that will be discussed today, and I appreciate DAV being here and look forward 

to the testimony. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. Senator, we are certainly 

glad to have you back on our side of the building. 

Before I yield to my colleague Dr. Wenstrup, I want to also recognize two other people that I did not talk about to start with: Joseph 

Violante, who is a long-time National Legislative Director. Joe, it 

is great to you have here with us, and see you on the Hill all the 

time. And Ron Minter, National Director of Voluntary Services. 

Ron, glad to have you here too. 

My staff had just said I was going to yield to Representative 

Wenstrup to introduce the commander, but I think it is important 

that you understand that Dr. Wenstrup is a combat veteran of 

Iraq, a surgeon by trade, and a Bronze Star recipient. 

With that, Mr. Wenstrup, you are recognized. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 


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As a proud member of the House Veterans Affairs’ Committee, 

it is my privilege to introduce Joseph Johnston, National Commander of Disabled American Veterans. As Commander Johnston 

works to represent injured and disabled veterans, I have had the 

honor to represent him in the House of Representatives. 

Having personally served as a combat surgeon in Iraq, I saw our 

troops in the minutes and hours after being wounded. But oftentimes, the toughest battle our veterans fight is when they come 

home. Disabled American Veterans is a strong advocate for those 

who have served our Nation and given more than most, and Commander Johnston does yeoman’s work on the behalf of the Nation’s 

disabled veterans. I have had the honor of sharing the stage with 

Mr. Johnston during veterans tributes in Ohio. His passion for our 

military veterans is clear. It is selfless and with great conviction. 

A 100 percent service-connected disabled veteran who served in 

the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars, Commander Johnston served 

and joined the U.S. Army in 1966, serving first as an enlisted soldier, and later as a commissioned officer. He retired at the rank 

of Colonel in 1992, and was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall 

of Fame in 2007, and is a life member of DAV chapter 63 in Williamsburg, Ohio. 

In our State of Ohio, and nationally, Commander Johnston has 

been elected to and held various management and leadership positions with the DAV and is active in various chapter and department VA voluntary service programs, culminating in his election as 

national commander last year. 

Fellow Members of Congress from the House and Senate, it is my 

honor to introduce National Commander Joe Johnston to present 

the DAV’s legislative agenda. 

Mr. JOHNSTON. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Welcome again, Commander, and you are now 

recognized for your testimony. 

STATEMENT OF JOSEPH W. JOHNSTON, NATIONAL COMMANDER, DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS, ACCOMPANIED 

BY JIM MARSZALEK, NATIONAL SERVICE DIRECTOR; JOSEPH A. VIOLANTE, NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR; 

GARRY J. AUGUSTINE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WASHINGTON 

HEADQUARTERS; J. MARC BURGESS, NATIONAL ADJUTANT; 

BARRY A. JESINOSKI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL 

HEADQUARTERS; RON B. MINTER, NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF 

VOLUNTARY SERVICE; AND SUSAN K. MILLER, NATIONAL 

COMMANDER, DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS AUXILIARY 

STATEMENT OF JOSEPH W. JOHNSTON 

Mr. JOHNSTON. Representative Wenstrup, friend, fellow warrior, 

thank you very much. 

Chairman Miller, Acting Ranking Member Heller, and Ranking 

Member Michaud, I want to thank you for convening today’s hearing and for your leadership in helping to fulfill the promises to the 

men and women who have served. 

Chairman Sanders has recently brought forth introducing Senate 

bill 1982 and that is indeed one of the most wide-ranging veterans 

bills ever brought forward. I would like to extend our sincere apVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:55 Mar 26, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Y:\87666.XXX PAT

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preciation to Chairman Sanders and all members of these committees on behalf of the more than 1.4 million members of DAV and 

its Auxiliary for the outstanding support that you have given our 

Nation’s injured and ill veterans and their families and survivors. 

We wish you all the best in your efforts through the rest of the 

113th Congress on behalf of America’s veterans, their families, and 

survivors. 

Allow me to introduce those seated at the table with me, as well 

as some distinguished guests. National Adjutant Marc Burgess; Executive Directors Barry Jesinoski and Garry Augustine; Service Director Jim Marszalek; Legislative Director Joe Violante; Voluntary 

Services Director Ron Minter; Auxiliary National Commander 

Susan Miller of Colorado; Auxiliary National Adjunct Judy Hezlep, 

DAV Senior Vice Commander Ron Hope of North Carolina; Junior 

Vice Commanders Moses McIntosh of Georgia; Dave Riley of Alabama; Delphine Metcalf-Foster of California; and Dennis Krulder of 

New York; National Judge Advocate Mike Dobmeier of North Dakota; Immediate Past National Commander Larry Polzin of California; National Chief of Staff Raymond Hutchinson of Ohio. And 

let me also introduce the love of my life, Vicky, and my son James, 

who is also a DAV member, and his wife Rhonda. 

One man who for the first time in decades is not at the table 

with us today is Art Wilson. He retired in 2013 after a 47-year career serving as DAV’s superbly effective Chief Executive Officer 

and National Adjutant. Art’s departure after such a long and distinguished term will clearly leave a void, but DAV has selected an 

able, experienced executive in Marc Burgess as our new CEO and 

National Adjutant. Will the DAV National Executive Committee 

please stand and be recognized. 

Will the members of the National Legislative Interim Committee 

also please stand? 

And I would also like to recognize the entire DAV delegation 

from my home State of Ohio. Please stand. 

I have already submitted for the record my written testimony detailing a number of concerns and ideas for your information and 

consideration, so I will use my time today to highlight a few of the 

most important issues facing veterans today. 

MESSRS. Chairmen, veterans stand with each other and support 

one another in combat. And long after the bullets cease to strike, 

we always rely on our warrior brothers and sisters, and I am hoping that every Member of Congress will also stand with us and for 

us each and every day of your respective terms. 

Since our founding, DAV has remained dedicated to fulfilling our 

promises to the men and women who served, their families, and 

survivors. DAV’s core mission is carried out through our chapter, 

department, transition, and national service officers. In all, DAV 

has nearly 3,000 service officers, including county veteran service 

officers who are credited by DAV. 

During 2013, DAV’s 276 National Service Officers interviewed 

over 187,000 veterans and their families, reviewed more than 

313,000 VA claims files, filed over 215,000 new claims for benefits, 

and participated in more than 272,000 VA rating board actions. In 

addition, our national appeals officers provided representation in 


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almost a third of the appeals decided before the Board of Veterans 

Appeals. 

Our transition service officers conducted some 1,400 briefings to 

groups separating service members, with 54,000 total participants 

in those sessions, counselled almost 31,000 persons in individual 

interviews, reviewed the military service treatment records of 

30,260 individuals, and submitted benefits applications for 19,000 

personnel to DAV NSOs for filing with the VA, and our mobile 

service officers traveled almost 90,000 miles last year to 833 cities 

and towns, and met with more than 20,000 veterans, and other potential claimants to offer our assistance. About 17,000 DAV and 

Auxiliary volunteers donated more than 1.8 million volunteer hours 

to assist America’s wounded, injured, and ill veterans every year, 

saving taxpayers over $40 million in cost. 

DAV’s national transportation network logged almost 26,000 

road miles and transported over 700,000 veterans to VA healthcare 

facilities. Nearly 9,000 volunteer drivers spent over 1.7 million 

hours transporting veterans. From 1987 to 2013, we had donated 

nearly 3,000 advance to the VA at a cost to the DAV of more than 

$57 million. 

MESSRS. Chairmen, and members of the Veterans Affairs’ Committee, let me thank those of you who joined us for a couple of 

hours ago in front of the Capitol at our press conference calling for 

advanced appropriation for all veterans programs, service, and benefits. We are also joined by members of many other veterans and 

military organizations, by all uniting with a message for Congress 

to pass The Putting Veterans Funding First Act. In addition, hundreds of DAV members and supporters have been visiting your offices. Thousands have been calling from back home, and over a million—that is over a million—have sent or heard or messaged 

through Facebook, Twitter, and the other social media, all calling 

on Congress to keep the promise by passing advance appropriations. 

Today, if you open up any of the Capitol Hill publications, you 

will see our full page ad and you can see them online at corresponding Web sites. You can also read the op ed in today’s Wall 

Street Journal that former VA Secretary Tony Principi and I coauthored, and another op ed in yesterday’s Washington Times that I 

wrote together with the national leaders from the VFW, and the 

American Legion. Together, our organizations represent more than 

5 million veterans. 

MESSRS. Chairmen, you and the other members of these committees know the importance of advanced appropriations judging by 

the overwhelming votes in favor of this legislation in both of your 

committees. 

Let me especially recognize Chairman Miller, and Congressman 

Michaud for sponsoring the legislation in the House, and Senators 

Begich and Boozman for sponsoring this legislation in the Senate. 

I also want to thank you, Chairman Sanders, who isn’t here, for 

getting behind this legislation and ensuring that Senate Bill 1982 

included VA’s mandatory benefits and for moving it through the 

committee. 

The government shutdown last October confirmed what has become increasingly clear. The Federal budget and appropriations 


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process is broken. Over the past 25 years the 4-year budget for the 

Department of Veterans Affairs has only been enacted by the start 

of the fiscal year only three times. In 2009, as a result of a grassroots advocacy effort by DAV and other VSOs, Congress passed and 

the President signed the Veterans Healthcare Budget Reform and 

Transparency Act that provides advanced appropriations for VA 

medical care programs. 

This past October, while many VA offices and services were shut 

during the shutdown, VA hospitals and clinics were able to provide 

uninterrupted health care. By contrast, claims processing to reduce 

the backlog was slowed, activities at National cemeteries were 

scaled back, and medical research projects were nearly suspended. 

When VA regional offices were shut down, many of our national 

service officers resorted to occupying temporary quarters, including 

tents, in order to continue helping veterans seeking their earned 

benefits. We at DAV determined that our free representation would 

not, and could not be interrupted. 

In the last year Veterans Day activities, a woman approached me 

to say how grateful she was to DAV for our efforts in helping during the government shutdown before VA ran out of funds for disability compensation. She and her husband’s only income was his 

monthly VA compensation. And as the shutdown lingered on, she 

told me with tears in her eyes, that they were terribly worried that 

they would not be able to buy food, gas, or pay their rent. 

As national commander of this tremendous organization, I was 

grateful for those kind words about DAV’s effective advocacy, but 

it concerned me greatly that she and her husband were forced to 

go through such a terrible ordeal given the sacrifice they had already made for this country. We should never again put a disabled 

veteran or his or her family in similar circumstances. 

This is why DAV’s Operation Keep the Promise has made advance appropriations for all VA funding accounts, including its 

mandatory disability payments to veterans, our highest legislative 

priority in 2014. 

MESSRS. Chairmen, advance appropriations is a common-sense 

approach to a long-standing problem and it has broad and bipartisan support in Congress and the veterans community, and by the 

American people at large. 

Now it is up to the leaders and Congress to bring this legislation 

up for votes in both the House and the Senate. It is time for Congress to keep the promise to American’s veterans. 

Of course, authorizing benefits for veterans, especially disabled 

veterans, without providing the systems to deliver those benefits in 

a timely, accurate, manner is a promise unfulfilled. For decades, 

VA’s benefits claims process has failed to meet that promise. 

Today, however, for the first time in years, some good news is coming from the VBA. After 4 years of comprehensive transformation 

that included implementation of new organizational and operating 

processes, new IT systems, and new training, testing, and quality 

control regimes, there is measurable progress in addressing the 

backlog of pending claims for a veteran’s benefits. 

Similarly, without the infrastructure to deliver services and benefits the promises made by our government will ring hollow. DAV 

believes one of the greatest challenges facing the VA and the enorVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:55 Mar 26, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Y:\87666.XXX PAT

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mous shortfall in funding for VA’s capital and infrastructure, according to VA’s own analysis, just to maintain its current infrastructure requires up to $64 billion over the next 10 years. But at 

current funding rates, VA will need more than 25 years to complete 

that work. In major construction alone, VA estimates say that 

there is an average of $2.3 billion is needed each year for the next 

decade, but this funding’s level was a pitiful $342 million. Our veterans deserve more than aging facilities that may soon be falling 

down around them. 

We need your support to increase funding for maintaining VA’s 

infrastructure needs to continue delivering the health care and 

benefits our Nation’s heroes have earned. 

MESSRS. Chairmen, family caregivers play an indispensable role 

as a part of VA’s long-term services and support systems. They provide the vast majority of the care for loved ones with chronic needs 

and functional limitations. As a result of legislation passed in 2010, 

VA provides essential caregiver services and support only to the 

newest generation of severely injured and wounded veterans. Family caregivers of veterans from earlier wars do not receive the same 

comprehensive support to fully address the burdens and strains of 

a lifetime of caregiving. DAV urges Congress to correct the inequity 

and extend this successful program to caregivers of all eras. 

In closing, I would like to point out to all of you that before you 

are men and women of honor. That means that they did whatever 

was needed to be done when our country called. And ladies and 

gentleman, you can still call on us any time that you need us and 

we would be proud to serve. That is why this country is never 

going to be overrun by an enemy force as long as we all draw 

breath. 

MESSRS. Chairmen, this completes my testimony, and my staff 

and I would be very pleased to respond to any questions that you 

may have. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to appear before you on behalf of the DAV and to share our proud record of 

service to veterans and our country. May God bless America’s Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines who are in 

harm’s way, and may God continue to bless the United States of 

America. 

Thank you. 

[THE PREPARED STATEMENT OF MR. JOHNSTON APPEARS IN THE

APPENDIX] 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much for your testimony, Commander. 

What I would like to do since the Senators may have to depart 

to go back to the Senate side for the debate that is on the floor, 

I would like to go ahead and yield to the chairman for any questions he may have in case he has to leave. Senator. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. Thank you, Chairman Miller. I very much 

appreciate that courtesy in yielding, and am very grateful for that 

very stirring and inspiring comment and testimony. 

I want to focus my brief couple of questions on the capital budget, the 10-year plan that as you very wisely and perceptively say 

can’t be accomplished in less than 25 years, which is a contradicVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:55 Mar 26, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Y:\87666.XXX PAT

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tion in terms, and really a betrayal of the promises that we do need 

to keep. 

And I want to ask you about the impacts, the human impacts, 

if you could tell us from your deep and vast experience of failing 

to fulfill that 10-year plan? 

Mr. JOHNSTON. Yes, sir. 

The impact is going to be even greater if we bring down the 

Army and the other services to pre-World War II levels. The VA 

is going to be inundated with new requests for claims and for new 

requests for healthcare services. 

And to have these infrastructure facilities falling down around 

folk’s ears, is absolutely the wrong thing to do. And we need to 

make sure that we get the appropriate amount of funds budgeted 

to cover these shortfalls that are certainly going to occur in the 

years to come. Simply because the war ends, does not mean that 

the necessity for VA services gets any less. It gets greater. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. In fact, perhaps you would agree with me 

that the contrary is true. As the wars end and as we downsize to 

levels of World War II and pre-World War II, the Army, for example, at 440,000 to 450,000, we are going to see a million men and 

women leave the military over the next 5 years. That statistic 

comes from the VA itself; in fact, from General Shinseki, a million 

men and women becoming veterans. Many of them afflicted, not 

only with highly visible wounds, but also the horrific invisible 

wounds of posttraumatic stress, and traumatic brain injury; 1 million men and women added to the ranks of our veterans. And they 

are the ones who will be impacted by this failure to fulfill the 10- 

year plan. 

In Connecticut, for example, we see the VA hospital in West 

Haven found wanting and failing in a number of critical areas by 

the IG, the Inspector General of the VA, in a recent report that has 

to be addressed through capital improvements as well as changes 

in procedures and practices. 

So I would agree with you very strongly, and really want to commend and thank you for the statement and the presence of so 

many of the Members who are here today so that we can fulfill that 

promise. Thank you very much. 

And I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for allow me to ask that 

question and in case I have to leave, I hope you will forgive me. 

Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Heller. 

Senator HELLER. Mr. Chairman, thank you. 

And again, Commander, thank you very much for your testimony 

and everybody that is here today. It is good to see you here. 

At 4:30 this afternoon, I have Secretary Shinseki coming into my 

office. I am going to ask him a lot of questions. I am going to ask 

him, obviously, about the veterans backlog issue, and progress, if 

any are being made; the issue of lack of communication between 

my office and the VARO in Reno. That will be another question 

that I am going to ask, and hopefully get a good answer for. But 

there are other questions that you might think that I should ask 

him. Are there any questions, if you were talking to Secretary 

Shinseki today, what question would that be, and I am going to 

take notes, and this is your chance to advocate. 


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Mr. JOHNSTON. Well, I wouldn’t presume, sir, to tell you what to 

ask the Secretary, although the Secretary is an Airborne Ranger 

like me, so he is my friend. And he has told me that he will reduce 

the backlog by 2015. 

But I would defer to members of my staff for any additional information that they want to share. 

Senator HELLER. Love to hear from them, yes. 

Mr. AUGUSTINE. Yes, thank you. 

We do believe that the VA is making progress on the backlog. We 

obviously feel that advanced appropriations is necessary, because 

every year there is a lapse between the start of the fiscal year and 

when the budget is finally approved. That causes all kinds of problems in training, in getting things accomplished, and in an efficient 

business manner. 

We would like the Secretary to support our efforts to get advance 

appropriations for the rest of the VA, and for our discretionary. He 

himself has indicated that it is very important for his IT budget 

and his construction budget to be received on time because of the 

problems associated with those two issues. So we would like to 

know if the Secretary will continue to advance or to support our 

advance appropriations. 

Senator HELLER. Very good. Anyone else? 

I certainly appreciate those comments, and they will be well 

heeded. 

One of the issues that comes up in my office, Commander, is the 

fully developed claims program. It is a new initiative by the VA office. Veterans who submit a fully developed claim are able to receive a decision under 125 days, and ensure that their claims do 

not become backlogged. I guess my question is: What more can 

Congress and the VA do to ensure that these veterans do fill out 

a fully developed claim? 

Mr. JOHNSTON. I would make just a general comment before I 

turn this over to my staff that we believe that the reduction of the 

backlog is a combination of a fully developed claim process, the 

DBQs, and then also accountability that is passed on to the review 

officers. And we think those three things are exactly the types of 

answers to not only reduce the claims, but to a manageable level, 

but then to reduce the backlog entirely. 

Senator HELLER. Let me, if I can ask a follow-up question. I 

know that the DAV works hard to encourage veterans you serve to 

file as complete a claim as possible. I also recognize that the veterans have the option to file any way they want; whether that is 

on that form, or perhaps on a paper napkin. Is that accurate, and 

can you explain to this committee why it is important that veterans 

still have the option to file a claim any way they want? 

Mr. JOHNSTON. I will defer that to the staff. 

Mr. MARSZALEK. Yes, thank you. 

I think it is important that veterans still have the opportunity 

to file a claim, whether it is on paper, on the standard 526EZ, or 

if they do it on a regular form. Currently, they can take the regular 

piece of paper, as many people refer to as a napkin, send it to the 

VA regional office, and the VA has a duty to send the claimant the 

correct appropriate form to be completed, and then they return it. 


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But that napkin starts to date the day they receive the claim. In 

VA’s proposal, they are recommending that you have to file it on 

that 526EZ in order for them to start the date. And that is what 

we don’t agree with. So it is very important that veterans still have 

the opportunity, because not everyone has easy access to those 

forms and not everyone can do it electronically either. 

So VA is still in the early stages of their transformation plan on 

filing claims electronically, so we feel it is important that we continue to allow them to submit claims on paper to protect their effective dates. 

Senator HELLER. Very good. Thank you. 

Mr. AUGUSTINE. And if I might add. 

Senator HELLER. Please. 

Mr. AUGUSTINE. You mentioned fully developed claims. In order 

to encourage people to develop their own claims, veterans, it is very 

important to have that process so that they can establish what is 

called an informal claim, and as Mr. Marszalek mentioned, protect 

that effective date so that they can then go out and develop the information that is needed to be a fully developed claim. That claim 

goes through the process much quicker. And without that protection on the effective date, they will not be motivated to go out and 

develop that evidence, and will leave it to the VA which causes the 

claim to have a lot longer development time. 

Senator HELLER. Mr. Chairman, thank you. I see my time is running out, but it has been a pleasure to participate in Operation 

Keep the Promise. 

Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Commander, in your written testimony, you 

talked about several initiatives that DAV finds that have had a 

positive effect on the backlog of disability claims, and one of those 

initiatives that DAV refers to is the quality control regimes or, as 

VA refers to them, quality review team, I don’t know if you or your 

team is aware, but despite this positive feedback, there was a 

memo that was sent out a week ago today basically saying that all 

quality review team work would be discontinued until further notice so that all hands could be on deck to continue processing 

claims. 

And what I would like to hear from you is the effect that a temporary elimination of these review teams may have on the Secretary’s goal of 95 percent accuracy within 125 days. Turning numbers out is one thing, but the accuracy is critical. Again, you may 

or may not be aware of it—Joe may be aware of it—but I would 

like to hear what you think the potential effects negative or positive could be. 

Mr. JOHNSTON. I will let the staff answer that question. 

Mr. MARSZALEK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Quality is our number one priority. It always has been. We were 

very supportive with the creation of the QRT teams. We are aware 

of this initiative. This goes through the end of March. It is important that VA makes the decision right the first time. That is the 

only way that we want it. We are going to monitor very closely over 

this next 40 days or so to see how it impacts. 

What we don’t want to see is this continue to happen. That was 

our concern in the beginning when the QRTs were created that 


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they would use these folks when the initiative came up. QRT teams 

are very important and we have been happy with the progress of 

the QRT teams locally there, being able to, you know, do some centralized training on particular issues that they are seeing at that 

local VA regional office. So again, we feel it is important that quality is a number one priority over quantity. 

The CHAIRMAN. Also in your written statement, you stated that 

the most important factor driving VBA’s productivity gains was undoubtedly the policy that was put into place of mandatory overtime 

for claims processing. I think that the overtime initiative has been 

helpful, without question, but it is not sustainable in the long term 

due to employee burnout and reduced accuracy rates. So indeed, 

the benefits program portion of the independent budget recommends that we provide sufficient resources to ensure adequate 

staffing levels at the VBA goes on to state that the VSOs recommended increase staffing levels instead of a sole reliance on 

mandatory overtime. 

So what I would like to hear is a further explanation of the independent budget rationale and the position that you—take, and the 

organizations took—regarding whether that hiring additional employees may prove more beneficial to VBA than overreliance on 

mandatory overtime. 

Mr. JOHNSTON. I would like to say just a few general words before I defer to staff for the specifics of that; but over the years, the 

independent budget has been the bellwether of the actual requirements for what was needed in the VA in the budget each year; and 

every time that that independent budget is ignored, it always results in additional appropriations having to be passed in order to 

meet the needs, so we do have confidence in our numbers. We have 

confidence in the quality of that product, and we certainly believe 

that you all should pay attention and heed it. So with that, I will 

defer to the staff. 

Mr. VIOLANTE. Mr. Chairman, I will respond to that and just say 

that in the independent budget, what we thought about was what 

happened several years ago when they brought on a core of temporary employees, trained them, put them into the workforce, and 

then through attrition either kept them on after the temporary period or let them go; and we felt that that provided VA, number one, 

with the resources, with sufficient trained employees, and also gave 

VA the opportunity to make a determination as to who was successful and who they can keep on. 

So we feel that overtime is nice, but after a while people do get 

burned out; and we would rather see, even if it is temporary in the 

beginning, a core of people coming on board to take care of the 

needs; and again, with automation and what VA is doing, the 

needs for the numbers that we have requested may go down over 

the years; and that gives VA the ability to then decrease their 

workforce when necessary and just keep those that are productive. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. My time is expired. Mr. Michaud. 

Mr. MICHAUD. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. In this 

year’s independent budget, you included a recommendation that 

VBA must develop a new metrics and assessment tool to measure 

the performance at every level of the claims processing system, 

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sources, requirements and allocations. Can you provide some examples of the performance measures you believe that should be instituted at VBA. 

Mr. JOHNSTON. I will defer that question to the staff. 

Mr. AUGUSTINE. Thank you. We firmly believe that there should 

be progressive metrics with benchmark compliance, transparency, 

so that we as VSOs can ensure that the VA are meeting their 

needs and making sure that it is more than just production goals 

but also quality goals; and we will continue to watch them closely 

and make them accountable for those benchmarks. 

Mr. MICHAUD. There is an old saying, if you can’t measure it, you 

can’t manage it. What part of the claims process, in your view, 

should be counted in order to be measured? Clearly you can get a 

lot of, you know, claims out the door, but the accuracy rate might 

be terrible; so what part of the claims process do you think should 

be measured? 

Mr. AUGUSTINE. There is no doubt that the VA’s making sure 

that everybody knows about their production metrics, so of course, 

we are very concerned about the quality of those claims that are 

being done. Now, the DAV, for all the claims that we represent, we 

take a look at those claims before they are promulgated to make 

sure that there are no mistakes and take them back to the VA before they are finalized. 

However, there are many veterans that are not represented, so 

it is very important to make sure that quality across the board is 

being done and that they do it right the first time. Having that 

said, that would also reduce the appeals because if they get it right 

the first time, then you are not going to have as many appeals. 

Mr. MICHAUD. Actually that is my next question. As you know, 

as they move down to lower the backlog, the amount of appeals are 

actually as concerning is actually going up. What are you recommending as far as, that we should do as far as the appeals process, 

because that is a huge concern as a backlog claim comes down, the 

appeals process is going higher. 

Mr. AUGUSTINE. There is no doubt appeals are even a longer time 

frame than the adjudication of regular claims. So the more we can 

do to fix it at the front end, and I believe that with FDCs, fully 

developed claims, those will help the appeal process. Not only will 

the evidence be there at the very beginning that they need to do 

it right the first time, the time frame for those claims are much 

shorter, and I believe veterans would be much more satisfied to get 

a claim in a matter of weeks as opposed to a matter of months or 

years, knowing that the evidence that they submitted, and also all 

the evidence was considered as opposed to starting a claim, getting 

an exam, and then not having the claim adjudicated until months 

later when the condition could change between the time they had 

their exam and the time they actually adjudicate the claim. 

Mr. MICHAUD. My last question, since my time is running out, 

is on advance appropriation, I have no doubt that that bill was 

brought to the floor, that H.R. 813, that it passed Congress overwhelmingly, probably unanimous. What are you doing as far as to 

get leadership to bring the bill to the House floor for a vote on it. 

Mr. VIOLANTE. Actually yesterday our department of Ohio had a 

meeting in the Speaker’s Office with his staff to discuss that fact 


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in bringing advanced appropriations forward. Today, along with 

Operation Keep the Promise, we had thousands of calls made into 

the Capitol Hill switchboard at the time that we were at the rally; 

so we hope that with those phone calls, with the emails that we 

will be generating today, and with the visits that our members are 

making, that they will get the message to bring that bill to the 

floor for a vote. 

Mr. MICHAUD. Thank you very much. And thank you very much, 

Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. Dr. Roe, you are recognized for five minutes. 

Mr. ROE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I got the message. 

I would like to take just a moment. Any Tennessee DAV if you 

would hold your hands up. I want to recognize you. Any of my Tennessee colleagues that are here. Commander, I want to thank you; 

and, Ms. Miller, thank you for your leadership for the DAV. And 

I want to just briefly tell you a very quick story about how much 

I appreciate why you are here. 

About a year and a half ago, a little over a year ago, I got to go 

back to Korea where I was stationed—and by the way, Colonel, my 

gig line is still straight, too, after 40 years. People that are civilians 

might not understand that. You do. 

I got a chance to go back to Korea, and I was there in 1973; and 

I saw a country that was digging its way out of a war. They were 

recovering from a devastating war that leveled that country from 

one end to the other. 

In 1960, that country had the fourth poorest economy in the 

world. Today because of what you men and women did and people 

like you, there are 50 million free people; and the leadership of 

that country said every time you get in front, Dr. Roe, of a group 

of veterans, you thank them for us. I am doing that today. You are 

seeing the largest Christian church in the world is in Seoul, Korea; 

and by the way, to all my Baptist friends out there, it is a Methodist church, where I go. It is a country that has the eighth or 

ninth largest economy in the world thanks to what the American 

people did. 

You saw what happened after World War II. I cannot thank you 

enough for what you have done and made us a free Nation, and 

I can never do enough for our veterans in this country. We have 

a VA hospital a mile from my front door in Johnson City, Tennessee, where I live; and you have my commitment. I wrote down 

your advanced appropriations. I couldn’t see why we wouldn’t do 

that. It makes absolute sense to do it. As a matter of fact, I think 

it makes absolute sense to do it with the whole budget we do here. 

Get it done in 1 year, and then refine it the 2nd year. The VA was 

a good start. It has worked. The veterans shows the way that advanced appropriations work. So I absolutely will support that. 

A frustration I have here is $1 billion we spent. That is a thousand million dollars. Last year about this time, we were in the Veterans’ Affairs Committee—the chairman remembers this very 

well—where we couldn’t have an integrated electronic health 

record where the VA and DoD can talk. We flushed $1 billion, and 

we still can’t make it work. That is something that I think—this 


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is my 6th year here. I cannot understand, in today’s technology, 

why a veteran, a service member, can’t leave and electronically 

transfer their records. It hasn’t been explained to me. We need to 

do that. We need to hold the VA accountable for that. 

I think the backlog of claims has been well-discussed. It is coming down. I salute the Secretary on that. He has a real commitment to that. The two things that I really am passionate about are 

homeless veterans. I think it is heartbreaking when you see a veteran that is sleeping under a bridge that honorably served this 

country; and had we had the HUD VASH vouchers, and that has 

come down. I will salute General Shinseki for that. He has been 

very, very good about that. We don’t have enough housing stock out 

there to put these veterans in. That is one of our problems at home 

we have got to work on, is a place to house homeless veterans and 

the people that go ahead and get these people back integrated into 

society. Sergeant Major Walsh and I co-chaired the Invisible 

Wounds Caucus. When you have more veterans dying of suicide 

than you do combat, something is wrong. We need programs. We 

need to look into that and find out what the causes are and put 

the resources behind preventing that. And we have so many veterans out there that are in need right now. That is one that really 

I certainly feel very passionate about. 

And I think the other one I have seen just at a local level is to 

bring the VA to the communities, the community outpatient clinics 

that we have. We just opened one up in Sevier County, Tennessee. 

It is going to have to be expanded in a year and a half. It was that 

successful. So I think I am going to encourage—John and I are 

having breakfast with the Secretary in the morning; so if you want 

to give us any other questions that Senator Heller didn’t get, we 

will be glad to take them in the morning. We have breakfast with 

the Secretary. 

I think the CBOCs are a tremendous success and a way to get 

to care instead of our elderly veterans having to drive miles and 

miles to care, have it in their own community. I will stop there, 

and again, just thank you for your service. I hear all of the claims 

I think we can support pretty much everything you have brought 

up today, Commander. Thank all of you have for your service. With 

that, I yield back. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Takano, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. TAKANO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Well, on behalf of, I 

think, the five Californians, the three of us here, myself, Congresswoman Gloria Negrete McLeod, and Congresswoman Julia 

Brownley, Paul Cook, who is not here, and also Dr. Raul Ruiz, and 

Mr. Denham; I am sorry. There is actually six of us, I guess. 

I would like to acknowledge the Californians in the room. So if 

you are here from California, please stand and let us know you are 

present. We make that trip back and forth between Washington 

and California, and we know what a journey you made, and we appreciate that you have come all that way to let us know your legislative agenda. And it is a great honor to serve on this committee 

and to do what we can. 

I represent Riverside County, which is the eighth largest veterans population in the country. I met with my veterans’ advisory 

council last week. They are doing tremendous work in my county 


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to reach out to homeless veterans to find out where they are living 

along the Santa Ana River and in different encampments in the 

Coachella Valley, just to get a count. And I am fully aligned, as I 

think all of us on this committee are fully aligned, with the Secretary’s goal of ending veterans’ homelessness. 

I have one question that I want to ask you, Commander. It is my 

understanding that the VA has published new regulations that establish presumptions for veterans living with severe traumatic 

brain injury who also have Parkinson’s disease, certain types of dementia, depression, unprovoked seizures or certain diseases of the 

hypothalamus and pituitary glands. 

Given these additional disabilities, A, is your organization aware 

of any planning or analysis that the VA has done that relates to 

the possible impact on the Veterans Administration’s backlog of 

claims. 

Mr. JOHNSTON. I defer that to the staff, sir. 

Mr. MARSZALEK. Thank you for the question. We are not aware 

of any planning that the VA has right now and how they are going 

to implement that, but we haven’t seen an overwhelming increase 

in claims at this time from that at this point. 

Mr. TAKANO. Because of that rule change, we are not seeing a 

tremendous impact as of now? 

Mr. MARSZALEK. Right. We haven’t seen a spike in the backlog. 

There hasn’t been any discussions about initiatives to address 

those particular conditions that were added as presumptive conditions. 

Mr. TAKANO. So we are not anticipating a spike, and organizationally, you feel that you are prepared as of now? 

Mr. MARSZALEK. Well, I am not sure if we anticipate a spike. The 

VA hasn’t discussed that they are going to segregate these particular claims and send them to a particular place; but we hope 

that if that does come to fruition with Veterans’ Benefit Management System, that they are able to electronically send those cases 

to regional offices that can handle the additional workload where 

it wouldn’t increase a spike in the backlog of claims that we already have pending. 

Mr. TAKANO. Very good. I don’t have any further questions. I will 

give my colleagues an opportunity to also ask questions, so I yield 

back my time, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. Dr. Wenstrup. 

Mr. WENSTRUP. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Believe me, I am so 

grateful to be here with you today. And I know we already had the 

opportunity to see so many delegates from Ohio, and I am proud 

to be from Ohio to see so many of you here today. And if anyone 

out there is somebody that I had the opportunity to lay my hands 

on in Iraq, I want to tell you it was my honor to take care of you. 

You know, we have a wall that exists unfortunately, and I see 

it more and more now that I am on this side of things, between 

the Department of Defense and the VA; and I know we are in the 

process of tearing that down. You know, we are one family. When 

you take that oath and you say I am going to serve this country, 

it should go right on through. There shouldn’t be this wall and this 

divide between the opportunities that exist to take care of our 

troops. The electronic medical record that Dr. Roe spoke about, to 


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me that is shameful, and it delays care, makes it more difficult to 

have a smooth flow of care. 

I do see some positive things. I was at Joint Base Lewis-McChord 

at Madigan last year. I see some startup programs where they are 

really starting to focus on transition at the time of ETS; and it 

makes sense to me that if you are disabled, or getting a medical 

separation, that your level of disability can be determined at that 

time and carry right over into the VA instead of having to go 

through these processes and having redundant services. 

There are other things that I see starting to take place, and that 

is guiding troops as they are leaving the military into being able 

to use the skills that they have learned in the military and translate them into civilian work and helping them get there, and guidance on the educational opportunities. And I do believe that you 

have the greatest opportunity when you have the troops still in 

uniform, that they are a more captive audience; and these are the 

types of things that we need to do to make your job easier and to 

tear down that wall between the two. 

You know, we endured in our medical practice, my private medical practice, where we had to change to an electronic medical 

record. It can be done. You just do it. You just do it. And then there 

is a seamless flow. 

Things are getting better. The opportunities are great. I really 

don’t have any questions of you today, except I want to thank you 

for all that you do. I know how active you are. I know how many 

people you help, and I know the challenge that comes with that; 

and I want to thank you for keeping your promise of service to this 

country. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Negrete McLeod, who is leaving us after one 

term of service in the Congress to go home. 

Mrs. Negrete McLeod. Well, thank you all for being here. Thank 

you for your service, and I won’t be redundant; but I want to thank 

the California delegation who is here. So the question I would like 

to say is, and since I have to be leaving, I am going to roll two 

questions into one. I will just add an ‘‘and.’’ 

What steps has DAV taken to conduct outreach specifically towards women veterans, and what could the VHA facilities do more 

effectively to integrate women’s health care programs into the rest 

of the health care centers? 

Mr. JOHNSTON. I am very proud to say, Madam Congresswoman, 

that we and the DAV lead all of the legacy VSOs on our women’s 

programs; and we are the co-sponsors of every meeting that has occurred with the VA in order to do that. The specific answers to 

your questions, I will now defer to the staff. 

Mr. AUGUSTINE. Thank you. In 2008, we began the Stand Up For 

Women Veterans Campaign and since that time have sponsored 

several films highlighting the military experience of women veterans such as LIONESS in Services: When Women Come Marching 

Home. This summer we plan to release a special report and sponsor another Capitol Hill event focused on women veterans transition issues and do a screening of the film, ‘‘Journey To Normal, 

Women of War Come Home’’? 

As with previous events, we plan to bring the women featured 

in the film to Washington and invite Members of Congress, their 


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staffs and VA and VOD officials to attend a panel discussion following the film screening. 

Our special edition, Women Veterans Magazine, was mailed to 

every VA medical center, and the screening of these films on Capitol Hill helped to inform and educate policymakers about the special needs of women veterans and resulted in legislation being 

passed to improve benefits and service for women. 

The DAV is also engaging this year on a special research project 

to look into the transitioning of women after deployment back into 

the civilian world, and what issues they may be dealing with different from men so that we can be aware of it, make the VA aware 

of it. 

Mrs. Negrete McLeod. Of course, there is lots of women that 

have already returned who are out there, and I know homelessness 

amongst women is a very large issue, and the places where they 

feel safe when they are homeless. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. Mr. Runyan, you are recognized for 

5 minutes. 

Mr. RUNYAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank each and 

every one of you for your service. I have checked the attendance 

list. There has got to be one or two, but there is no New Jerseyans 

on the list there. There is one. I know the rest, everybody’s coming 

down next week. It is not on the schedule here today, but thank 

you all for your service. 

It is rare that we have the panel of expertise from the DAV all 

sitting at one table at one time. Usually we are issue-specific on 

what we are talking about, and I know Mr. Violante, when we talk 

about metrics it kind of sets my hair on fire; and I don’t even know 

if you are the one to answer this question. I will direct it at the 

Commander, so he can maybe take a chop at it and hand it on 

down. 

When we talk about metrics, and Mr. Michaud kind of touched 

on it a little bit, it seems to me a lot of the time being where I am 

at, and I know it seems to many of our constituents and many of 

our veterans, it is almost that the VA is running to the next major 

crisis. Now, is it there to put out a fire, or is it a combination of 

putting out a fire and actually having a lack of actually personnel 

to address the crisis because it seems our attention that are drawn 

to metrics in the VA change monthly. 

I mean, it came up to now, fully developed claims are great, but 

now we have got an increase in appeals, so what is the flavor of 

the day? Are we actually accomplishing anything, or are we just 

playing a shell game, and I just want to throw that out for comment and any suggestions that we can pin them down to actually 

try to get a set sheet of measurements so we can actually judge the 

progress they are trying to make. 

Mr. JOHNSTON. We had a report from General Hickey yesterday 

that, indeed, there are some reduction in the claims backlog that 

even goes beyond what we knew of; but I would defer to the rest 

of the staff for the specifics of those questions. 

Mr. VIOLANTE. Mr. Runyan, it is one of the things that we raised 

in our testimony about the transparency and making sure that we 

can see the progression and how they are proposing it. Because you 

are right; we put out one fire, and that is the backlog, and someone 


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forgets about the fact that now that we have done all of those 

claims and decided them, what happens to them. And BVA gets 5 

percent of appeals from those that are filed, so that is one of the 

things we would like to see VA do a better job at, and that is giving 

us their metrics and how they are figuring this out and what they 

are looking at; and one of the issues that we have talked about in 

the independent budget again is, you know, VHA is able to determine what their needs are through a metric program, and VBA 

should be able to do the same. 

Mr. RUNYAN. Well, I appreciate that, because I sit up there and 

chairing the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial 

Affairs, it is a daily occurrence; and what problem are we going to 

tackle this week, and at the same time, the VA sits up here and 

says, well, it takes us two years to get anybody trained to do any 

of this anyway. 

Mr. AUGUSTINE. If I might, we do believe that the transformation 

to paperless process is the right thing to do. It is in its 4th year 

now, I believe. It is not an easy thing to transition a large bureaucracy like that into paperless processing. But we do believe that 

many of their initiatives are now coming on-line, and we are hoping that they are showing positive results and will start to help the 

process be much more quality effective from this point forward. 

Mr. RUNYAN. Well, thank you for that, and I will leave with this, 

dealing with advance appropriations, and I know I brought this up 

when Secretary Shinseki sat in front of us, it was literally within 

the first couple months of my first term 3 years ago; and I went 

to a CBOC in the District, a brand new expansion. They had the 

X-ray machine sitting there. They couldn’t install the X-ray machine because they didn’t have the IT budget to put the CAT 5 wire 

in the wall to hook up the computer that came with the X-ray machine. And that is the detail that we are talking about, and with 

that I yield back, Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Walz, you are recognized. 

Mr. WALZ. Thank you, Chairman Miller, and thank you, Commander, for your service and for continuing your service and to 

your family. No warrior deploys alone and know warrior comes 

home alone. There is a family and a broader community. 

Commander Miller, thank you. The importance of getting this 

right and the work you do can’t be understated. Minnesota delegation here, a couple of these folks hold a special place for me. I think 

our State adjutant, First Sergeant Whitehead is here. He and I 

served together in the same artillery unit, so I will speak up for 

you back there, Sergeant. And Dave Wenslow I think is here. Dave 

came to my office through a special project, Wounded Warriors. 

Dave, are you here somewhere? I ask that to make sure you are 

working. Thanks. It is good that he is here. So we are grateful, and 

to each of you, and no one comes to Capitol Hill with more credibility than this organization; and no one understands the importance of what you are doing—this goes beyond care of our wounded 

warriors, and it cuts to the heart of our democracy: What are our 

values? What are our commitments? What do we do as community? 

And what are we willing to do for those who understand a little 

bit about service to this Nation? 


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We understand now through technology and other things that 

less and less people serve in uniform. That is a good thing as all 

of you want to know is, because you know what comes with that 

service; but somebody’s still got to do it, and so the rest of the folks 

who aren’t doing it need to understand veterans, benefits aren’t a 

charity or a lottery. That is not the way this works, and they are 

not a secondary thing that you think about. 

We have to get this right. We have to get it right not only morally to do the right thing, we have to get it right because it cuts 

to the core of the Nation. What is the next generation looking at 

and getting right? So when you bring these things and you bring 

your credibility up here, it is broader than that. You hear that. It 

is healthy to have the debates up here. It is not healthy when veterans, as the Commander said, are put out there and their wellbeing is put at risk because we have political differences, because 

I can tell you it is healthy to have the differences. 

This thing about, oh, you people can’t get along and you have differences. Why can’t you agree? I feel like asking them, have you 

ever been married? Do you agree all the time? But you know what, 

you love your spouse dearly; but you have differences, but you find 

that commonality. I will tell you this: This chairman and these 

folks you heard speak, there is no one I would rather stand with 

than them. We don’t agree on all the issues, but we agree for care 

of our veterans. We agree on the basics of the democracy that need 

to get right. When you come here and bring these things up, it is 

critically important. I think it is hard to understand, and for many 

of you, I see familiar faces here. There is folks here, you didn’t only 

fight this Nation’s wars, you came back and have been fighting for 

these things for decades. 

Now, there is a tendency to be a frustration that, damn it, why 

do we have to fight? You are right. Some of these things shouldn’t 

have to be, but democracy is always, has to keep growing, has to 

keep coming; we have to keep at it. It is not going to run itself, 

but we shouldn’t have to put up with the nonsense of not having 

the funding there when it is needed, fighting whether we were injured and how that injury came about, and how do we get the care, 

because no one in my district or any of these folks’ districts tells 

me, you know what you guys need to do, you need to cut the budget 

by making sure veterans don’t get the care they need. I have never 

heard anyone say that. And they say lots of things to me, good and 

bad. That is not one they say. 

And so Keeping the Promise, nothing should be easier than keeping that promise. Every person in America wants us to keep that 

promise. And here’s what you need to know. The folks that are sitting up here, and I have just two short questions I am going to ask, 

but I think it is important for you to understand and you who come 

out here. There are literally millions of folks who they are working 

today. They have got families. They couldn’t come out. You sacrificed. You took your time, your money; you came out here. These 

folks who are out here on Capitol Hill, they are the best at what 

they are doing. 

And I can tell you what; many things that get done here, they 

don’t get done because of political malice or anything like that. 

They get done out of ignorance because people just don’t know. 


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Somebody needs to explain how this works. Somebody needs to 

know how to get this right. And what you understand is in this 

country right now. President Kennedy was right about this one. 

You can either curse the darkness or you can light the damn candle. So come here and light the candle. Make people light the candle. There is a lot of people are connoisseurs of cursing the darkness. Well, find a solution. Bring it forward. So your advanced appropriations, that is a candle. Get it done. Get it lit. Get it fixed. 

It is not that difficult. Move it forward. 

I am just going to ask one thing of this group. How we can together help this. I don’t know if any of you this weekend, this Senator Boozman was part of a little documentary that was done on 

Jason Ehrhart and his family. Jason was blown up in Iraq, and he 

came back home; and the VA, as we did this with the Camp 

Lejeune bill, put in there and said you know what, through new 

technology, it is not good enough just to get these guys in wheelchairs. It is not good enough to find the newest prosthetic. Because 

the new—and there are folks here sitting are living testimony to 

this—we don’t know what the limits of your rehabilitation are, so 

let’s get it there. 

And then we also promised and said if your parents or your 

spouse are taking care of them, we are going to help do that, because you know what, they may be your son, but they are our warrior. So you are giving the love. You are doing that. I am out of 

time. 

I am out of time, but what I am telling you is Jason and his parents, Mike and Pam are telling me, it is not happening the way we 

intended it to happen. They are paying out of pocket for those 

types of things. We have got to figure out how to do better because 

this kid, this 23-year-old kid summed it up best. He said what kind 

of person wants to be told they plateaued. What kind of man wants 

to be told he plateaued? He said, I am not plateauing. I want to 

ski again. I want to go do these things again. That is the call to 

action to us. That is the candle we need to light. I just would hope 

we come back to figure out how we ask for that implementation. 

Thank you for indulging me, Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Now you know why we call him Commander, 

Sergeant and Major; He is the highest-ranking enlisted soldier ever 

to serve in the United States Congress. 

Ms. Brownley, you are recognized. 

Ms. BROWNLEY. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I, too, want to welcome everyone who is here from the great State of California. 

Thank you for travelling here, and thank you for what you do every 

single day for our veterans in California. My hat is off to you; and 

thank you, Commander Johnston, for your testimony today and 

your very detailed written testimony that has been offered to us. 

I think this is an excellent document for us to hold on to and a document that we can refer to often to make sure that we are fulfilling 

our responsibilities, not only that we are providing the services our 

veterans need, but our oversight responsibilities as well. 

So thank you for that. And you described the men and women 

in this room as men and women of honor, and I just want to tell 

you, I concur wholeheartedly that every man and woman in this 

room are men and women of honor; and every man and woman 


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who have served our country are men and women of honor, and I 

want to express my deep gratitude to them. 

I wanted to follow up on Congresswoman Negrete McLeod’s questioning with regards to our female disabled veterans and female 

veterans in general, and I am very excited to hear about what is 

coming forward this year. I will look forward to the film screening 

and look forward to the hearing. If there is anything I can do to 

be helpful in that process, I would be delighted to offer a helping 

hand. 

I want to know if we will get to a place where we actually have, 

what are the very specific things we need to do for our women veterans and then our ability to create the metrics that we have been 

talking about today and the transparency to have the metrics that 

we need for us to oversee and to make sure that we are providing 

everything we need for our female veterans. 

Mr. JOHNSTON. I will defer to the staff. 

Mr. AUGUSTINE. Yes. Thank you. Over the last several years, the 

VA researchers have been evaluating the VA’s current health care 

delivery model for women veterans. As you know, the population 

of women using the VA system has doubled over the last 5 years. 

We are pleased that one of the VA Secretary’s highest goals is to 

ensure that all women veterans have access to high quality health 

care from a provider proficient in women’s health at all VA facilities. Although there is still work to be done to fully achieve this 

goal, we believe VA is heading in the right direction. We especially 

want to be sure that women veterans have access to all VA special 

programs and services. 

Ms. BROWNLEY. Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. And last week, 

this committee, Subcommittee on Health, Dr. Benishek and myself, 

held a subcommittee hearing actually in my district in Ventura 

County in California, to discuss access to traditional and alternative mental health care. We learned a lot in that hearing. In my 

county, in Ventura County, there is up to a 44-day wait period to 

get any kind of mental health care services, which is way too long. 

Intake for mental health services, our veterans in Ventura County have to travel into Los Angeles County to just do the intake for 

their services. We don’t have enough mental health providers to 

meet the needs in our county, so I am looking forward to being able 

to resolve some of those issues. 

But we did spend a great deal of time also talking about alternative mental health options, and I understand that the DAV hosts 

a Miracle on the Mountainside event, and it sounds like a really 

wonderful event; and I am curious to know, from your perspective, 

are there other alternative forms of therapy that the DAV has 

found to improve psychological well-being of veterans who are suffering from post-traumatic stress? 

Mr. JOHNSTON. I serve as the chief operating officer in my fulltime job of the largest mental health agency in Cincinnati. Yes, 

there are many things that are done. There are many things that 

the DAV funds that are alternative therapies through our charitable service program, and staff can tell you what some of those 

are; but it can be swimming with dolphins. It can be horseback 

riding. It can be something as simple as growing a garden; and all 

of those things are important to people that are reaching out beVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:55 Mar 26, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Y:\87666.XXX PAT

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cause they have a mental illness, albeit depression or severe mental illness; and so the normalization of their lives is an important 

function of that, and we believe that, and we do what we can do 

to fund those types of programs, and I defer to the staff for other 

answers. 

Mr. AUGUSTINE. And we agree that alternative therapies are 

very important. Even meditation now is becoming more and more 

known as a way to deal with those type of issues. We are very 

pleased that the VA is now starting to look at some alternative 

therapies. They are not just stuck in their traditional therapy mode 

anymore. They are considering other types of therapies. Recently 

they just hired, I believe, 900 peer-to-peer counselors that we are 

very excited to see the results of that initiative. So we do believe 

they are starting to understand the need for alternative therapies. 

Ms. BROWNLEY. Thank you, sir. And thank you, Mr. Chair, for 

your indulgence. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Ms. Brownley. Thank you members 

for hanging in there. Commander, we appreciate your testimony. 

Again to each and every one of you that have made the trip to your 

Nation’s Capital: We thank you. We thank you for what you have 

done for this country. We thank you for what you continue to do 

for this country. 

I would ask that all members would have five legislative days 

with which to revise and extend their remarks or add any extraneous materials. Without objection, so ordered; and with that, 

Commander, this hearing is adjourned. 

Mr. JOHNSTON. Thank you, sir. 

[Whereupon, at 3:39 p.m., the committees were adjourned.] 

f 

APPENDIX 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MICHAEL MICHAUD, RANKING MINORITY MEMBER

Good Morning, Commander Johnson. Thank you and all the 

members of DAV and the Auxiliary for your service. We also thank 

you for your continued dedication to our nation’s veterans. 

I want to take this opportunity to welcome those of you in the 

audience from Maine. The sons and daughters of Maine have a history of service to our Nation, and I am glad to see you continuing 

that tradition. 

DAV and other veterans’ groups are active and valued partners 

to us in Congress as we work to keep our promise to America’s veterans. I want to thank you for your work on advocating the passage and enactment of H.R. 813, the Putting Veterans Funding 

First Act. We have seen how well advance appropriations work for 

VA medical care. It is time that the rest of VA’s discretionary budget be treated the same. We owe it to America’s veterans to provide 

certain and stable VA budgets. 

The VA is pursuing a wide range of initiatives, from new methods of health care delivery to electronic benefits management. 

These investments will help bring the Department into the 21st 

century. Working with you and the VA, we will make sure that 


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these initiatives are implemented fairly, transparently, and in the 

best interest of veterans and taxpayers. 

Making sure that the VA can meet the challenges of the 21st 

century is the job of all of us. I know that DAV, your members 

across the country, and your staff here in Washington are ready 

and eager for the challenge. 

I look forward to your testimony today, and again thank you for 

DAV’s long history of distinguished service, in and out of uniform. 

Thank you Mr. Chairman and I yield back the balance of my 

time. 

f 

STATEMENT OF JOSEPH W. JOHNSTON 

DAV NATIONAL COMMANDER BEFORE THE COMMITTEES ON VETERANS’ 

AFFAIRS U.S. SENATE AND U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, DC, FEBRUARY 25, 2014 

MESSRS. Chairmen and Members of the Committees on Veterans’ 

Affairs: 

It is indeed an honor and a privilege to appear before you today 

to present the legislative and policy recommendations of DAV (Disabled American Veterans) for the coming year, and to report to you 

our accomplishments for wounded, injured and ill veterans as an 

organization over the past year. 

Before I report our work to the Committees and make our legislative recommendations, I want to take a moment to inform all 

Members of the Committees that DAV has transitioned into a new 

era in our professional leadership. Our superbly effective Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and National Adjutant, Arthur Wilson, retired in 2013 after a 47-year career in DAV. Art’s departure after 

such a long and productive term will clearly leave a void, but DAV 

has selected an able, experienced executive in J. Marc Burgess, as 

our new CEO and National Adjutant. Marc is a distinguished Navy 

veteran, who has held increasingly responsible positions in DAV for 

over 20 years, including most recently serving as Executive Director of our National Headquarters in Cold Spring, Kentucky. We 

also have seasoned leadership in our Washington office in the person of Garry Augustine, our new Executive Director. Garry, an 

Army Vietnam combat veteran, rose to this position after a long career in DAV, including serving as our National Service Director. 

Jim Marszalek, a Gulf War-era Marine, has assumed the National 

Service Director position. Last but certainly not least, Barry 

Jesinoski, also a Gulf War-era Marine, has returned from our 

Washington office to lead our National Headquarters as Executive 

Director there. DAV is thrilled to have these experienced hands 

now commanding our professional activities in Cold Spring and 

Washington, D.C. 

At the outset of my statement, I want to thank Members of these 

Committees on behalf of the more than 1.4 million members of 

DAV and our valued Auxiliary for the steadfast support Congress 

has given to wounded, injured, and ill veterans and their families 

and survivors. 

As I sit here before these august bodies today, I am reminded of, 

and humbled by, how important your work truly is. Your efforts 


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are important because the people have elected you to the House 

and Senate to represent them across a vast sea of crucial national 

responsibilities, to govern them with care, and to protect them from 

harm in its many forms, so they can live their lives in peace. Our 

DAV mission is important because the members of DAV have elected us to represent their interests to ensure that their brother and 

sister veterans, injured or made ill in war by virtue of decisions 

you and your forbears made in this Capitol, see their needs met 

afterward by a caring and grateful nation. These responsibilities 

are not mutually exclusive, but are interconnected. My testimony 

today is intended to help you understand this relationship, and 

perhaps give you information showing how DAV brings hope and, 

most important, services to millions of our fellow veterans, without 

any financial support from our government other than in-kind services authorized by law. We rely on the benevolence and generosity 

of the American people for the funds that support our work on behalf of wounded, injured, and ill veterans. However, DAV and others look to you and the government to bring that same hope, and 

restore that same prospect to these veterans. Only by working together can we make these veterans feel whole again and achieve 

our mutual goal. 

Members of the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, the group before you came into this hearing, in this beautiful and historic Cannon Caucus Room, after a public rally we conducted at noon today 

in view of the Capitol dome as part of DAV’s Operation: Keep the 

Promise. At that rally we heard the stirring words of distinguished 

veterans and guests, who laid out a challenge before Congress, and 

to the American People, to keep the promise made to veterans— 

and particularly to those who paid a high price in military service 

to our Nation. We were joined by thousands of veterans and fellow 

Americans online, who are lending their voices to our call to action. 

Operation: Keep the Promise is focused on ensuring that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is afforded sufficient, timely, and 

predictable funding in advance for all its budgetary accounts, to enable it to carry out your expressed intent, as made so eloquent by 

Lincoln’s words, ‘‘...to care for him who shall have borne the battle, 

and for his widow and his orphan.’’ To do this, VA needs a sufficient, predictable, stable budget, approved by Congress and the 

President on time every year. 

Each of you knows, for different reasons perhaps, that Congress 

and the Administration, in the current political climate, cannot 

seem to agree on how to fund the operations of government. In fact 

for 22 of the past 25 years, the government’s budget was not approved by Congress and the President by the start of the new fiscal 

year on October 1. The VA, like every agency, thereby was stranded in budget limbo, waiting out the day when Congress and the Administration have finally agreed to an acceptable funding level. The 

VA to my knowledge has never been the reason for any of these 

stalemates, but VA and the veterans it serves were caught nevertheless in the same snare. Over the years, this paralysis created 

no end to the problems of running an efficient medical care and 

benefits system, a complex labyrinth of programs and services designed to help veterans repatriate, heal, rehabilitate, educate themselves, and to compensate them for their wounds and injuries, so 


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they might reemerge fully prepared to resume their civilian roles 

in American society. 

After a protracted struggle, in 2009 we solved one key part of 

this problem through Congressional enactment of advance appropriations for VA medical care. This law was a godsend to six million veterans and to VA itself, and I’ll tell you why with a very 

practical example. Advance appropriations proved their worth in 

last October’s government shutdown. While nearly every other 

agency in the civil service was thrown into shutdown status and 

chaos for 16 long days, and most of their employees were sitting 

at home in worry, and a plethora of federal services lapsed, VA 

health care facilities and all their employees and staff continued 

normal operations, caring for hundreds of thousands of injured, 

wounded, and ill veterans as if no shutdown was underway at all. 

Other important VA programs, however, suffered through the shutdown, then reduced, and nearly eliminated, vital services to veterans—because, simply put, they began to run out of money. DAV 

resorted to occupying temporary quarters, including tents, when 

VA regional offices were shut down. We were determined that 

DAV’s free representational services to veterans would not, and 

could not, be interrupted, despite veterans being locked out of our 

offices at VA benefits locations. Another real fear that fortunately 

did not come to pass was whether veterans’ disability compensation 

checks would arrive on time in November. We were informed, if the 

shutdown continued, that funds would not be available for disability checks or other VA financial benefits, such as survivors’ 

compensation and vocational rehabilitation benefits. 

Additional VA Accounts Should Be Advance—Appropriated 

We believe Congress should expand the advance appropriations 

umbrella to protect VA’s remaining accounts. For example, although VA medical appropriations may provide assurance that a 

new outpatient clinic can open without delays, the fact that VA’s 

information technology (IT) funding is still provided through the 

stymied regular appropriations process means that computers or 

other IT systems (such as radiology and laboratory equipment) on 

which health care crucially relies, might not be provided until Congress completes work on the regular appropriations acts, delaying 

the clinic opening by weeks or even months. Similarly, funding for 

VA’s Medical and Prosthetic Research program directly contributes 

to excellent clinical care of veterans, and supports VA’s affiliation 

relationships with more than 100 schools of medicine and other 

health professions, but it is funded apart from advance appropriations and subject to the same paralysis affecting VA’s other regular 

appropriations. VA was on the verge of halting thousands of ongoing research projects when the shutdown ended. Moreover, the 

funding for VA construction accounts, providing VA capital infrastructure and large investments in facilities improvements, would 

also be more efficient and cost effective if it were provided through 

advance appropriations. Stopping construction projects because of 

an unrelated budget crisis only leads to more delay and higher 

costs for VA. Finally, the Veterans Benefits Administration’s ability 

to address the backlog of pending claims and transform itself into 


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a modern 21st century organization is being hindered by now-predictable annual budget stalemates and seemingly endless continuing resolutions. Given the universally recognized success of advance appropriations in VA health care, Congress should determine 

whether some or all of the other VA appropriations accounts should 

be managed through advance appropriations so that veterans and 

their families and survivors are not forced to sacrifice yet again, 

and needlessly. 

Members of these Committees, during last year’s Veterans Day 

activities, I attended a ceremony commemorating the Traveling 

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, a national tribute to Vietnam 

veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifice in that unpopular war, a 

war in which I and many members beside and behind me, in this 

historic room, served. When the ceremony ended and the crowd 

was dispersing, a woman from the audience approached me to say 

how grateful she and her husband were to DAV for our strong advocacy and unflagging efforts in helping to end the government 

shutdown mere days before VA ran out of funds to support the payment of disability compensation. She explained to me that she and 

her husband’s only income due to his disability and her personal 

care giving of him is his monthly VA compensation. As the shutdown lingered day after day, she told me, with tears in her eyes, 

they had worried terribly that without that VA payment on November 1, they wouldn’t be able to buy food, gas, or pay their rent. As 

National Commander of this tremendous organization, I was grateful to her for her kind words about DAV’s effective advocacy, but 

it concerned me greatly that she and her husband were forced to 

go through such a terrible ordeal, given the sacrifice they had already made for this country. 

We should never again put a disabled veteran or his or her family in such a situation. This is why DAV’s Operation: Keep the 

Promise intends to make advance appropriations for all VA funding 

accounts, including its mandatory disability payments to veterans, 

our highest legislative priority in 2014. Thousands of DAV members and supporters from all over this nation are sending social 

networking, email, and telephonic messages today to your offices 

and those of every Senator and House Member. Today, when you 

pick up and browse your Roll Call, Politico, National Journal Daily, 

or The Hill, you’ll see our Operation: Keep the Promise message 

prominently displayed. DAV launched this one-day intense campaign because we are serious and dedicated to this goal, and I assure you this testimony will not be the last time you hear about 

this urgent need. This is not a partisan issue; not a Democratic or 

Republican issue; it’s a veteran issue, and as National Commander 

of DAV, I want all of you to join me and everyone else in this room, 

and our 1.4 million DAV and Auxiliary members, in making it your 

highest priority as well. If solving this particular problem for 

wounded, injured, and ill veterans is not a high priority for your 

Committees, Congress in general, and the Administration in this 

New Year, please tell me what is. Bills to make this a reality are 

pending in both Congressional chambers; DAV urges you to pass 

the Putting Veterans Funding First Act as a top priority for 2014. 

VA Health Care 


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MESSRS. Chairmen, let me turn my attention to the VA health 

care system and what it means for members of DAV. 

As you well know, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is 

the largest direct provider of basic and specialized health care services in the nation with a core mission of providing comprehensive 

veteran-centered health care. Across the nation, VA is a model 

health care provider that has led the way in various areas of biomedical research, specialized services, graduate medical education 

and training for all health professions, and the use of technology 

to improve health care. VA’s specialized programs and treatment 

for war-related polytrauma; traumatic brain injury (TBI); prosthetics and orthotics for traumatic limb loss and other trauma injuries; spinal cord injury and dysfunction; blind rehabilitation; posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); and post-deployment mental 

health are essential elements to rehabilitate and provide comfort to 

wounded, injured, and ill veterans and their families. Such quality 

and expertise on veteran-specific health needs cannot be adequately replicated in the private sector. Many DAV members rely 

solely on the veterans’ health care system for lifelong care; thus, 

the Department must continue its legacy of excellence with sufficient funds and other resources to meet the ongoing specialized 

needs of wartime veterans. 

MESSRS. Chairmen, DAV and the veterans we represent are 

grateful for the resources that Congress and your Committees have 

provided to the VA health care system. For more than a decade 

during our two overseas wars, VA has received substantial annual 

funding increases for its health care programs. Also, DAV acknowledges the Committees’ continued oversight and dedication in working to improve the system and ensuring that resources Congress 

provides are spent wisely and concentrated on direct patient care 

and other services. We fully support these efforts and want to assist you in ensuring a sustainable system for veterans who need 

VA now and in the future. We encourage the Committees to continue the vigorous oversight of VA to ensure that its mission is 

properly carried out to care for this nation’s veterans, their families 

and survivors. We concur with you, Messrs. Chairmen, that VHA 

must be more transparent, responsive, and accountable to Congress 

and to the veterans it serves. DAV is committed to working with 

Committee members and staff, to report our concerns as they arise, 

and to work to find viable solutions so veterans may be better 

served. 

Members of the Committees, since the beginning of the military 

conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, 2.6 million individuals have 

served or are still serving in these war zones. More than 6,775 

have died from wounds, illnesses, or accidents, and hundreds of 

thousands have been injured, wounded in action, or became seriously ill while serving. Of the more than 1.7 million service members who have left active duty and are now veterans, about one 

million have sought and obtained VA health care in some form. We 

must make caring for those who have served our nation and its 

citizens an unwavering priority. 

In addition to the previous generations of wartime veterans currently receiving VA benefits and health care, VA must make continued efforts to absorb the influx of new veterans streaming into 


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the system while maintaining a high level of baseline services for 

all enrollees. War veterans must have ready access to primary and 

specialty health care services and programs, post-deployment mental health services, cutting-edge treatments for TBI, high-quality 

prosthetic items, and a comprehensive array of ancillary health 

services needed to recover and successfully rehabilitate from warrelated injuries and illnesses. As you might imagine, this is an expensive proposition, but its value to these veterans, and to the nation, is well worth the cost in our estimation. 

Additionally, given the significant increase in the number of 

women who are now seeking VA benefits and health care in unprecedented numbers following wartime service, VHA must be prepared to address their unique post-deployment and health maintenance needs. According to VA, women are the fastest growing segment of new VA health care users. Increased outreach efforts to enroll returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in 

more than 50 percent of eligible veterans enrolling and using VA 

services. In fact, the number of women in VA care has doubled over 

the past 10 years and is projected to be 10 percent or more of the 

total patient population by 2018. The shifting age demographic of 

younger women veterans enrolling in VA health care over the past 

decade portends implications for both policy and clinical practice in 

the VA health care system. VA must continue to increase capacity 

in women’s clinical services and ensure that VA health professionals are properly trained and skilled in women’s health. Additionally, since more than half of women veterans under VA care 

are service-disabled, the Department must reallocate resources and 

ramp up clinical training for these high-priority VA beneficiaries 

with age-appropriate, lifelong specialized care. 

Another group of people who deserve unwavering support by 

Congress and the American people are family caregivers of severely 

injured or ill veterans of all military service periods. Only with the 

help of their caregivers are many of these severely wounded, ill, 

and injured veterans able to remain out of institutions, reintegrate 

into their communities, and achieve their highest levels of recovery 

and quality of life. Family caregivers are critical members of a veteran’s health care team—these are unsung American heroes who 

often sacrifice their own health, well-being, employment, educational and other goals, to care for their loved ones, our nation’s 

true heroes, such as the wife of the Vietnam veteran I met at the 

traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. DAV believes it is only 

proper that family caregivers be recognized for their decades of sacrifices and dedication, and receive the support and assistance they 

need to fulfill their vital role. 

We are pleased that Congress enacted Public Law 111–163, the 

Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010, authorizing VA to provide comprehensive support and services to 

caregivers. Some 10,000 families are covered by these new VA services, while a much larger group of families carrying the same burdens receives only partial VA support or none at all. As one of 

DAV’s priorities, we call on Congress to continue the work it began 

and address this inequity by extending equal benefits and services 

to family caregivers of veterans of all military service periods. The 

particular calendar date on which an injury or illness occurred 


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should not be a reason for legislation to discriminate against one 

group of veterans to favor another. They are all equal in our eyes, 

and equally deserving of your support and the support of the nation. 

Wartime service members, like many generations of veterans, 

chose military service to protect freedoms at home, advance the liberty of strangers in foreign lands, and to keep our nation safe and 

strong. At the behest of government these men and women serve 

and make great sacrifices, as do their families. For some, the sacrifices are devastating and life-altering; for others, life-ending. The 

men and women of DAV remain steadfast in our fight to ensure 

that our government fulfills its promises to all veterans who depend on VA’s health care system, and for those who will need the 

system in the future. We acknowledge it is not a system absent any 

flaws, but we want your Committees and every Member of Congress to understand that VA health care remains a vital resource 

for veterans, especially wartime wounded, injured, and ill veterans, 

and we believe VA must be protected, preserved, and enhanced. It 

is our responsibility, with your help and that of the Administration, 

to ensure VA is properly maintained and modernized to deal with 

the needs of veterans of all generations, including those returning 

from our current wars. Especially in recent years, VHA has received its share of criticism and been held publically accountable 

for its errors and lapses; however, VA health care also has been 

cited by numerous independent reviewers as outperforming every 

other health care system in America, in quality of care, cost, patient satisfaction, and safety. 

MESSRS. Chairmen, 10 years ago DAV commissioned a private 

firm to conduct a nationwide survey of DAV members to gauge 

their perceptions of VA quality, satisfaction, access, and safety 

from the perspective of our members, who regularly and intensively 

use VA health care services. We believed then, as we do now, that 

our members might offer a very useful set of responses, because 

they are regular patients, with high priority for care. When the report of that survey was completed, we were pleased, with rare exception, that our members were highly satisfied with VA across a 

series of important questions relating to their care. The primary 

negative responses we received then dealt with access matters and 

waiting times, but our members solidly appreciated the quality of 

VA services they received. 

Based partially on the oversight discoveries of the House Committee under Chairman Miller over the past two years, DAV is considering conducting a new survey in 2014 of our members on many 

of these same questions. We are anxious to know from veterans of 

all ages wounded, injured or ill from wartime service whether VA 

across the nation is meeting their needs now, and whether they 

perceive VA in ways similar to our members’ reports in 2004. We 

will provide both Committees the results of our new survey once 

it is completed. 

Many challenges lie ahead for VA in the decades to come, including rising long-term care needs of World War II and Korean War 

veterans; an aging Vietnam-era population with rising morbidities; 

and the long-term physical and mental health care needs of veterans of the Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. BarVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:55 Mar 26, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Y:\87666.XXX PAT

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riers to care and delays in the delivery of essential benefits and 

services must be minimized, and basic and specialized VA services 

must be provided, when and where veterans need them. 

VA Capital Infrastructure Lacks Investment 

Members of the Committees, DAV believes one of VA’s greatest 

single challenges, and one that is both directly and indirectly related to a number of oversight matters you have uncovered over 

the past two years, is the enormous gap that has grown unabated 

in VA capital infrastructure. VA’s FY 2014 appropriation for major 

and minor construction is a mere $1.1 billion, contrasted with the 

Independent Budget recommended level of $2.6 billion. For FY 

2015, the Independent Budget is recommending $3.9 billion for all 

VA infrastructure programs, $2.7 billion more than the FY 2014 

appropriated level. Our request was based directly on VA’s own 

analysis and estimates of its capital needs. This has been an annual recurring pattern: VA identifies billions in needed new facilities, renovations and various capital improvements. Through the 

budget formulation process, however, VA’s request is reduced to a 

small fraction of the funds needed. These unaddressed needs simply pile up. 

VA’s latest estimate in its so-called ‘‘10-year plan’’ calls for more 

than up to $64 billion in infrastructure investments. As we have 

indicated in the Independent Budget, at current funding rates, VA 

will need more than 25 years to complete its current 10-year plan, 

a ridiculous proposition. Although Congress has funded new VA 

major medical facilities in recent years in Las Vegas, Denver, Orlando, and New Orleans, the vast majority of existing VA medical 

centers and associated buildings are more than 60 years old and 

badly in need of renovations, upgrades to building systems, and numerous total replacements. Aging facilities create an increased financial burden on VA’s maintenance requirements and routine 

operational costs, and we believe they also affect quality of care. 

Unless Congress approves additional capital funding, there is a 

real risk that VA’s declining infrastructure will diminish the care 

and services VA can provide to wounded, injured, and ill veterans. 

We have not seen any media discuss the situation that occurred 

with the outbreak of Legionella at the Pittsburgh VA medical center in the context that the major building systems and the buildings themselves are more than 60 years of age, but we must wonder if some connection between those decrepit water systems within the facilities could be related to the outbreak. Would Legionella 

have occurred in a new VA facility, with new piping, venting, and 

cooling towers? 

Not only does aging infrastructure affect health care delivery, 

but also it challenges VA’s academic mission, including its significant clinical and biomedical research program. VHA conducts 

world-class and veteran-focused research in basic sciences, 

genomics, rehabilitation, prosthetics development, clinical trials, 

and health services. The existence of a robust research program 

has enabled VA to become one of the highest quality health care 

systems in the world. Also, VA researchers have been awarded 

three Nobel Prizes in immunoassay, medicine and chemistry, and 

are the recipients of numerous other prestigious awards both doVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:55 Mar 26, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Y:\87666.XXX PAT

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mestically and internationally. VA researchers annually publish 

thousands of peer-reviewed articles in the scientific literature, and 

VA’s work not only improves care and treatment of veterans, but 

also affects the standard of care for all Americans. 

In 2012, VA released a report from a House Appropriations Committee-directed study of infrastructure needs in VA research facilities. VA had commissioned the review to three outside firms. The 

report concluded VA needed almost $800 million to upgrade, restore, and, in some cases, entirely replace research laboratories and 

associated facilities in 76 VA academic health centers. Since the report was released, VA has made no public statements with respect 

to these findings or revealed its intentions to address these deficits, 

many of which deal with life-safety issues for veterans and other 

VA staff. 

We eagerly await the Administration’s budget for FY 2015 to determine if VA intends to begin the restorative process and address, 

at minimum, the most urgent needs identified in the report. The 

Independent Budget recommends that Congress appropriate $50 

million in FY 2015 for up to five replacement research facilities 

and $175 million to aid in addressing and repairing the most pressing of the priorities identified in the report. Also, of great concern 

to the DAV and the other authors of The Independent Budget is 

the serious under funding of all VA construction appropriations accounts. From FY 2002 through 2014, we have recommended a total 

of $23.5 billion for major and minor construction, yet less than 

$13.5 billion was appropriated by Congress to keep rapidly aging 

facilities safe and operational. 

We ask Congress and VA to consider what has made VA the special resource it is today and what must be done to improve, sustain 

and secure its longevity for decades to come. Just as you do, we 

want VA to maintain a stellar reputation and provide the highest 

quality care possible to our Nation’s veterans. We want our veterans to know that promises made will be kept. While direct patient care services are a primary focus, the foundational and core 

needs that make up the system cannot be neglected. A dedicated 

effort must be made to address the current physical infrastructure, 

IT and telemetry needs, and address safety deficiencies and other 

core support programs that are the underpinnings of the VA health 

care system. Likewise, creative, capable leaders must be molded to 

better manage the vast network of VA employees, hospitals, community based clinics, and ancillary facilities that make up the VA 

health care system. To achieve our goal, the Administration, Congress, VA, and the veterans community must work together to 

identify and resolve existing challenges and bring forth the VA 

health care system our nation’s veterans deserve and need. 

The Fiscal Year 2015 Independent Budget, by Veterans for 

Veterans 

As of today, Congress has yet to receive the Administration’s FY 

2015 budget request. Indications are the Administration’s budget 

will be submitted at the beginning of March 2014, possibly later. 

It should be pointed out and not lost on Congress that VA last received an on-time budget 16 years ago, in 1998. We urge your Committees to closely monitor VA’s current medical care program fundVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:55 Mar 26, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00040 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Y:\87666.XXX PAT

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ing to ensure VA receives sufficient funding from Congress for the 

remainder of this fiscal year, and to carefully examine the VA’s 

budget proposal when it is released for the FY 2015–16 periods, to 

be sure that the government continues to provide sufficient, timely, 

and predictable funding for VA health care. Failing to pass VA’s 

budget on time and at adequate funding levels simply leads to one 

fact: a failure by our Congress and Administration to meet their obligations to our Nation’s heroes. 

In the absence of the Administration’s budget request for FY 

2015, DAV and our Independent Budget (IB) co-authors (AMVETS, 

Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Veterans of Foreign Wars of 

the United States) are calling for $61.1 billion in VA Medical Care 

funding. For Medical and Prosthetic Research, the IB recommends 

a funding level of $611 million. The IB recommends approximately 

$2.9 billion for VA’s General Operating Expenses. For total capital 

infrastructure programs and grants, the IB recommends $3.9 billion, $2.8 billion for major medical facility construction projects, 

$831 million for minor construction projects, and $298 million for 

VA grants to state veterans homes and state veterans cemeteries. 

DAV and its IB co-authors recommend a total VA discretionary 

funding level of $72.9 billion in FY 2015. 

More detail on our recommendations for both policy and budget 

matters can be found at www.independentbudget.org. Our staffs 

stand ready to provide you additional or clarifying information on 

our concerns about the budget, and our recommendations for VBA 

and VHA programs and services. We hope to testify soon before 

your Committees on these issues. 

Veterans Benefits Claims Processing Reform and the Vital 

Nature of Disability Compensation 

MESSRS. Chairmen, authorizing benefits for veterans, especially 

disabled veterans, without providing the systems to deliver those 

benefits in a timely, accurate manner is a promise unfulfilled. For 

decades, VA’s benefits claims process has failed to meet that promise. Today, however, for the first time in years, some good news is 

coming from the Veterans Benefits Administration. After four years 

of comprehensive transformation that included implementation of 

new organizational and operating processes, new IT systems, and 

new training, testing, and quality control regimes, there is measurable progress in addressing the backlog of pending claims for veterans benefits. 

As the House and Senate address the major challenges facing our 

Nation, we urge you to continue focusing on the unfinished work 

of reforming the veterans’ benefits claims processing system. For 

DAV and many other veterans organizations, ensuring that wounded, injured, and ill veterans and their dependents and survivors receive all the benefits they have earned, without undue delay, remains an important legislative priority for 2014. 

As a result of all this transformation, there are quantitative 

metrics showing progress. At the beginning of 2013, more than 

860,000 claims were pending for disability compensation and pension. By the end of the year, that number had dropped by more 

than 20 percent, down to about 685,000. The number of claims in 

the backlog—greater than 125 days pending—dropped by about a 


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third, from over 600,000 in January 2013, to just over 405,000 in 

January 2014. The VBA increased the number of claims completed 

each month from an average of about 89,000 during the first four 

months of the year to more than 114,000 during the succeeding six 

months prior to the government shutdown. 

The most important factor driving VBA’s productivity gains was 

undoubtedly the policy of mandatory overtime for claims processors, a period that ran from May through November. During this 

six-month stretch, the VBA achieved significant increases in the 

number of completed claims per month, reaching as high as 

129,488 in August, before dropping back down during the government shutdown and after mandatory overtime ended just before 

Thanksgiving. The other key factors boosting claims production 

were likely the increased focus on fully developed claims (FDCs) 

and the continued professional development of VBA’s newest employees hired during the past five years. Although the VBA finished the rollout of both the Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS) and the new transformation organizational model last 

year, this achievement likely had only a marginal influence on productivity increases last year because of the learning curve that 

both employees and management must complete before they reach 

their full productive potential with new systems. 

While the reduction in the backlog was certainly good news, even 

more encouraging was the steady increase in the accuracy of claims 

produced throughout the year, as measured by the Systematic 

Technical Accuracy Review (STAR) teams, which rose to 89.6 percent by the end of 2013, as reported by VA. Although this figure 

remains far from the 98 percent accuracy goal put forward by the 

Secretary, it is a significant improvement. 

While the progress is real, we continue to have some concerns 

about a recent trend toward less openness and transparency from 

the VBA over the past year, which could hinder its ability to successfully complete the transformation. It is essential that VBA 

work in an open, transparent, and collaborative manner with both 

Congress and VSOs in order to continue receiving the support and 

assistance needed to complete this transformation. Just as important, without proper and transparent data and metrics, neither 

Congress nor VSO stakeholders can gain the information necessary 

to provide constructive feedback that could help improve VBA’s 

claims processing system. 

Creating A Culture of Accountability at VBA 

In order to complete the transformation, end the backlog, and decide each claim right the first time, VBA must develop and inculcate a new work culture based on quality and accountability. At a 

time when so much national attention has been focused on reducing the number of claims pending in the backlog, VBA must continue to place at least equal emphasis on quality and accuracy, 

rather than merely speed and production. 

As technologies and processes come online, it is imperative that 

the VBA be able to make timely adjustments to performance standards to ensure that production pressures do not outweigh the goals 

of accuracy and quality. VBA must develop a scientific methodology 

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rately and timely process the current and future anticipated workload, as well as develop a new model for allocating those resources 

among VA regional offices. 

The VBA must continue to invest in the training and professional 

development of its workforce. Over the past several years, the VBA 

has reengineered its ‘‘challenge’’ training program for new employees, with four weeks of in-station training followed by four weeks 

of training at centralized locations around the country. In addition 

to the requirement for all employees to complete continuing training of 85 hours per year, VBA has developed a new training program called Station Enhancement Training (SET), which requires 

all employees at targeted poor performing VA Regional Offices 

(VAROs) to undergo comprehensive training together for one week. 

SET allows employees to review and refresh their knowledge while 

also providing structured time to work live cases under the supervision of the training staff. VBA has found that SET not only increased quality, but also boosted morale of employees, and the VBA 

expects to continue SET in 2014. 

VBA also requires that employees, everyone from coaches to Veterans Service Representatives, take and pass a skills-certification 

examination every two years. For STAR employees the testing is 

now done every year to ensure that those who measure quality are 

held to the highest standards. Certification exams are designed by 

subject matter experts and reviewed by a test committee of employees who process claims to ensure that the examinations are appropriate for each class of employees. VBA must continue to ensure 

that its testing regime is adequate to measure necessary job skills 

and that appropriate human resources accountability measures are 

developed for employees who fail to pass skills-certification examinations. 

In order to sustain progress made with the new IT systems and 

organizational models, the VBA must continue to make the 

changes to its work culture so that quality and accuracy are the 

cornerstones of all activities. VBA’s creation of Quality Review 

Teams (QRT) was a powerful statement of the VBA’s commitment 

to quality. QRTs perform several functions: they conduct local quality reviews, perform in-process reviews, and provide select training. 

In particular, the in-process reviews allow errors to be corrected before they negatively affect a rating decision and without penalizing 

the VBA employee. The VBA must continually evaluate and improve its training, testing, and quality-control programs in order to 

truly reform the claims system over the long term. 

Fully Developed Claims Program 

DAV continues to actively support the fully developed claims 

(FDC) program and the VBA’s goal of channeling an increasing 

share of all claims through the FDC program: by the end of 2013 

nearly 25 percent of all claims filed were done through the FDC 

program, with DAV having the highest rate among all VSOs. This 

approach lowers the burden on VBA employees and results in faster and more accurate claims decisions for veterans. While not all 

claims can or will be filed under this simplified concept, DAV remains committed to its partnership with VBA in the FDC process 

by encouraging our clients to file their claims in this manner. 


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There are particular steps VBA can take to ensure continued and 

improved success of the FDC program, such as reducing the number of claims being removed from the FDC process and designating 

at least one individual in each VARO as an FDC coordinator to address any problems with claims prior to their being removed from 

the process. 

Private Medical Evidence And Disability Benefits Questionnaires 

The VBA should also continue to encourage and support the use 

and acceptance of private medical evidence to eliminate the time 

and resources required to administer compensation medical examinations, which would also support efforts to increase the number 

of FDCs filed. The VBA has taken significant actions in recent 

years to encourage private evidence, such as the development and 

use of Disability Benefits Questionnaires (DBQ) and the Acceptable 

Clinical Evidence (ACE) initiative, under which VA physicians review existing medical records to determine if enough evidence already exists to make a rating decision without the need for an 

extra VA-ordered examination. 

However, resistance lingers in some VAROs and from some employees in giving the same weight to private medical evidence as 

for VA medical evidence. To further support efforts to encourage 

the use of private medical evidence, Congress should amend title 

38, United States Code, section 5103A(d)(1), to provide, when a 

claimant submits private medical evidence, including a private 

medical opinion that is competent, credible, probative, and otherwise adequate for rating purposes, the Secretary shall consider it 

and not request a duplicative VA medical examination. 

Furthermore, the VBA should expand the availability of DBQs, 

most of which were developed in consultation with DAV and other 

VSO experts, to enable private physicians to submit medical evidence on behalf of veterans they treat. The VBA must also develop 

and institutionalize greater cooperation from VHA in having VA 

physicians complete DBQs for veterans treated by VHA. In the 

past year many VHA treating physicians were told that they either 

should not or may not fill out DBQs for their patients. The VHA 

has made efforts to address this problem by creating more convenient opportunities for veterans to have DBQs completed by VHA 

physicians at specific times and locations. However, VBA and VHA 

should continue working to reach an agreement to have VHA-treating physicians complete DBQs for veterans upon request. 

Modernizing Technology Infrastructure 

Perhaps the most important element of VBA’s transformation 

strategy is the successful implementation of new technology, including the VBMS, the Stakeholder Enterprise Portal (SEP), an expanded e-Benefits system with VONAPPS Direct Connect (VDC), 

and the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER) initiative. In 

terms of processing claims, the most important technology is the 

VBMS, the paperless, rules-based system the VBA uses to create 

electronic claims files, manage workflow, and determine ratings. 

While full implementation of the VBMS was completed ahead of 

schedule, VBA must continue to receive and allocate sufficient 


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funding for scanning paper claims forms and evidence, including 

back-scanning of legacy files. 

We have generally been pleased with VBA’s efforts to incorporate 

our perspectives, experience, and expertise throughout the IT development process, particularly recognizing the important role that 

VSOs play in the claims process. Although some obstacles needed 

to be overcome in providing full access to claims decisions for VSOs 

that hold power of attorney, the VBA continues to work in partnership with VSOs to ensure that claimants will be fully represented 

in the new digital environment. The VBA must ensure that neither 

the VBMS nor other new technologies override veterans’ rights or 

the ability of VSOs to fully represent veterans in this new environment. Likewise, significant work remains, including completing the 

authorization and awards portions of the VBMS for compensation, 

as well as connecting VBMS to the Appeals Management Center 

(AMC), Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA), the United States Court 

of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC), Education Services, and 

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) service. These 

connections will allow for a continuous electronic flow of vital information throughout the claims process. 

Recognizing that no modern IT system or software is ever truly 

‘‘finished’’ is vitally important. In addition to the funding required 

for maintenance of the VBMS system, VBA must continue to make 

significant investments in VBMS development for the life of this 

system. Furthermore, as new IT technologies emerge, and new requirements for the VBA are identified, the VBMS must evolve to 

address those needs and opportunities, requiring an aggressive development program that is supported with sufficient resources. 

Another crucial IT component for reforming the claims process 

has been the development of the SEP, which allows service officers 

representing veterans to directly file their claims, upload new evidence, and track the progress of pending claims. Essentially, the 

SEP allows VSOs to do for veterans what VDC and e-Benefits 

allow veterans to do for themselves. The VBA must continue to 

work out problems and glitches in the SEP to ensure that VSOs 

are able to fully represent veterans in this electronic environment. 

Perhaps one of the more challenging elements of VBA’s IT transformation strategy has been the fulfillment of what has long been 

called the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record. After too many years 

of futile debate, negotiation, and ultimately stalemate on the Integrated Electronic Health Record—a key component of VLER—VA 

and the DoD must finally come to an agreement on how to create 

a single interoperable medical record that serves the missions of 

both departments. The impasse between the DoD and VA has already cost the Treasury more than $1 billion over five years, and 

less palatable alternatives to a single integrated electronic health 

record do not satisfy Congress’s 2008 directive to VA and DoD to 

establish an interoperable joint electronic record. The seamless integration of VA and DoD medical information is one of the keys to 

truly achieving automated, electronic processing of claims for disability compensation and other earned VA benefits. Congress, VA, 

DoD, and the Administration must accelerate efforts to finally 

reach agreement and move forward expeditiously. 

Standardized Claims and Appeals 


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Finally, VA is proposing to amend its adjudication regulations 

and the appeals regulations and rules of practice of BVA to require 

all claims to be filed electronically on standardized forms prescribed by the Secretary, regardless of the type of claim concerned; 

and to require that VA only accept an expression of dissatisfaction 

or disagreement with an adjudicative determination by the agency 

of original jurisdiction as a Notice of Disagreement (NOD) only if 

it is submitted on a prescribed form. 

DAV understands the stated intent of VA’s proposed amendments as an effort to improve the quality and timeliness of processing claims and appeals. The purpose of the regulatory change is 

to promote submission of claims and appeals in standard formats 

in order to capture data for a paperless claims and appeals system. 

Nonetheless, we are concerned about the proposed rulemaking and 

the consequential adverse effect upon veterans, especially those 

who do not have the capability or ability to file their claim or NOD 

electronically. 

First, requiring a veteran to submit a claim on a standardized 

form is not a new concept. In fact, a claim for disability benefits 

is defined under title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, section 

3.151(a), as ‘‘[a] specific claim in the form prescribed by the Secretary must be filed in order for benefits to be paid.’’ So requiring 

a veteran to file a claim on a standardized form is the current practice; the real question is how the new proposal would impact the 

effective date of a claim received. 

Unfortunately, this proposal goes much further than simply requiring a standardized form to be used; it effectively removes the 

preservation of the date of claim by eliminating the informal claim 

from the process. Under this proposed rule, if a veteran did not 

submit a claim in the prescribed standard format, VA would provide the veteran a correct form as a response; however, if that 

same veteran did not return the completed forms until seven 

months later, that new date would be the effective date of the 

claim—not the actual date on which the veteran submitted his or 

her unaccepted claim, thereby losing entitlement to seven months 

of benefits. 

DAV takes no issue with veterans being required to submit their 

claims on standardized forms. This proposed rule, however, would 

cause many veterans, who may have needed those seven months 

due to illness or other reasons, to lose the benefit of the informal 

claims process. This new requirement may be intended to entice 

veterans to file their claims electronically, but clearly its practice 

will cause veterans to lose rightful benefits. Congress must further 

examine this matter, because it will have a major adverse impact 

on veterans and the benefits they need and have earned. 

The proposed rule also seeks to require veterans to submit their 

NOD on a standard form. As we have stated, DAV does not take 

issue with requiring veterans to use a standard form; however, this 

proposal will cause many veterans to lose their appeal rights. Quite 

simply, under this proposal if a veteran does not use the standard 

form and complete it exactly as directed, no additional time period 

will be provided to the veteran for correction. The appeal period 

will simply end. 


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MESSRS. Chairmen, a distinction is being created between those 

who possess the resources and capabilities to meet electronic claims 

filing requirements and those who are not able to do so. VA serves 

veterans and other claimants of diverse backgrounds, with varying 

capabilities, education, and financial resources. Some claimants, 

particularly those of limited financial means and those with severe 

mental or physical impairment, will be penalized by VA not retaining some measure of accommodation for allowing an effective date 

for entitlement to benefits based upon the receipt of a communication expressing such intention. 

Because of this disparity, and its effect on a claimant population 

that may require extra assistance, we recommend that an incomplete electronic or non-electronic claim, be considered a request for 

an application of benefits under the proposed provisions of title 38, 

Code of Federal Regulations, section 3.155(c), and established as 

the effective date of entitlement if an appropriate completed application is received within one year of the date the Secretary notifies 

the claimant and the claimant’s representative, if any, of the information necessary to complete the application, as currently stated 

in regulation. 

DAV—Dedicated to a Single Purpose: Empowering Veterans To Lead High-Quality Lives With Respect and DignitY 

MESSRS. Chairmen and Members of these Committees, I now 

turn to a topic that fills me with great pride—the dedication of 

DAV members, some of whom are also employees of our organization. 

Everyone behind me knows DAV well, because collectively with 

our 1.4 million fellow members, we are DAV and its Auxiliary. We 

take great pride in making individual contributions to the work of 

our Chapters and Departments across this country, helping our 

communities, helping VA, and in so many ways helping other veterans who have served and sacrificed. This is not only our mission, 

but our reward. 

MESSRS. Chairmen, in this part of my testimony not only will I 

bear witness to what we at DAV expect from Congress in the form 

of legislation and other support, but I will also summarize some of 

our work that you may not know about, but that is important to 

America’s veterans, their families and survivors, and also represents how DAV cares for our fellow veterans, and for our country. 

Fulfilling Our Promises to the men and women who 

served 

MESSRS. Chairmen, as I indicated earlier in this statement, a sacred obligation of our government and core mission of DAV is the 

VA’s provision of benefits to relieve the adverse effects of disability 

on veterans and their families. For those benefits to effectively fulfill their intended purpose they must be adequate, and they must 

be granted in a timely manner. The ability of disabled veterans to 

maintain themselves and their families often depends on the timely 

delivery of these benefits. The need for benefits among disabled 

veterans is usually urgent. While awaiting action by VA, they and 

their families may suffer hardships; protracted delays can lead to 

deprivation, bankruptcies, home foreclosures, and even homelessness. Tragically, innumerable veterans have died from their servVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:55 Mar 26, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Y:\87666.XXX PAT

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ice-related disabilities while their claims languished at VA, in some 

cases for years. This sad fact alone proves disability benefits are 

crucial; providing for veterans disabled as a result of their service 

to our nation should always be a top priority of the government. 

DAV’s core mission is carried out through our National Service 

Program. Our Chapter Service Officers, Department Service Officers, Transition Service Officers and National Service Officers have 

never wavered in their commitment to serve our nation’s wounded, 

injured, and ill veterans, their families and survivors, or any veteran for that matter. In all, DAV has 2,949 service officers, including County Veteran Service Officers accredited by DAV, all of 

whom are on the front lines, providing much needed claims services to our nation’s veterans, their families and survivors. No one 

has more impact on our organization’s ability to meet our primary 

mission. No one has more impact on our organization’s stellar reputation. No one has more impact on empowering disabled veterans 

to become productive members of society again. And I believe no 

one has a tougher task than those DAV service officers assisting 

veterans and their families and survivors in their claims for benefits from the government—at times a very reluctant and entrenched government bureaucracy. 

In addition to the long hours, often frustrating circumstances, 

and tedious tasks, to be effective, DAV National Service Officers 

must gain a solid understanding of the claims process in its complex entirety, undergo intense training and education in title 38 

law and regulations, and complete college-level classes associated 

with our representational duties—much of which they receive 

through the national organization—guided, monitored, and supervised by our professional National Service Department headquarters personnel in Washington, D.C. 

DAV National Service Programs 

To fulfill our mandate of service to America’s wounded, injured, 

and ill veterans and the families who care for them, DAV directly 

employs a corps of more than 270 National Service Officers, all of 

whom are wartime service-connected disabled veterans who successfully complete their training through VA’s VR&E service. The 

military experience and personal claims and treatment experiences 

of DAV NSOs through military and VA health care not only provide a significant knowledge base, but also help promote their passion for helping other veterans through the labyrinth of the VA 

system. DAV NSOs are situated in all VA regional offices as well 

as in other VA facilities throughout the nation. 

Our NSOs undergo a rigorous initial 16-month on-the-job training program, as well as structured and continued training and education throughout their DAV careers. During the course of the onthe-job training program, NSO trainees learn applicable laws and 

regulations pertaining to VA benefits and complete a series of academic courses which include anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, English composition, legal writing, and public speaking. 

These dedicated NSOs, many of whom are veterans of the wars in 

Iraq and Afghanistan, sustain DAV’s legacy of providing the best 

and most professional benefits counseling and claims assistance 

available anywhere. With the generous support of a grateful AmerVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:55 Mar 26, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00048 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Y:\87666.XXX PAT

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ican public and public-spirited businesses, DAV is proud to provide 

these services, without cost, to any veteran, dependents, or survivors in need. 

During 2013, DAV NSOs interviewed over 187,000 veterans and 

their families; reviewed more than 313,000 VA claims files; filed 

over 215,000 new claims for benefits; and obtained more than $4.3 

billion in new and retroactive benefits for the wounded, injured, 

and ill veterans we represented before the VA. Our NSOs also participated in more than 272,000 VA Rating Board actions. 

Appellate Representation of Denied Claims 

DAV employs 11 National Appeals Officers (NAOs) whose duty 

is to represent veterans in their appeals before the BVA here in the 

nation’s capital. In FY 2013, our NAOs provided representation in 

28.9 percent of all appeals decided before BVA, a caseload of approximately 12,132 appeals. Almost 47 percent of the cases represented by DAV resulted in remands. These remands resulted in 

additional consideration or development for over 5,665 claimants 

who had appealed cases that were inadequately considered by VA 

regional offices. In approximately 27 percent of the cases, involving 

3,265 appellants represented by DAV, the claimants’ appeals were 

allowed, and denials were overturned. This means that approximately three-quarters of the appeals represented by DAV NAOs resulted in original decisions being overturned or remanded to VA regional offices for additional development and re-adjudication. 

DAV’s remand and allowance rates were above BVA’s average of 

45.6 percent and 26.2 percent, respectively. 

Additionally, DAV works closely with two private law firms that 

have agreed to provide pro bono services to veterans pursuing higher appeals from adverse decisions of the BVA. In 2013, these pro 

bono attorneys offered free representation before the CAVC in 

1,468 denied appeals and provided representation in over 1,160 of 

those cases. Since the inception of DAV’s pro bono program, our attorney partners have made offers of free representation to more 

than 5,165 veterans and have provided free representation in over 

3,360 cases. 

Transition Services for New Veterans 

Given the significant number of severely disabled service members under care at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center 

(WRNMMC) in Bethesda, Maryland, and in other military treatment facility locations, DAV continues to provide direct on-site assistance to wounded and injured active duty personnel. DAV’s 

Transition Service Program (TSP) is now in its 14th year. This program provides benefits counseling and assistance to separating 

service members seeking to file initial claims for benefits administered through the Department of Veterans Affairs. DAV currently 

employs 33 Transition Service Officers (TSOs) who provide free assistance to service members transitioning from active military service. These TSOs provide services at military separation centers 

under the direct supervision of DAV NSO Supervisors. Our TSOs 

have been trained specifically to perform transition presentations, 

review military service treatment records, and initiate claims activities for transitioning veterans military separation centers at 


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more than 80 military installations within the continental United 

States. 

DAV’s TSP contributes to our goal of maintaining our preeminent position as a provider of professional services to veterans. 

In 2013, our TSOs conducted 1,390 briefing presentations to groups 

of separating service members, with 54,220 total participants in 

those sessions. Our TSOs counseled 30,892 persons in individual 

interviews, reviewed the military service treatment records of 

30,260 individuals, and submitted benefits applications for 19,074 

personnel to DAV NSOs for filing with the VA. 

DAV continues to work within the guidelines of the recently revamped Transition GPS (Goals, Planning, Success) program which 

is a part of the Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act and Hiring Heroes Act. Transition GPS represents the first major overhaul 

of the Transition Assistance Program in nearly 20 years, and DAV 

remains committed to advocating for these service members to ensure that they are well aware of benefits that they have earned. 

It is through this program that DAV is able to advise service members of their benefits and ensure that they become aware of the 

free services that DAV is able to provide during all stages of their 

claims and appeal process. 

DAV Mobile Service Office Program 

DAV’s fleet of 10 Mobile Service Offices (MSOs) puts DAV NSOs 

on the road to assist veterans where they live and increases accessibility to the earned benefits our nation provides to veterans. The 

specially equipped mobile offices visit communities across the country on an advertised and scheduled basis. This outreach effort generates a considerable amount of claims work from veterans who 

may not otherwise gain an opportunity to seek assistance at DAV 

National Service Offices. 

To support the MSO effort, DAV has received ongoing financial 

contributions from the Harley-Davidson Foundation. The mission of 

this project, called Harley’s Heroes, is to help DAV reach millions 

of veterans of all generations and to show the respect DAV and the 

Harley-Davidson Corporation share for them. It also ensures veterans gain access to DAV’s free benefits counseling and claims assistance when and where they may be needed. 

DAV also uses its MSOs for outreach to veterans in other public 

awareness programs, such as attending public air shows, Native 

American reservation events, NASCAR races, military retiree conventions, the Vietnam Moving Wall appearances, homeless veterans ‘‘stand-downs,’’ community fairs and parades, Veterans Day 

and Memorial Day activities, veterans job fairs, and information 

seminars of many types. 

These specially equipped MSOs, along with our disaster relief 

teams, also deploy into areas devastated by disasters, enabling 

DAV to provide much-needed assistance directly to displaced service-disabled veterans and their families. They have been used at 

ground-zero following the attacks on the World Trade Center, 

around the Gulf Coast following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, after 

a devastating tornado in Greensville, Kansas, following a destructive storm in North Carolina, and most recently in New York and 

New Jersey following hurricane Sandy. 


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During 2013, our MSOs traveled 89,708 miles to 833 cities and 

towns, including 127 Harley-Davidson dealerships. DAV NSOs 

interviewed 20,075 veterans and other potential claimants during 

these appearances. 

When a DAV MSO comes to your state or district, I would encourage the Members of these Committees and your staffs to stop 

by to learn first-hand the free services that DAV is providing to 

your constituents. I would also highly recommend that you refer 

any of your constituents who may need assistance with their VA 

claims to visit our MSOs when they are in your areas. The MSO 

schedule can be found on the DAV website, at http:// 

www.dav.org/wp-content/uploads/MSOCalendar.pdf. 

Voluntary Service Programs 

Equally vital to the success of our mission to empower veterans 

to lead high-quality lives with respect and dignity are the activities 

of nearly 17,000 DAV and DAV Auxiliary volunteers who selflessly 

donate their time to assist America’s wounded, injured, and ill veterans. Our Voluntary Services Programs ensure that sick and injured veterans are able to attend their medical appointments, and 

that they receive the comfort, companionship, and care they need 

and have earned. Our volunteers are at their posts in VA medical 

centers and clinics but they go outside the VA to visit and provide 

services to wounded, injured, and ill veterans within communities, 

in some cases going beyond the current scope of the government in 

providing services. DAV is leading the way in voluntary services, 

which makes all of us proud to be a part of this organization and 

makes me even prouder to have been chosen to lead this great organization. 

Between October 2012 and September 2013, these valuable volunteers of DAV and its Auxiliary served our nation by providing 

more than 1.8 million volunteer hours of essential services to hospitalized veterans in VA facilities and transporting veterans to 

their medical appointments, saving taxpayers over $40 million in 

costs if federal employees had been required to provide similar 

services. Many DAV members volunteer at VA medical centers, 

clinics, and community living centers and serve as Hospital Service 

Coordinators and drivers in DAV’s nationwide Transportation Network, about which I will provide more detail later in this testimony. 

Local Veterans Assistance Program 

In an effort to meaningfully touch the lives of more veterans in 

need of assistance, DAV created the Local Veterans Assistance Program (LVAP). Opportunities have always existed for individuals to 

assist veterans and their dependents—and DAV and our DAV Auxiliary volunteers have answered that call in full measure. We see 

examples of this each and every day aimed at meeting the principal 

objective of our organization—to fulfill our promises to the men and 

women who have served. 

Our LVAP volunteers contribute time and energy for a variety of 

activities that include, but are not limited to: 

• Chapter and Department Service Officer work. 


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• Specific outreach efforts, such as DAV’s air show outreach 

programs, Harley’s Heroes, and National Guard mobilizations 

and demobilizations. 

• Direct assistance to veterans, families, and survivors, including engaging in home repairs, maintenance, and grocery shopping, among many other supportive activities. 

Since its inception six years ago, 5,006 volunteers have participated in DAV’s LVAP for a total of over 1.6 million hours of volunteer service. DAV is constantly seeking new ways to recruit and engage DAV members and volunteers. We believe this program works 

to the advantage of all of those we serve. 

The Next Generation of Volunteers 

Sadly, Messrs. Chairmen, we are rapidly losing our veterans 

from the World War II era; and DAV is proportionately witnessing 

the loss of DAV volunteers from that population. Ever looking forward, DAV has sought to reward and develop a new generation of 

younger VA volunteers. More than a decade ago, we created a 

youth volunteer scholarship program to ensure the future of a viable DAV volunteer effort. In remembrance of former VA Secretary 

and former DAV Executive Director, the late Jesse Brown, we 

launched a special scholarship program in his name. Annually, the 

DAV Jesse Brown Memorial Youth Scholarship Program honors 

outstanding young volunteers who participate in the VA Voluntary 

Service Program and/or through DAV’s Local Veterans Assistance 

Program to donate their time and compassion to wounded, injured, 

and ill veterans. 

Since its inception, DAV has awarded 147 individual scholar- ships valued at $1,043,000, to enable these exceptional young people to pursue their goals in higher education through the value of 

volunteering. We at DAV are very proud of the Jesse Brown Memorial Youth Scholarship Program, and I am personally proud to report that our friends at the Ford Motor Company most recently indicated their intention to donate $45,000 this year to this scholarship program to enable us to continue awarding these scholarships 

to worthy student-volunteers. 

Another corporation that has come forward to help veterans of all 

eras is Golden Corral, which this past November opened its doors 

again to all veterans on Golden Corral’s ‘‘Military Appreciation 

Monday,’’ serving more than 433,500 free meals to veterans as a 

means to thank them for their service. Nationwide Golden Corral 

events also yielded more than $1.4 million in donations to DAV 

Chapters and Departments in 2013. Since 2001, Golden Corral restaurants have served more than 4 million thank you meals to our 

nation’s veterans and helped raise nearly $9 million in donations 

for DAV chapters and departments to use in outreach and service 

programs in their communities. 

Well beyond volunteerism itself, generous fundraising efforts by 

Golden Corral, Ford, Harley Davidson, and others continue to help 

support DAV initiatives and programs throughout the year, and 

provide DAV resources to outreach to local veterans so we can help 

them get the benefits and services they earned from a grateful nation. 

National Transportation Network 


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MESSRS. Chairmen, DAV is extremely proud of the service provided by our volunteers, many of whom are injured, wounded, or 

ill veterans themselves, or the family members of such veterans. 

These volunteers, some of whom are seated before you today in this 

hearing room, continue to serve the needs of our veterans on a 

daily basis. Many of our nation’s wounded, injured, and ill veterans 

are aided because of the time these volunteers donate. DAV volunteers, please rise and be recognized! Everyone at DAV applauds the 

efforts of our volunteers. 

DAV relies on 193 Hospital Service Coordinators at 152 VA medical centers across the country to oversee our National Transportation Network. This program provides free transportation to and 

from VA health care facilities to veterans who otherwise might not 

be able to obtain needed VA health care services. 

From October 2012 through September 2013, DAV’s National 

Transportation Network logged more than 25.9 million road miles 

and transported 717,009 veterans to VA health care facilities. 

Nearly 9,000 volunteer drivers spent over 1.7 million hours transporting veterans. Since our national transportation program began 

in 1987, more than 15.8 million veterans have been transported 

over 558 million miles, for a total of more than 32.9 million volunteer hours by our DAV drivers. 

In 2013, DAV donated 128 vans to VA facilities at a cost of almost $3.3 million. In 2014, we plan on donating 139 vans at a cost 

of $3.7 million. From 1987 through 2013, we have donated 2,714 

vans to VA, at a cost to DAV of $57.6 million. 

DAV’s efforts were aided in August 2013 by the support of the 

Ford Motor Company with the gift presentation of seven new vehicles to DAV for the Transportation Network. Since 1996, Ford has 

donated 171 vehicles to support our work. DAV is proud that Ford 

Motor Company continues to honor its commitment through the instrument of DAV to the men and women who have served our nation in uniform. 

DAV’s commitment to our National Transportation Network is 

lasting and sure. We have deployed DAV vans in every state and 

nearly every Congressional district serving our veterans, and many 

of whom are your constituents. 

National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic 

DAV is a collaborator in another outstanding program that directly impacts the lives and well-being of seriously wounded and 

injured veterans. Working in cooperation with VA Recreation and 

Voluntary Services, DAV co-hosts the annual National Disabled 

Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. For over a quarter century, this exceptional physical rehabilitation program, held in the mountains of 

Colorado, has transformed the lives of America’s most severely 

wounded, injured, and ill veterans. This unique program—often referred to as ‘‘Miracles on a Mountainside’’—helps severely injured 

veterans re-build their confidence, compensate for their injuries, 

and regain balance in their lives. This event promotes rehabilitation and restoration by coaching and encouraging veterans with severe disabilities to conquer adaptive skiing, skating, ice hockey, fly 

fishing, and other sports and shows them by example that they are 

not barred from adaptive recreational activities and sports of all 


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kinds. Veterans from all eras have attended our clinics, including 

many who were wounded and injured in the Iraq and Afghanistan 

campaigns. Often, this seminal event offers some veterans their 

very first experience in winter sports and gives them motivation to 

take their personal rehabilitation to a higher level than they may 

ever have imagined. Participants have included veterans with multiple amputations, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, severe 

neurological deficits, and even total blindness. 

For anyone who has attended ‘‘Miracles on a Mountainside’’ and 

observed our participants and their efforts, it is an inspiring sight, 

unlike anything you will see anywhere in the world. I can assure 

you, miracles do still occur. These wounded heroes experience lifechanging events at our National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports 

Clinic, and so do all the inspired observers, family members, and 

volunteers who participate. I invite all Members of these Committees to come and experience ‘‘Miracles on a Mountainside’’ with me 

and other DAV leaders this year. Our next clinic is scheduled for 

March 30 to April 4, in Snowmass Village, Colorado. If you want 

to believe in miracles, please come and join us. 

DAV Charitable Service Trust 

Organized in 1986, the Charitable Service Trust (CST) is a taxexempt, not-for-profit organization serving primarily as a grantmaker for qualifying organizations throughout the nation. As an affiliate of DAV, the CST strives to meet the needs of ill, injured, and 

wounded veterans through financial support of direct programs and 

services for service members and their families. Accordingly, the 

CST is dedicated to one purpose: empowering veterans to lead 

high-quality lives with respect and dignity. 

DAV established the Trust to advance initiatives, programs, and 

services that might not fit easily into the scheme of what is traditionally offered through programs of the VA, our state Departments, and other veterans service organizations in the community. 

Not-for-profit organizations meeting the direct service needs of veterans, dependents and survivors are encouraged to apply to the 

CST for financial support. Since the first grant was awarded in 

1988, more than $79.6 million has been awarded for services to our 

nation’s heroes. In an effort to fulfill the CST’s mission of service, 

support is offered to ensure quality care is available for veterans 

with PTSD, TBI, substance-use challenges, amputations, spinal 

cord injuries, and other combat-related injuries, and to combat 

hunger and homelessness. Initiatives for evaluating and addressing 

the needs of veterans from every service era and conflict are also 

encouraged. 

Typically, grants are awarded to programs offering: 

• Food, shelter, and other necessities to homeless or at-risk 

veterans. 

• Mobility items or assistance specific to veterans with blindness or vision loss, hearing loss, or amputations. 

• Qualified therapeutic activities for veterans and/or their families. 

• Physical and psychological rehabilitation for veterans. 

Priority is given to long-term service projects that provide meaningful support to unserved and underserved veterans. 


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As veterans confront unemployment, homelessness, and physical 

and psychological illnesses, the need continues for innovative, caring programs and services to address these challenges. DAV’s CST 

is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of America’s most deserving individuals and their loved ones. 

By supporting these initiatives and programs, the Trust furthers 

the mission of DAV in standing up for those who stood up for us. 

For more than nine decades, DAV has directed its resources to the 

most needed and meaningful services for the nation’s wounded and 

injured veterans and their families. Significantly, the many accomplishments of both DAV and the Trust have been made possible 

through the continued support of corporate partners, individuals, 

and DAV members who remain faithful to our mission. 

American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial 

MESSRS. Chairmen, I am pleased to report that the American 

Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial under construction only a few 

blocks from this building is on track to be completed and dedicated 

this fall. I am certain that many of you have seen the ongoing construction activity taking place just west of the Rayburn Building, 

including some reconfigurations of roads in the area. As you know, 

Congress enacted authorizing legislation for the construction of a 

national memorial to honor veterans who become disabled while 

serving in the armed forces of the United States. DAV, together 

with other veterans organizations and other supporters, has proudly participated with the Disabled Veterans’ Life Memorial Foundation that Congress authorized to design, construct, and raise all the 

private funding necessary to make this vision a reality. It is important for me to reiterate that this memorial is not being built with 

public money. It has been a long and challenging journey to raise 

all the funds and secure the required approvals, and we are grateful for the continuous support this and prior Congresses have lent 

to create this permanent tribute to men and women who have been 

wounded, injured, or made ill by their service to the nation. It will 

serve as a fitting remembrance of their sacrifices, which do not end 

when wars do. Thank you for helping us fulfill this promise, and 

we hope to see many of you in the fall to help us dedicate this 

unique, living memorial. 

National Legislative Program 

MESSRS. Chairmen, DAV was founded in 1920 as a nonpartisan, 

nonprofit veterans’ service organization. Since then, promotion of 

meaningful, reasonable, and responsible public policy for wartime 

service-disabled veterans has been at the heart of who we are and 

what we do. Regardless of politics and whether we agree or disagree with our government’s foreign policies and military deployments, our service men and women put their health and lives on 

the line to ensure the safety of the Republic and to protect the 

basic freedoms we enjoy as citizens of the United States. 

What is right for our nation and our citizens is to take care of 

those who served and sacrificed for our collective freedom. We do 

this by never forgetting the sacrifices of the men and women who 

served. We do this by keeping our promise to them: through Congress and VA, to provide the resources and services they need to 


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enjoy the best quality of life possible, as they make the often challenging transition back to civilian life. 

Major policy positions of DAV are derived from resolutions adopted by the delegates to our annual National Conventions. Since our 

first National Convention in 1921, DAV’s legislative program has 

guided our advocacy for disabled veterans in conformance with the 

collective will of our members. Our 2013–2014 mandates cover a 

broad spectrum of VA programs and services, and they are available for you and your professional staffs to see on DAV’s website, 

at https://www.dav.org/wp-content/uploads/ResolutionBook.pdf. I 

invite your staffs to consider the content of these resolutions in 

crafting legislation during the remainder of the 113th Congress. 

All Veterans are Created EquaL 

As DAV has testified in the past, we are concerned that some of 

the benefits Congress enacted are exclusive to veterans of recent 

service in Iraq and Afghanistan. While we understand that these 

are special circumstances that may require legislative consideration to ease transition challenges from military to civilian life, 

DAV represents wartime veterans of all ages and all periods of 

wartime service. We remain dismayed that previous generations 

cannot take advantage of a number of these new improvements enacted into law, and we ask your Committees to reconsider the 

trend to exclude older veterans from the new and expanded benefits you have awarded to younger veterans, especially the stipend 

and extensive health care benefits for veterans’ family caregivers 

under Public Law 111–163. I defy anyone to tell me that the struggles of a family caregiver of a severely disabled veteran from World 

War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, or Persian Gulf War 

are easier and less burdensome than those of a caregiver of a similar veteran of wars in Afghanistan or Iraq. They all struggle; they 

all suffer. They all need our support. Congress should not leave one 

of them behind while benefitting the other. 

I am pleased to note that provisions to expand caregiver benefits 

to all generations of veterans, as well as a number of other longstanding DAV resolutions are contained in S. 1982, a bill introduced by Chairman Sanders. Like thousands of DAV members and 

supporters who have contacted Congress urging enactment of this 

important bill, I call on you to complete this crucial legislation. 

With the realization that we will receive ample opportunities this 

year to more fully address many of DAV’s specific legislative resolutions during hearings before your Committees and personally 

with your staffs, I shall only highlight a few key ideas in this testimony. I assure you that all of these concepts are covered by DAV 

national resolutions. Along with our VSO partners, and relying 

upon the strength of our grassroots members and supporters, DAV 

will work aggressively and proactively to advance these key legislative priorities, while continuing to look for opportunities to promote 

all DAV legislative and policy goals. These are our key priorities, 

and on behalf of our 1.4 million members and Auxiliary, I ask that 

you consider them. 

Disability Compensation and Other Benefits 

• Complete the ongoing reform of VA’s benefits claims processing system, with the focus on quality, accuracy, accountVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:55 Mar 26, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Y:\87666.XXX PAT

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ability, and timeliness.Develop and promote legislation and 

policies to expand the use of interim ratings for veterans filing 

complex and multi-issue disability compensation claims. 

• Ensure that any revisions to the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) being considered by VBA remain faithful to 

longstanding statutory policy underlying the purpose of the VA 

disability compensation system. 

• Eliminate inequitable policies that prohibit the concurrent 

receipt of VA disability compensation and military retired pay 

and that require Dependency and Indemnity Compensation 

and military Survivor Benefit Plan payments to be offset. 

• Provide for a 10-year protection period for service-connected 

disability evaluations. 

• Reduce the 10-year rule for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. 

• Exclude veterans’ disability compensation from countable income for purposes of eligibility for benefits and services under 

other government programs. 

• Award interest payments for VA retroactive awards of one 

year or more. 

• Oppose any proposal that would offset payments of Social 

Security Disability Insurance benefits or any other federal benefit by the amount of VA compensation. 

• Contest any scheme to means test disability and death compensation. 

• Resist any change that would redefine service-connected disability or restrict the conditions or circumstances under which 

it may be established. 

• Oppose any recommendations by any commission to reduce 

or eliminate benefits for disabled veterans. 

Health Care Services 

• Ensure sufficient, timely, and predictable funding for VA 

health care programs in the FY 2015 appropriation and the FY 

2016 advance appropriation bills. 

• Develop and build support for a comprehensive long term 

plan to address VA’s aging health care infrastructure needs, 

including VA research facilities. 

• Expand caregiver services to meet the needs of veterans’ 

caregivers from all eras. 

• Improve timely access to veterans suffering from TBI, and 

mental health care and counseling services, with particular 

focus on newer veterans in transition 

• Strengthen and expand women veterans health care programs and services. 

• Develop a comprehensive plan reforming VA long-term support and services. 

• Provide priority access and timely, quality health care services to service-connected disabled veterans. 

• Repeal VA and Department of Defense co-payments for medical care and prescription medications. 

• Repeal beneficiary travel deductibles for service-connected 

disabled veterans and support increased reimbursement rates. 

Employment and Economic Opportunities 


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• Enact legislation to transfer veterans’ employment programs 

from DOL to VA in a new Veterans Economic Opportunity Administration, which also includes VR&E, education, and business programs. 

• Enact legislation that will allow veterans to transfer their 

military skills and credentials to the civilian sector to enhance 

their economic opportunities. 

• Strengthen veterans’ vocational rehabilitation and employment programs by ensuring adequate funding for increased 

staffing and IT enhancements to meet increases in VR&E demand. 

• Remove the 12-year delimitating date imposed on Chapter 

31 (vocational rehabilitation) entitlement. 

• Improve delivery of transition services to all separating service members. 

General Issues 

• Support advance appropriations for all VA programs. 

• Extend military commissary and exchange privileges to service-connected disabled veterans. 

• Provide space-available air travel aboard military aircraft to 

100 percent service-connected disabled veterans. 

• Award educational benefits to dependents of service-connected veterans rated 80 percent or more disabled. 

• Exempt the benefits paid to wartime service-connected disabled veterans from the ‘‘Pay-Go’’ provisions of the Budget Enforcement Act. 

• Reduce premiums for Service Disabled Veterans’ Insurance 

consistent with current life expectancy. 

• Provide the fullest possible accounting of POW/MIAs from all 

wars and conflicts. 

In Conclusion 

MESSRS. Chairmen and Members of the Committees on Veterans’ 

Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives, I hope my testimony today demonstrates to you that DAV does not come before 

you with our hand out to ask for special favors, tax advantages, or 

unearned benefits. We are not a special interest; like the Congress 

in many ways, DAV and what we do is a broad, general interest 

of the American people. We believe our members, and all veterans 

who were harmed as a consequence of their military service, earn 

their benefits and pay for them in full, in advance. It is true that 

some of our injured and wounded veterans do need a hand up in 

their post-service lives—for transition services; hospitalization, rehabilitation, and other health care; prosthetics for lost limbs; insurance for the uninsurable; education and re-training; housing and 

supportive services, including housing for those who become homeless, or services to prevent it; business and employment opportunities; compensation for the living, and compensation for the survivors of those we lost—all earned with service and sacrifice. These 

benefits and services help veterans restore themselves and prepare 

themselves for a future as productive citizens; to comfort them if 

they lose their ability to work as a consequence of military service; 

or to keep them and their survivors from slipping into poverty. 

Given what veterans have done for this country since its founding 


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more than two centuries ago, we believe it’s a small price to pay. 

It’s the price of freedom. Many VA hospitals are adorned over 

building entrances or at the front gates with these words: ‘‘The 

Price of Freedom is Visible Here.’’ I believe this is a powerful and 

fitting statement to honor our heroes and compels our national resolve to keep the promise. 

In a related vein, DAV has approved a national resolution for 

years calling on Congress to raise disability compensation payments commensurate with a more humane treatment of service-disabled veterans and the survivors of veterans who die from their 

service-related injuries, but Congress has never responded other 

than to provide annual cost-of-living adjustments that, while appreciated, are minimal at best. I would ask all of you: have you ever 

considered what a seriously disabled veteran is paid by the nation 

in disability compensation for his or her sacrifice? On average, a 

100 percent service-connected combat-disabled veteran is paid 

$36,000 annually. I would challenge anyone in this room to provide 

for their family on that amount of money for the year 2014, or any 

year, especially in the presence of unending disability, and all that 

disability entails to depress the quality of a person’s life. If Congress even doubled that amount, the payment would still be very 

small for the kinds of sacrifices rendered by these veterans. A veteran who loses a single leg above the knee in combat only receives 

a fraction of that amount in compensation each year. Some of these 

veterans are behind me today; I encourage you to take the time to 

talk to them about disability compensation and what it means to 

them and their families. They might give you a new insight on 

what ‘‘income inequality’’ truly means, since that term is much in 

the news these days. We realize this is not an opportune time to 

increase federal mandatory spending, but I believe here is a challenge worthy of a grateful nation and of a thoughtful, caring Congress, and one that I and everyone in this room would hope the 

Members of these Committees would embrace. 

I hope you will agree that DAV’s testimony today shows once 

again that DAV not only advocates on behalf of our nation’s wounded and injured veterans, but we also continue to give back to our 

nation, our fellow veterans, and our communities through the numerous programs detailed in this testimony—in service, volunteerism, transportation, therapeutic recreation, claims representation, outreach, family care giving of the injured, sick and dying, 

disaster relief, charitable grants, and all the other good works in 

which DAV engages on a broad national scale. Membership dues 

from our Life Members are used to exclusively support an effective 

professional legislative department in Washington, D.C. DAV’s effectiveness is reinforced every day working with you and your professional staffs, and those of many Members in both Congressional 

chambers and in both political parties, to accomplish our priorities 

and achieve your legislative goals for wounded, injured, and ill veterans. 

MESSRS. Chairmen, I hope that I have been able to demonstrate 

to you and your colleagues that DAV devotes its resources to the 

most meaningful services for wounded, injured, and ill wartime veterans. These DAV services aid veterans directly and support and 

augment VA programs throughout the United States. Our family 


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caregivers actually reduce VA health care costs, whether VA provides services and supports to them as caregivers, or not. In many 

dimensions I believe DAV is one of VA’s most valuable partners in 

caring for veterans. I trust you can see why the men and women 

of DAV and its Auxiliary are proud of this great organization and 

all that it does for VA, veterans, their families and survivors every 

day of every year. 

In closing, as National Commander, it has been an honor and a 

highlight of my life to appear before you today to serve as the voice 

of DAV, to present our legislative goals for 2014, and to present the 

collective concerns of our organization. I know that all of us in this 

room and all DAV and DAV Auxiliary members nationwide share 

a deep and abiding respect for the brave men and women who have 

served our nation in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian 

Gulf, and those who serve our nation in uniform today, especially 

those in harm’s way overseas, not only in Afghanistan and Iraq, 

but who are deployed in many dangerous and challenging places 

the world over. May God watch over them and keep them safe. 

As these Committees deliberate during the second session of this 

Congress, please keep in mind that wounded, injured, and ill veterans, their loved ones, family caregivers, and survivors paid, and 

are still paying, a high price for the freedoms we cherish—freedoms 

some people take for granted. The only response that we ask to 

repay their sacrifice is for this government to honor its obligations 

and keep the promise to America’s veterans, their families, and 

their survivors. This defines DAV at its core and validates Operation: Keep the Promise. The defenders of the nation deserve no 

less. 

God bless the United States of America, our military personnel 

deployed on land, aboard ship and in the air around the world, all 

veterans who are wounded, injured or made ill in service to the nation, their families and survivors, and Congress and our fellow citizens. 

Æ 


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