U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800

Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001

24–579 PDF 2006

S. HRG. 109–303

NOMINATION OF JAMES P. TERRY, TO BE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF VETERANS APPEALS,

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND

CHARLES S. CICCOLELLA, TO BE ASSISTANT

SECRETARY FOR THE VETERANS EMPLOYMENT

AND TRAINING, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

JULY 14, 2005

Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate

(II)

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

LARRY E. CRAIG, Idaho, Chairman

ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania

KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas

LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina

RICHARD BURR, North Carolina

JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada

JOHN THUNE, South Dakota

JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii, Ranking Member

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia

JAMES M. JEFFORDS, (I), Vermont

PATTY MURRAY, Washington

BARACK OBAMA, Illinois

KEN SALAZAR, Colorado

LUPE WISSEL, Majority Staff Director

D. NOELANI KALIPI, Minority Staff Director

(III)

CONTENTS

JULY 14, 2005

SENATORS

Page

Craig, Hon. Larry E., U.S. Senator from Idaho .................................................... 1

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 2

Allen, Hon. George, U.S. Senator from Virginia ................................................... 3

Salazar, Hon. Ken, U.S. Senator from Colorado ................................................... 26

Warner, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from Virginia ................................................... 28

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 29

Thune, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from South Dakota ........................................... 35

WITNESSES

Terry, James P., nominated to be Chairman of the Board of Veterans Appeals,

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ................................................................. 5

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 6

Response to written questions submitted by:

Hon. Larry E. Craig .................................................................................. 7

Hon. Daniel Akaka .................................................................................... 9

Hon. Patty Murray .................................................................................... 11

Hon. Ken Salazar ...................................................................................... 14

Ciccolella, Charles S., nominated to be Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment and Training, U.S. Department of Labor .......................................... 16

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 18

Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Larry E. Craig ............... 20

APPENDIX

Akaka, Hon. Daniel, U.S. Senator from Hawaii, prepared statement ................ 37

Letter from Richard C. Schneider, Executive Director for Government Affairs,

NonCommissioned Officers Association of the United States of America

supporting the nomination of Charles Ciccolella to be Assistant Secretary

for the Veterans Employment and Training, U.S. Department of Labor ........ 38

(1)

NOMINATION OF JAMES P. TERRY, TO BE

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF VETERANS

APPEALS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS, AND CHARLES S. CICCOLELLA, TO

BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR THE VETERANS EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING, U.S.

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2005

U.S. SENATE,

COMMITTEE OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC.

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:43 a.m., in room

SR–412, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Larry Craig, (Chairman of the Committee) presiding.

Present: Senators Craig, Allen, Warner, Salazar, and Thune.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LARRY E. CRAIG,

U.S. SENATOR FROM IDAHO

Chairman CRAIG. The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

will be in order.

I apologize to all of you, but then I didn’t set the vote schedule

on the floor, and we are in a series of five votes, but I thought it

important with all assembled that we move as expeditiously as possible through this hearing, this confirmation hearing, so that the

these two gentlemen can begin their work on behalf of the America’s veterans.

Before we proceed, I would ask both of you to rise and to extend

your right hand.

[Witnesses sworn.]

Chairman CRAIG. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give the Committee at this hearing shall be

the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you

God?

Mr. TERRY. I do.

Mr. CICCOLELLA. I do.

Chairman CRAIG. Thank you, gentlemen. Please be seated.

It is my understanding that Senator Warner and Senator Allen

are en route for introductions, and we hope that holds. I am going

to put my opening statement in the record and will not give a full

statement for the sake of time this morning, but I would like to introduce to the Committee Mr. Jim Phillip Terry, nominated to be

2

Chairman of the Board of Veterans Appeals, U.S. Department of

Veterans Affairs, and Charles S. Ciccolella. Close?

Mr. CICCOLELLA. Yes, sir. That is correct.

Chairman CRAIG. All right. Nominated to be Assistant Secretary

of Labor for Veterans Employment and Training.

[The prepared statement of Senator Craig follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. LARRY E. CRAIG, U.S. SENATOR FROM IDAHO

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The Committee on Veterans, Affairs will

now come to order.

This morning we will receive testimony from two very distinguished public servants: Mr. James P. Terry, who has been nominated by the President to serve as

Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,

and Mr. Charles Ciccolella, who has been nominated by the President to serve as

the Assistant Secretary for Veterans’ Employment and Training, U.S. Department

of Labor.

The Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals serves as the head of the appellate body that renders final decisions within VA on appeals involving veterans’ benefits. The Chairman oversees more than 50 Veterans Law Judges and almost 400

attorneys and support staff. As we discussed last month at a hearing before this

Committee, it is essential that VA’s claims adjudication and appeal system provides

timely and accurate decisions to our Nation’s veterans. The Board plays an important role in that system, rendering decisions on 30 to 40 thousand appeals each

year.

It would appear to me that Mr. Terry—a former Marine officer who served in

combat in Vietnam and is a Purple Heart recipient—would bring to the Board a

wealth of experience and education. He has undergraduate and graduate degrees

from the University of Virginia, a law degree from Mercer University, and advanced

law degrees from George Washington University. After he completed his combat

service in Vietnam, he had a distinguished legal career in the Marine Corps—a legal

career which culminated with his service as legal counsel to the then-Chairman of

the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell. After his retirement from the Corps

with the rank of Colonel, he served in the Department of the Interior as Deputy

Director of the Office of Hearings and Appeals and, later, as an Administrative

Judge at the Interior Department’s Board of Land Appeals. Subsequently, he was

reunited with General Powell at the State Department where he served as Deputy

Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs.

Welcome to you, Mr. Terry.

Turning now to Mr. Ciccolella—he has been nominated to serve as the head the

Labor Department’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (‘‘VETS’’), an office

which administers national programs to help veterans find jobs and also to protect

the re-employment rights of veterans who have returned from service. Currently,

200,000 service members are leaving active duty each year and, for many, obtaining

a job will be a critical step in successfully making the transition back to civilian

life. Unfortunately, young veterans—many of them recently separated—experience

higher unemployment rates than non-veterans. And, in total, nearly 700,000 veterans of all ages are unemployed in any particular month. Obviously, there is important work to be done to help our young veterans—and all unemployed veterans—

find suitable employment.

Mr. Ciccolella is undoubtedly very familiar with the employment issues facing veterans today since he is currently the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Veterans’

Employment and Training Service. Prior to coming to ‘‘VETS’’, he served as a Senate staffer—first as Chief of Operations for the Senate Sergeant At Arms and, later,

as the Director of Information Technology Policy for the Senate Rules Committee.

More significantly, perhaps, Mr. Ciccolella served with distinction in the U.S.

Army for 28 years prior to taking on these important civilian jobs. Most notably,

he served as an Infantry Officer with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam, and

during his Vietnam service, he received, among other decorations, a Silver Star and

a Bronze Star for valor. Later he served in various command and staff positions in

the U.S., Germany, Panama, culminating in a posting as Senior Military Advisor

to the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. He retired as a Colonel in 1996 after

28 years of service. Mr. Ciccolella is a graduate of the National War College and

has an undergraduate degree from Auburn University and a graduate degree from

Central Michigan University.

Welcome to you, Mr. Ciccolella.

3

Chairman CRAIG. Senator Allen has just arrived. I have put my

statement in the record, Senator Allen. You are here. We are

pleased you are here. We will allow you the introduction you have

come to make.

STATEMENT OF HON. GEORGE ALLEN, U.S. SENATOR

FROM VIRGINIA

Senator ALLEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and it is my pleasure,

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, to recommend to

you Mr. James P. Terry, otherwise known as Jim Terry, to this

commission, in fact, as chairmanship of the Board of Veterans Appeals. Mr. Terry has an extensive legal background, as well as

service to our country in the armed services. I also would say I am

introducing him on behalf of my colleague, Senator John Warner,

who is also on his way here.

President Bush, Mr. Chairman, has nominated Mr. Terry for this

position, and he does have outstanding qualifications. I would also

note, Mr. Chairman, that you have been just a tremendous leader

in trying to address the needs of veterans, and all of us salute you

and your leadership and understand how many veterans are in

need of services. Part of those services obviously are adjudication

determinations of eligibility and claims, and there are just hundreds and hundreds of thousands of these claims, and Mr. Terry

wants the same sort of treatment, fair treatment, prompt treatment of these claims and consideration for men and women who

serve in our armed forces.

He is a Virginian, lives in Virginia, graduated from the University of Virginia in 1968 in geochemistry and then followed a family

heritage and joined the military, as has his brothers, his parents,

his father I should say, and his sister. He was in the Marines. He

had a distinguished record in the Marine Corps for 27 years. He

served in Vietnam as a combat infantry officer where he received

many distinguished honors, including the Purple Heart and Bronze

Star. He later graduated from law school at Mercer University,

served in the Marine Corps also as a judge advocate until his retirement as colonel in 1995.

During his final 4 years in the Corps, Jim had the distinct honor

to serve as legal counsel to the then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs

of Staff, Colin Powell. He retired from the Marine Corps, but his

service to our Nation did not stop. He subsequently served in the

Department of Interior as Deputy Director of the Office of Hearings

and Appeals and later as administrative judge at the Interior Department’s Board of Land Appeals.

In 2001, Jim left the Interior Department for his current position

as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for regional, global, and

functional affairs within the Bureau of Legislative Affairs.

I had the pleasure of talking with Jim before this, and what I

liked was not just his record of caring about those who served in

the military and his legal background, which is exceptional, it is

that he said he wanted to get people moving. This Court of Appeals, so to speak, this Board of Appeals, is a major, major law firm

and they have a tremendous volume of cases on their docket, and

he said he wanted to get people moving and he wants to get the

4

veterans appeals getting proper prompt action from that Board of

Appeals. That is the right attitude with the right background.

I believe some of Jim’s family members are here, as well as

friends from the Department of Interior. I believe his wife

Michelle—is Michelle here? There you are far over there. Good to

see you Michelle. His daughter, Kristen, is here and also Ambassador Niemczyk and his wife Peg are here. They don’t let all the

folks sit together, but at any rate, he has a lot of other friends from

the Department of Interior and the Department of State who have

come to support Jim.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your courtesy, your leadership,

and I think that you will find that Mr. Terry is an outstanding,

well-qualified nominee who you will want to, as usual, have swift

action on this Committee and on the floor to get him on the job on

this very important chairmanship on this Board of Appeals.

I thank you again.

Chairman CRAIG. Senator, thank you very much for taking time

out of your schedule to come to introduce Jim Terry.

Senator ALLEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman CRAIG. Before we proceed with both of these nominees,

I will turn to Mr. Ciccolella who has been nominated to serve as

head of the Labor Department’s Veterans Employees and Training

Services, an office which administers national programs to help

veterans find jobs and also to protect the re-employment rights of

veterans who have returned from service. Currently, 200,000

servicemembers are leaving active duty each year, and for many,

obtaining a job will be a critical step in successfully making the

transition back into civilian life.

Unfortunately, young veterans, many of them recently separated,

experienced higher unemployment rates than non-veterans, and in

total, nearly 700,000 veterans of all ages are unemployed at any

particular month. Obviously, there is important work to be done

here, and I wanted the Committee to have the background of this

important task.

So as I turn to both of you for your opening statements, Mr.

Terry, Mr. Ciccolella, do you have—we know that Mr. Terry has

family with them, but we would give you the privilege at this time

to introduce your family to the Committee.

Mr. Terry.

Mr. TERRY. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I am delighted

to be able to introduce my wife of 35 years, the better part of me,

Michelle, and my daughter Kristin, my youngest daughter who is

a practicing attorney and a member of the Choate, Stuart, Hall law

firm in Boston.

Chairman CRAIG. Thank you.

Mr. Ciccolella.

Mr. CICCOLELLA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to introduce my wife, Donna, of 33 years and also my extended family

at work who are seated right here with the Veterans Employment

Training Service. Thank you.

Chairman CRAIG. Thank you very much.

Mr. Terry, we are going to try to get at least one statement in

before the next vote and maybe both of you, and then I am going

to allow the Committee to stay open for any Members who wish to

5

come and make comments and/or ask questions. We won’t hold you

terribly long, but we do want the Committee to have that opportunity. So, Mr. Terry, if you would start with your opening statement, please.

STATEMENT OF JAMES P. TERRY, NOMINATED TO BE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF VETERANS APPEALS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Mr. TERRY. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I would

like to acknowledge my appreciation for Senator Allen’s very, very

kind introduction.

As I mentioned, I am here today with my bride of 35 years and

my daughter, but I am also blessed to have our dear friends, Ambassador Jay Niemczyk and his wife Peg, and colleagues from my

service with the Defense, Interior, and State Departments as well

as my present colleagues from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

I have some wonderful colleagues and friends here and I would like

to acknowledge their presence.

Sir, I am deeply honored to appear before you and as President

Bush’s nominee for the Chairman of the Board of Veterans Appeals, and I can assure you that if confirmed, I will work tirelessly

to ensure that the board provides for fair and timely adjudication

of appeals that our Nation’s veterans and their families deserve. As

a veteran of 27 years of active service myself, I consider my military experience to be the defining period of my life. It was in the

military that I recognized, sir, the tremendous sacrifice made by

the superb men and women who have committed themselves to the

defense of this Nation.

My commitment to those who serve this country is both deep and

personal. My father was a Navy pilot during World War II, and my

father-in-law, likewise, served with distinction in the Navy and

was in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. I had three brothers and

a sister who were in uniform, as I was, during the Vietnam conflict.

I have always viewed service to this Nation in whatever forum

as an obligation and honor to be shared by all Americans. It is with

this background that I totally commit to you that I will work tirelessly to ensure that the veterans law judges, the 56 veterans law

judges, the 228 staff counsel, and the many administrative support

personnel at Board of Veterans Appeals accomplish our mission to

provide high quality, fair, and timely decisions in all matters before

the board in as efficient and productive manner as possible.

Mr. Chairman, as a final arbiter on behalf of the Secretary of all

appeals and claims of veterans’ benefits, the board has a very special responsibility to guarantee that the department has provided

each appellant with a full, fair, and impartial review of their case.

They must ensure that all due process and full consideration of the

law has been provided, including the present decisions of the Court

of Appeals for Veterans Claims and other Federal Courts. If confirmed, sir, I can assure you that I will work assiduously to see

that the board meets that responsibility and we achieve total transparency in the way appeals are processed within the department.

I will work cooperatively with those involved in the adjudication

process, that is the Veterans Benefits Administration, the Veterans

6

Health Administration, the Office of General Counsel, and especially the veterans service organizations, this Committee, and

Members of Congress so that we can deliver the best and most

timely service to America’s veterans.

This is indeed a momentous responsibility, Mr. Chairman, but I

can assure that you that, if confirmed, I will uphold this trust on

behalf of all our men and women in uniform and on behalf of all

those who have served.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would be delighted to respond to

any questions you might have.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Terry follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF JAMES P. TERRY, NOMINATED TO BE CHAIRMAN OF THE

BOARD OF VETERANS APPEALS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Akaka, and Members of the Committee—and

thank you Senator Allen for those kind words of introduction.

I am joined here today by my wife of more than 35 years, Michelle. She has been

at my side for nearly all of my 37 years of Government service. I’m deeply grateful

for her support, and she is my life. Also with us today is our youngest daughter

Kristin, an attorney with Choate, Stewart, Hall in Boston. I am also honored to be

joined today by our dear friends Ambassador Jay Niemczyk and his wife Peg, and

colleagues from my service with the Defense, Interior and State Departments.

I am deeply honored to appear before you as President Bush’s nominee for Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. I can assure you, that if confirmed, I will

work tirelessly to ensure that the Board provides the fair and timely adjudication

of appeals that our Nation’s veterans and their families deserve.

As a veteran of 27 years of active service in the Marine Corps as an infantry officer and then as a judge advocate, my military experience represents the defining

period of my life. It was while in the Marine Corps that I recognized the tremendous

sacrifice made by the superb men and women who have committed themselves to

the defense of this Nation.

My commitment to those who served this country is both deep and personal. My

father was a Navy pilot during World War II and my father-in-law likewise served

with distinction in the Navy and was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. My

mother served as a designated Coast Watcher for the then-Department of War during the Second World War. During the Vietnam conflict, while I served as a Platoon

Commander with the 1st Battalion, Third Marine Regiment in Vietnam, three of my

brothers—Joel, Roy and Thomas—were also serving in uniform, as was my sister

Jean.

I have always viewed service to this Nation, in whatever form, as an obligation

and honor to be shared by all Americans. Following my retirement from the Marine

Corps, I served 6 years in the Senior Executive Service with the Department of Interior, and then rejoined General Powell for 4 years at the Department of State, having served earlier as his Legal Counsel while he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs

of Staff. Each assignment was challenging and rewarding. Now I look forward to

this opportunity to continue to serve my country and particularly to serve veterans—those to whom we as a Nation owe such a great debt.

It is with this background that I totally commit to you that I will work tirelessly

to ensure the Veterans Law Judges, staff counsel, and administrative support personnel at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals accomplish our mission to provide high

quality, fair and timely decisions in all matters before the Board in as efficient and

productive a manner as possible.

As the final arbiter on behalf of the Secretary of all appeals in claims for veterans’

benefits, the Board has a special responsibility to guarantee that the Department

has provided each appellant with full, fair and impartial review of their case. It

must ensure that all due process and full consideration of the law has been provided, including the precedent decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for

Veterans Claims and other Federal courts.

If confirmed, I will work assiduously to see that the Board meets that responsibility and that we achieve total transparency in the way appeals are processed within the Department. I will work cooperatively with all those involved in the adjudication process—the Veterans Benefits Administration, the Veterans Health Administration, the Office of General Counsel, the veterans service organizations, the ComVerDate 11-MAY-2000 07:06 Apr 07, 2006 Jkt 024579 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 C:\DOCS\24579.TXT DianeA PsN: DianeA
7

mittee and Members of Congress—so that we deliver the best and most timely service to America’s veterans.

This is indeed a momentous responsibility. But I can assure you, Mr. Chairman,

that if confirmed, I will uphold this trust on behalf of all our men and women in

uniform and on behalf of all those who have served.

Thank you Mr. Chairman, Senator Akaka, and Members of the Committee. May

I respond to your questions.

RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS FOR JAMES P. TERRY, NOMINATED TO BE

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF VETERANS APPEALS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS FROM SENATOR LARRY CRAIG

Question 1. Have you had an opportunity to assess the tenure of the Honorable

E. Dane Clark as Chairman of the Board? Do you see how your tenure would differ

from his? Do you have a sense of what your priorities will be if you are confirmed?

Answer. I had the pleasure of knowing Dane Clark as a Marine officer and serving with him in that capacity. Our total commitment to veterans is the same. My

style of management, however, is a much more hands-on approach and I will be

deeply involved in the day to day operations and decisionmaking of the Board. I am

blessed with a superb Vice Chairman, Mr. Ron Garvin, and we will work well together in continuing to shape a cohesive and efficient organization that, I assure

you, will be both productive and effective.

I can say without qualification that what I have observed is that the Board is an

organization composed of hard-working, dedicated employees who fully understand

that their role is to serve America’s veterans. We have a body of excellent attorneys

and judges who represent the single greatest concentration of expertise in the field

of veterans law. As Chairman, I will do all in my power to ensure that we get even

better.

Once confirmed, I will immediately do a bottom up review of the Board and its

operations, see where improvements can be made, and work tirelessly to see that

they are made.

I have observed that many improvements to the Board’s functioning have already

been instituted, and these will be continued and enhanced. These include an effective in-house training program, the establishment of a permanent Director of Training position, and establishment of a highly effective Quality Review Office to constantly review the decisions of the Board.

I will also work extremely closely with the heads of the Veterans Benefits Administration, the Office of General Counsel and the Veterans Health Administration to

ensure the Department’s message and service to all our veterans is cohesive and

transparent. One of the ways we will do this is through our participation in TRIAD,

a monthly meeting of top officials from the OGC, VBA, VHA and the Board that

attempts to identify and resolve issues of mutual concern to each of our offices.

Question 2. In reaching decisions on disability claims, the Board is required to

provide the benefit-of-the-doubt to the veteran and to conduct proceedings in a nonadversarial manner. If you are confirmed, do you have a sense of what measures

you would take to ensure that the culture at the Board fosters those pro-veteran

policies?

Answer. If confirmed, I will remain totally committed to the pro-veterans policies

that I have already seen very evident on the Board. The mindset of the attorneys

and Veterans Law Judges I have spoken to (and I have spoken to most) indicates

to me that their greatest priority is ensuring that veterans are well served and that

their cases are fairly adjudicated, with a commitment to applying the ‘‘benefit of the

doubt’’ rule on their behalf. I have had the opportunity over the past few weeks to

read hundreds of Board decisions to familiarize myself with each of the issues that

can arise before the Board. In each of these decisions, I have seen an attempt to

rule in favor of the veteran where that is legally possible. Our Quality Review Unit

is instrumental in ensuring this emphasis is maintained and I will work tirelessly

to ensure the law is being applied fairly and compassionately.

To maintain this positive mindset and prevent complacency requires constant

training. An improved culture requires constant, intimate involvement by an organization’s senior leadership. I assure you that this will occur.

Question 3. In testimony recently provided by VA before this Committee, it was

noted that BVA is attempting to reduce the number of ‘‘avoidable remands’’ by

working with the Veterans Benefits Administration and the Veterans Health Administration to identify the root causes of remands and to provide appropriate training. If you are confirmed, would you take steps to ensure that there is continued

and improved cooperation between BVA, VBA, and VHA? How have your experiVerDate 11-MAY-2000 07:06 Apr 07, 2006 Jkt 024579 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 C:\DOCS\24579.TXT DianeA PsN: DianeA
8

ences provided you with the skills necessary to develop and sustain those types of

collaborative relationships?

Answer. Improved cooperation with these organizations will be among my highest

priorities. In fact, we are involved now in continued cooperation through joint training efforts and this will be expanded. We will continue to maintain contact at the

highest levels to ensure the mission needs of the Board and other VA organizations

are being accomplished.

With respect to remands, each time a case file must be returned by the Board

to the Regional Office because it is not sufficiently complete to allow the Board to

render a decision fair to the veteran, significant additional time is required both by

the Board and the Regional Office. Effective training is critical here and we are participating with the VBA and the staff of the General Counsel to address key issues

with Regional Office staff to ensure, to the extent possible, files are complete when

they reach the Board.

But this is not a one way street. Our Board must focus more diligently on searching each file for that evidence which will allow a decision to be rendered. If a decision can be properly issued with available evidence, we must do so, and do so

promptly. Each case we can properly decide rather than remand to our Regional Offices is a service to our deserving veterans.

I believe my leadership style and my experience provide the qualities needed to

succeed in working with others—internally and externally. I am confident that I will

have excellent and productive relations with both Admiral Cooper, the head of the

VBA and Dr. Perlin, the head of the VHA, and the other senior leaders within the

Department. My reputation both at DoD, Interior and at State was that of a positive

leader committed to the mission with low ego needs and a lack of concern for who

gets the credit. I intend to bring that successful approach to the Board of Veterans

Appeals.

Question 4. Under current law, attorneys are not permitted to receive compensation for representing claimants at the initial stages of the VA claims adjudication

process. Do you have a sense of whether allowing attorneys into the process earlier

would have an impact—either positive or negative—on proceedings conducted before

the Board?

Answer. The Board process by law is a non-adversarial one, and the task of the

Board is to ensure that all evidence within the file is fully and fairly considered and

reviewed, with the benefit of the doubt given to the veteran in each instance. I

worry that injecting an adversarial element in the VA claims adjudication process

could result in challenges to meaningful evidence and objections to certain evidence

that could be vital to a fair and reasoned determination. The introduction of counsel

might also result in the requirement that rules of evidence and procedure be developed that could further delay the process. This could be significant in a process (to

include RO adjudications and BVA appeals) that will consider approximately

800,000 cases this year in the entire system.

Having said that, I really need some time on the job to make a meaningful assessment. I do know that the veterans service organizations (VSOs) are doing what I

view as a superb job of representation for any applicant seeking assistance at this

time.

Question 5. In a May 2005 report, the VA Inspector General found that the compensation paid for 100 percent PTSD ratings and for 100 percent ratings based on

individual unemployability is a primary factor in State-by-State variances in average compensation payments.

It is my understanding that, in view of the IG report, VA Regional Offices across

the country have been taking measures to improve consistency, especially for highly

subjective ratings like those for PTSD and IU. If you are confirmed, do you envision

the BVA implementing any particular measures in view of that IG report?

Answer. I agree that variances in awards in PTSD and IU cases have significantly

skewed the results of average compensation payments by State, especially PTSD.

The demographics of the veterans in those States have also had an effect. By that,

I mean that an older population of veterans, such as in Illinois and Indiana, who

had service in WW II and Korea, have been less likely to file PTSD claims (although

called shell-shock during those periods). That may be due to the stigma attached

to such claims at the time or to the pride of these older veterans in simply getting

on with their lives when they returned.

Whatever the reason, everyone in the Department is extremely concerned that

there is an apparent disparity in benefits with regard to certain States: e.g., Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. We are increasing assets, increasing training at

the ROs, and ensuring increased attention is paid to each of the ROs in these States

and others like Colorado where the benefit rates are lower. One effort designed to

assist in eliminating disparities is the development of specific standards for medical

9

examinations to ensure each PTSD patient is reviewed in the same way (Compensation and Pension Examination Project).

That is, by requiring examining physicians to review and examine patients using

the same protocol, we hope to bring consistency to our rating process and eliminate

disparities. As a result of the IG Report, during my stewardship we will give heightened attention to the appeals related to PTSD and IU concerns and ensure, to the

greatest extent possible, we have consistent application of our regulations regarding

their consideration for disability determinations. In that regard, we can best ensure

consistency at BVA by training, quality assurance efforts, and consultation and cooperation with our partners in the adjudication process, VBA, OGC, VHA and the

VSO’s.

Question 6. Do you have any conflicts of interest which you have not fully disclosed to the Committee? Do you know of any other matter which, if known to the

Committee, might affect the Committee’s recommendation to the Senate with respect to your nomination?

Answer. No.

Question 7. Have you fully and accurately provided financial and other information requested by the Committee, and do you now affirm that the information provided is complete, accurate, and provided in a form designed not to evade or deceive?

Answer. Yes.

Question 8. Do you agree to supply the Committee such non-privileged information, materials, and documents as may be requested by the Committee in its oversight and legislative capacities for so long as you may serve in the position for which

you now seek confirmation?

Answer. Yes.

Question 9. Do you agree to appear before the Committee at such times and concerning such matters as the Committee might request for so long as you serve in

the position for which you now seek confirmation?

Answer. Yes.

RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS FOR JAMES P. TERRY, NOMINATED TO BE

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF VETERANS APPEALS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS FROM HON. SENATOR DANIEL AKAKA

Question 1. I am concerned that the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA) does not

have enough employees to process appeals timely and accurately. Can additional

hiring be anticipated this year? Will this be reflected in the President’s Budget? If

not, where will the funding for these employees come from?

Answer. Although the Board does not anticipate hiring additional personnel during fiscal year 2006, the Board does have sufficient personnel to enable it to process

appeals in a timely and accurate manner. Through the use of incentives and sound

management, the Board has demonstrated in the past that that it can improve its

performance, and the Board will continue to do so during the upcoming year.

The Administration’s fiscal year 2006 budget submission does not significantly increase the Board’s budget allocation, which will remain at approximately $50 million. The personnel profile for the Board for fiscal year 2006 calls for 434 personnel.

The currently authorized end-strength for fiscal year 2005 for Board personnel is

440. Despite this reduction, we believe the Board’s performance, as reflected by the

VACOLS (Veterans Appeals Control and Locator System) data, will continue to improve in the same way it has done over the years. For example, in Fiscal Year 1994,

the Board issued about 22,000 decisions. The Board’s pending caseload stood at

47,000, and the measure of timeliness then used—average response time—was 781

days. By Fiscal Year 1998, the Board’s timeliness markedly improved and the pending caseload was down to less than 30,000 cases. The Board issued 38,886 decisions,

and held 4,875 hearings. Appeals resolution time was 687 days.

In contrast, the Board issued 38,371 decisions in fiscal year 2004. The Board also

conducted 7,259 hearings—a substantial increase from 1998. Appeals resolution

time decreased to 529 days. Cycle time (the time the appeal is at the Board) was

reduced to 98 days. Cases pending at the end of fiscal year 2004 stood at 21,430.

And the Board did this with 43 fewer FTEs than in 1998. The fiscal year 2005 performance, when finally closed out on September 30, 2005, will be similar.

The Board made these improvements despite several significant challenges, including the impact of the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000, and the initiation

and termination of evidence development at the Board due to the decision of the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Disabled American Veterans v.

Principi. There are several reasons for the significant increase in productivity over

10

this period of time, including changes in procedures to increase efficiency, training,

incentives, and sound management. As a result of these changes, the Board’s Veterans Law Judges and counsel staff were able to increase productivity over historical levels by 20 percent for staff counsel, and 25 percent for the VLJs, while at the

same time not sacrificing quality. The average number of decisions per employee increased from 49.9 in fiscal year 1994 and 80.5 in fiscal year 1998, to 87.8 in fiscal

year 2004. The number of hearings held also increased, with video-conference hearings nearly doubling since 1998.

Through incentives and sound management, the Board will continue to improve

over past performance. It will do so by eliminating avoidable remands, strengthening infra-agency partnerships, writing shorter and more concise decisions, utilizing employee incentive mentoring and training programs, making judicious use

of overtime, and by increasing the use of paralegals.

The Board believes these measures will work to reduce the backlog and shorten

the time it takes for a veteran to receive a well-reasoned and final Board decision.

The Board also will continue working to develop new and creative solutions to the

challenges faced in order to fulfill its statutory mission to hold hearings and provide

timely, high quality decisions to the Nation’s veterans and their families.

Question 2. Can you explain BVA and its system for docketing cases? I understand that BVA generally decides appeals in the order in which they are received

from VA regional offices (ROs). When a case is received from a regional office it is

given a docket number. If that case is later appealed to the Court of Appeals for

Veterans Claims and remanded back to BVA, it appears that BVA issues a new

docket number. If that case is later appealed to the Court of Appeals for Veterans

Claims and remanded back to the BVA, it appears that BVA issues a new docket

number and that veteran goes to the back of the line at BVA rather than retaining

his earlier docket number and receiving near immediate review. This can add as

much as 3 to 5 years to the veteran’s claim being resolved. Do you support remanded cases retaining their initial docket numbers in order to reduce lengthy

waits for final decisions?

Answer. When a decision of the Board is appealed to the Court, and then remanded to the Board, on remand the case is assigned the same docket number that

it had when the case was previously considered by the Board. Similarly, if the Court

remands a case to the Board and if the Board then remands that case to the originating agency on a specific issue and the same issue is ultimately returned to the

Board, the original docket number is retained. The same is true where the Board,

on its own, remands the case on a specific issue to the originating agency.

However, by case law, where a case was originally remanded, for example, on the

issue of service connection and is subsequently returned to the Board on a ‘‘downstream issue’’—i.e., one that had not been considered by the Board or Court in their

decision—such as the disability rating or effective date assigned following an award

of service connection, a new docket number is assigned by the Regional Office. A

new docket number is assigned because the appeal is being made with respect to

a completely different issue than that originally filed with the Board, and is initiated by the filing of a new Notice of Disagreement (NOD). The service connection

claim is closed out on the Board’s computerized tracking system as a grant of benefits and the new issue or issues are then separately identified with a new docket

number. The docket number is automatically assigned by the computerized tracking

system in accordance with the date that a substantive appeal has been received.

The tracking system is unable to distinguish between new issues and so-called

‘‘downstream issues.’’

VA has not been able to devise a technical tracking system to address this problem. VA also does not have the resources to manually screen all appeals to determine whether a case is being returned on a downstream issue, as we process nearly

40,000 appeals each year. However, when we are advised by the appellant or his

or her representative that the returned case involves a ‘‘downstream issue,’’ the

Board takes prompt action to manually change the docket number to that of the

original appeal.

Question 3. The claims process can be very lengthy and burdensome both for veterans and those processing claims. Do you have any suggestions for Congress to improve this process so the Board can adjudicate claims more efficiently and effectively?

Answer. Unfortunately, until I am confirmed and have the opportunity to more

carefully study the Board’s operations and address its overall current and future

needs with the Department and Board leadership, as well as any current legislative

limitations on the effective operation of the Board of Veteran’s Appeal, it is premature for me to comment on the specific legislative requirements to make the

Board more effective and responsive to the needs of our veterans. I do promise,

11

though, Senator Akaka, once confirmed and as soon as I have had the opportunity

to carefully examine the legislative needs of the Board, I will arrange to meet with

you and your staff to address those needs and provide whatever insights I have

gained and any legislative suggestions I may have.

RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS FOR JAMES P. TERRY, NOMINATED TO BE

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF VETERANS APPEALS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS FROM SENATOR PATTY MURRAY

Question 1. Mr. Terry, I want to first thank you and your family for your service

to this country. I am worried about our current veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan

not having access to the disability compensation they deserve. What steps do you

think the Department of Defense, the VA and others need to make to ensure that

those veterans get the compensation they deserve? Do you have concerns that veterans are getting compensation they do not deserve and are not entitled to?

Answer. Thank you Senator Murray for your kind words. I believe that the Department of Defense and VA share a deep concern that those veterans returning

from our current battlefronts, as well as all those who served our country in uniform, receive all the benefits to which they are entitled. A number of programs are

in place to assist those transitioning from active service to veteran status to receive

the benefits to which they are entitled. These include the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) and Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP), which are administered by the Veterans Benefits Administration in conjunction with the Department

of Defense.

I believe the function of the VA’s adjudication system is to ensure that all appellants receive the benefits to which they are entitled. As you know, no system is perfect. Sometimes, veterans do not get the benefits to which they are entitled and, at

times, a few get benefits to which they are not entitled. The appeals process exists

to see that a disinterested tribunal takes another look at the case in which a benefit

was denied and that any error is corrected. The issue of an erroneous grant of benefits generally is not seen during appellate review unless those benefits are severed.

Hence, to directly answer your question, given the frailty of human nature, some

veterans may be receiving benefits to which they are not entitled.

That said, the Department is working hard to prevent erroneous payments by

identifying systemic problems and by training adjudicators to avoid repeat errors.

Question 2. Mr. Terry, 2 months ago in my office we were discussing the effects

of PTSD on veterans. We were talking about the mental health disability claims

being made and you said that your father went off to war and came back home to

work on your farm. And then stated you went off to war and came back. And then

you said that your father was fine when he came back and you were fine when you

came back. Can you clarify what you meant by that comment?

Answer. I stated that it appears from the May 19, 2005 IG Report that the World

War II generation of which my father was a part did not file nearly the number

or percentage of PTSD claims (shell-shock at that time) as subsequent generations

have, although the stress of war was equally applicable to those brave Americans.

Part of the rationale for the smaller number of such claims for these older veterans

may have been the stigma attached to mental afflictions at that time. Those States

with a higher percentage of PTSD claimants tend to have a much higher per capita

benefit payment rate than those with few PTSD claimants. This may explain why

the States with the high demographics of World War II and Korean War veterans,

like Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, for example, do not have as high a benefit

payment rate as some other states. If confirmed, I will ensure that the Board’s Veterans’ Law Judges fairly adjudicate all PTSD claims. Those veterans who have

PTSD as a result of an in-service stressor are entitled to receive compensation from

VA and I will strive to ensure they do.

I mentioned to you that I had been severely wounded in Vietnam but that I had

received excellent care and that I was fine.

Question 3. I asked you to explain what you meant during that conversation in

May and you stated that in the latest VA Inspector General’s Report—the May 19,

2005 VA Inspector General’s Review of State Variances in VA Disability Compensation Payments—the Inspector General’s Office stated that there was a trend toward

veterans with 100 percent PTSD to stop seeking VA Medical Care for their ailments

once they received 100 percent disability compensation. Can you clarify for this

Committee what you meant by that statement?

Answer. One of the concerns that senior leaders in the Department have for all

claimants seeking medical benefits is the desire to ensure that they are successfully

treated for their disabilities and that where possible, these veterans can return to

12

productive healthy lives. One concern noted in the May 19 IG report was the finding

that a large percentage of veterans, having been determined to be 100 percent disabled as a result of PTSD, cease taking advantage of the treatment and continuing

VA medical care that is available to them. This is a major concern if we are truly

concerned about our continuing obligation to provide effective care to our disabled

veterans.

Question 4. Mr. Terry, after our discussion, I was left with the impression that

perhaps you did not consider PTSD to be as pressing a healthcare need as our veterans’ physical injuries. I’d like to hear you clarify for everyone here your views on

PTSD. Do you believe that veterans who suffer from PTSD deserve disability compensation equal to compensation for physical injuries?

Answer. Senator Murray, I am truly sorry if I left you with that impression as

it was certainly not my intent. I believe that all disabilities incurred in or as a result of military service are of equal concern and all must be fully and appropriately

compensated. I believe that PTSD is one of the most important of our health care

concerns, and one only has to look at the number of claimants and the severity of

their disabilities to reach this conclusion. All disabilities, whether mental or physical, are compensated based on their severity and how they affect a veteran’s ability

to earn a living. Generally, this is determined by comparing the manifestations of

the disability with the criteria in the applicable regulations, also known as the

Schedule for Rating Disabilities. Where the disabling effects of a disability or disabilities are not adequately compensated under the Schedule for Rating Disabilities,

an additional or extra-scheduler rating may be assigned. As I’m sure you are aware,

the rating criteria provide for a maximum evaluation of 100 percent for psychiatric

disorders, which is greater than the scheduler rating for many physical disorders,

including, for example, disabilities such as the loss of a leg. I believe that this reflects the fact that a physical disability is often easier to overcome than a psychic

trauma, which may affect every aspect of a person’s life and severely limit their employability.

Question 5. Mr. Terry, what lessons do you think we can learn from our current

appeals process that may help prevent our current soldiers, sailors, airman and marines from having to go through the same grueling appeals process 20, 30, or 40

years from now?

Answer. We all agree that the appeals process takes too long. We need to identify

where the delays are, what is causing them and what remedial steps are needed

to improve the process while still safeguarding veterans’ rights. We must ensure

that our adjudication personnel are thoroughly trained and have the resources to

do their jobs. It is also important to have our veterans thoroughly examined at the

time of discharge to assist them with their application for service connected disability benefits. I know VBA, VHA, and the Board are working on examination protocols to ensure consistency and accuracy with physical exams. I will look closely

at that program to see if additional improvements can be implemented. I am similarly aware that BVA and VBA have been developing corrective training programs

that are being aggressively delivered. I intend to build on that tradition. At this

point, however, until I am confirmed and have the opportunity to more carefully

study the entire VA adjudication process, including the Board’s operations and current and future needs, it is premature for me to comment on the specific elements

of these initiatives to reform the adjudication process to make it more effective and

responsive to the needs of our veterans. Senator Murray, once I have been confirmed and as soon as I have had the opportunity to carefully examine the adjudication process, I will be happy to meet with you or your staff to discuss whatever insights I have gained regarding possible reforms for its improvement.

Question 6. What steps will you take to reduce the current backlog of appeals, currently at 24,846 cases, that are pending at the BVA while maintaining and or improving the quality of BVA decisions?

Answer. Although I have had only a short time to directly acquaint myself with

the Board, I am very impressed with the dedication, professionalism and commitment to our Nation’s veterans that typify the Board’s employees. I can assure you,

when confirmed, the Board will continue working to develop new and creative solutions to the challenges faced in order to fulfill its statutory mission to hold hearings

and provide timely, high quality decisions to the Nation’s veterans and their families.

The Board has come a long way. In Fiscal Year 1998, the Board’s pending caseload stood at 30,000 cases. That year, the Board issued 38,886 decisions, and held

4,875 hearings. Appeals resolution time was 687 days. In fiscal year 2004, the Board

issued 38,371 decisions, conducted 7,259 hearings—a substantial increase from

1998—and appeals resolution time decreased to 529 days. Cycle time (the time the

appeal is at the Board and not being reviewed by the veteran’s representative) was

13

reduced to 98 days. Cases pending at the end of fiscal year 2004 stood at 21,430.

The Board did this with 43 fewer FTEs than in 1998. The fiscal year 2005 performance, when finally closed out on September 30, 2005, will be similar.

The Board made these improvements despite several significant challenges, including the impact of the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000, and the initiation

and termination of evidence development at the Board due to the decision of the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Disabled American Veterans v. Principi.

The Board did not do this alone, but had much help from (1) the Congress, providing unqualified support for veterans and their families, (2) veterans service organizations (VSO’s), which represent about 85 percent of all appellants before the

Board, (3) the VA leadership, that supports improvements in the appeals process to

ensure that veterans receive timely and quality decisions, and (4) the staff at the

Board, including the 56 Veterans Law Judges, 228 counsel, and 154 administrative

support staff. Through their efforts, productivity increased, over historic levels, by

20 percent for staff counsel, and by 25 percent for the VLJs. The number of hearings

held has also increased, with videoconference hearings nearly doubling since 1998.

The average number of decisions per employee increased from 80.5 in fiscal year

1998, to 87.3 in fiscal year 2004. Decision quality at the Board has improved from

an 88 percent error free rate in 1998 to a 90 percent rate in 2005, and, as noted

above, the Board’s cycle time is a little over 3 months.

If confirmed, I will ensure that the Board continues to improve over past performance. We will do so through the use of appropriate incentives and sound management. We will do so by eliminating avoidable remands, strengthening infra-agency

partnerships, writing shorter and more concise decisions, utilizing employee incentives, mentoring and training programs, making judicious use of overtime, and by

increasing the use of paralegals.

I believe that these measures will be successful in reducing the backlog and shortening the time it takes for a veteran to receive a well-reasoned and final Board decision.

Question 7. Mr. Terry, Veteran Service Organization (VSO’s) represent a large

number of BVA appellants. What is your experience with the VSO community and

what steps will you take to foster/maintain a professional working relationship between BVA staff and the VSO representatives?

Answer. The Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) are the voices of America’s

veterans. They provide free, high quality representation to about 85 percent of appellants before the Board. Although they are not lawyers, they are experts in veterans law and their success rate reflects this—in fact, it meets or exceeds that of

private attorneys.

The Board enjoys an excellent working relationship with the VSOs, both in the

field and with those that have appeals units that are co-located at the Board’s offices in Washington. Board personnel interact with VSO representatives on a daily

basis. We have quarterly meetings with the VSO representatives, as well as members of the private bar that wish to attend, to discuss issues of VSO concern, answer

questions and advise them of developments in BVA procedures and policies.

I can assure you, Senator Murray, that if confirmed, I will ensure that this relationship will continue. Again, if confirmed, I will meet with the leaders of the major

VSO’s to discuss how we can work together to see that we will continue to work

together for the benefit of the veterans we both serve.

Question 8. Mr. Terry, what steps will you take to reduce the number of BVA decisions that are remanded by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) due

to BVA deficiencies?

Answer. Senator Murray, if confirmed, I will do all in power to reduce avoidable

remands, both those from the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) to the

Board and those from the Board to the VA Regional Offices. I believe that the best

approach to ensure that we get it right the first time is through training. The Board

has a very robust training program in place. It involves mentoring and developing

new counsel and judges, periodic training for all professional staff on new and challenging areas of veterans law, and substantive training in both veterans law and

legal writing. We have cooperative training endeavors with the Office of General

Counsel, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the Veterans Health Administration to improve the competence of adjudicators throughout the VA system. As

Chairman, I would continue and expand our efforts in this critical area.

One cautionary note—while some CAVC remands are the result of Board error,

many are not. Frequently, court remands are based on changes in the law from that

which was in effect when the BVA decision was rendered. An example is the

Holliday decision, which created an avalanche of Court remands directing VA to

comply with the Veterans Claims Assistance Act (VCAA), which was not in existVerDate 11-MAY-2000 07:06 Apr 07, 2006 Jkt 024579 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 C:\DOCS\24579.TXT DianeA PsN: DianeA
14

ence at the time the BVA decision was made. Others are based on a difference in

judgment between the reviewing judge at the CAVC and the deciding VLJ at the

Board as to the interpretation of the law, whether the reasons or bases for the

Board decision were adequately explained or whether all due process was accorded.

About 60 percent of remands are never seen by a CAVC judge, but represent actions

by the attorneys involved in the case to dispose of the appeal. Finally, given the

delays in the system, the CAVC is reviewing BVA decisions that may have been

issued years ago.

The Board does track the reasons for each Court remand. While we have much

to learn from remands, we need a more immediate source of feedback to improve

our quality. The Board is working cooperatively with VA’s Office of General Counsel,

particularly Professional Staff Group VII, which represents the Secretary before the

Court, Professional Staff Group II, which handles Compensation and Pension issues,

and VBA to see what we can do to avoid remands whenever possible from the

CAVC. This is an extension of the avoidable remand project that is ongoing with

the Veterans Benefits Administration.

RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS FOR JAMES P. TERRY, NOMINATED TO BE

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF VETERANS APPEALS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

AFFAIRS FROM SENATOR KEN SALAZAR

Question 1. Colorado Average Benefit. A recent VA Inspector General report found

significant differences in compensation payments across the States. Colorado is one

of those that falls below the national average. Veterans in Colorado get an average

of $4000 less than veterans in New Mexico do. Why. What steps do you propose in

response to the report and specifically, what can the VA do to improve the situation

in Colorado?

Answer. The compensation determinations which were the subject of the IG comparison are made at our Regional Offices (ROs) of the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) in each of our States and in certain of our territories (e.g., Guam and

Puerto Rico), which are under the authority of the Under Secretary for Benefits. The

Board of Veterans’ Appeals can only influence these determinations if they are appealed to the Board and the Board overturns the RO determination and grants the

benefits sought.

The statistics referred to place Colorado at 34 of 50 States for fiscal year 2004

with an average payout of just under $8000 ($7,944) per veteran in fiscal year 2004.

The national average was $8,378. New Mexico ranked first at $12,004. The May

2005 IG Report found that a number of demographic and benefit rating factors help

explain the variances in State average annual disability compensation payments.

One of the most significant,—the age of a veteran receiving benefits—is a variable

that the VA has virtually no control over. Statistics do show, however, that States

with a larger percentage of older veterans who served in the Second World War and

the Korean Conflict tend to receive less in benefits because they tend not to request

benefits related to psychiatric trauma. For whatever reason, veterans from these

conflicts tended to return to their homes and resume their lives without consideration of post-traumatic stress claims (called shell-shock during those conflicts).

PTSD claims make up a significant percentage of claims from recent era veterans,

to include Vietnam and the first Gulf War. In fact, data indicates that Vietnam veterans receive, on average, $2328 more in annual compensation payments than veterans in the next highest period of service. New Mexico has 41 percent of its veterans receiving benefits from the Vietnam period, while Colorado has 32.5 percent.

Moreover, New Mexico has 18.2 percent of its total compensation recipients in receipt of compensation for PTSD, while Colorado has only 6.7 percent.

Other factors identified by the IG Report included the rate at which veterans receiving disability submitted new disability claims (those States where veterans receiving benefits submitted additional claims received greater compensation), the period of service (Vietnam ‘‘VETS’’ tend on average to receive greater benefits because

of extensive PTSD awards), whether the disability claimants had dependents (those

with dependents received more), and whether the recipient had a number of service

connected disabilities, vice a single claimed disability (the more disabilities, the

higher the average disability payment). In each of these areas, New Mexico ranked

near the top and Colorado in the middle.

The key to ensuring all Colorado citizens are treated fairly is to ensure that every

RO in each State is providing the same message to every veteran and providing the

same standard when assessing their claim. The VBA is constantly providing training to its ROs across the country to ensure that the same rating factors, the same

15

application of the factors to disabilities reviewed, and the same assessment techniques are used consistently in each RO.

The Board of Veterans Appeals is a participant with VBA in this process as we

have consistently utilized attorneys and Veterans Law Judges, when they visit the

various ROs to conduct Travel Board hearings, to spend a portion of their time sharing information with staff personnel at the ROs and providing any desired training

that could prove helpful to their adjudication process. We are also participating with

VBA and the Office of General Counsel to provide broadcast training to all the ROs.

We are participating in a joint effort with VBA and the Veterans Health Administration to develop a comprehensive protocol for examinations for PTSD and other

psychiatric disorders to ensure the same standards are applied in each such examination. We are committed to ensuring, to the extent possible, the claims adjudication process is totally transparent and consistent across State lines.

Question 2. Mental Health Variance. One of the key factors identified in the

O.I.G. report was the fundamental subjectivity of claims decisions in certain areas,

such as mental health and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. What steps do you propose to improve training and communication across the system to reduce this variability and improve consistency?

Unlike certain physical disorders that may have clear-cut manifestations, the

evaluation of psychiatric disorders often involves a significant element of judgment.

While attempts have been made to add a greater degree of objectivity into the evaluation process, such as, for example, by the 1996 revisions of VA regulations for the

evaluation of psychiatric disorders, a subjective element still remains.

I agree that communication and training are the best approach to ensuring consistency throughout the adjudication process. We need to focus on these issues as

part of our continuing monthly ‘‘Triad’’ meetings with the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), and the Veterans Health

Administration (VHA). In this way, we may design appropriate vehicles for training

for all those involved in the adjudication system. These efforts would continue our

ongoing joint satellite broadcasts to BVA and VBA, as well as the ongoing CPEP

(Compensation and Pension Examination Project), which is a joint effort to train the

medical professionals involved in the compensation examination process. The Board

would continue its training of VBA and VHA personnel during trips to the Regional

Offices to conduct Travel Board hearings, as well as our comprehensive program of

in-house training for our judges and staff counsel.

Question 3. Incentives for Performance. This Committee has heard a number of

suggestions for reform of the adjudication process. One of those is setting time limits

for each stage of the adjudication and appeals process. What is your reaction to that

suggestion? What are other suggestions do you have for moving the administrative

process forward and creating incentives for high performance?

The Board has in place a robust program for providing incentives for high performance. These include participation in a variety of VA, OPM and other training

programs, financial incentives, and public recognition for a job well done. We believe

that such incentives contributed to the Board’s success in increasing productivity

over historic levels by about 25 percent for our Veterans Law Judges and 20 percent

for our staff counsel. If confirmed as Chairman, I certainly will continue and improve on this highly successful program.

Unfortunately, until I am confirmed and have the opportunity to more carefully

study the entire VA adjudication process, including the Board’s operations and current and future needs, it is premature for me to comment on the specific initiatives

to reform the adjudication process to make it more effective and responsive to the

needs of our veterans. At present, the Board’s cycle time—the time it takes the

Board to issue a decision from its receipt of the file (excluding the time taken for

review by the appellant’s representative)—is about 100 days. The setting of a time

limit for this stage of the process would appear to be unnecessary. Furthermore, I

am at a loss to speculate as to the remedy for a failure to meet time limits. Certainly, neither the Board nor the VBA would be permitted to grant benefits if the

evidence of record does not support such action. This is an issue I must consider

if confirmed. I do promise, though, Senator Salazar, once confirmed and as soon as

I have had the opportunity to carefully examine the adjudication process, I will be

happy to meet with you or your staff to discuss whatever insights I have gained regarding possible reforms for its improvement.

Question 4. Simplifying the Appeals Process. There have been a number of suggestions for simplifying the remanding process and streamlining the appeals process.

What is your response to proposals to place Administrative Law Judges in Regional

Offices to decentralize the Board’s decisionmaking authority? In a perfect world,

what would you recommend?

16

Answer. I do not see the merit in the proposal to place BVA’s Veterans Law

Judges in VA Regional Offices (ROs). In fact, I think it is a bad idea.

The existing appeals process, with layers of review, was established, in part, to

promote claimant confidence in the decisions reached on claims by ensuring fairness

and integrity. Decentralization or regionalization of the Board by placing VLJs at

the ROs could affect the appearance of Board independence by creating a perception

in the minds of appellants and their representatives that the Board is an extension

of the RO and not a separate and independent body that exists to fairly and impartially consider their appeals.

Decentralization or regionalization would also pose substantial challenges to BVA

in maintaining the efficiency of its operations. Given the rapid changes in veterans

law and the complexity of the VA disability system, it is advantageous for VLJs to

be able to function in a collegial environment where they have the opportunity for

a quick and free exchange of ideas and information. The ability of VLJs and counsel

to instantly communicate and exchange views enables the Board to quickly adapt

to changes in the law. This kind of environment fosters consistency in understanding and application of the law. Regionalization of the Board will also create

a host of logistical problems that do not exist in a centralized environment. Regionalization could cause a need for additional expenditures to provide necessary support services and legal research resources at multiple locations. We would also predict difficulties managing the case flow to and from VLJs and difficulties in conducting quality reviews.

It is hard to understand exactly what improvements would result from basing

VLJs at Regional Offices. VBA Decision Review Officers and Rating Specialists are

sufficiently qualified to determine whether necessary development has taken place

or whether legal requirements have been met, and improvements in the quality of

RO claims adjudication can be achieved by training and quality review. In fact, VBA

and BVA have recently developed a plan to reduce avoidable remands. This plan

includes training, better documentation of certain determinations in the claims folder, better attention to certification of appeals by VBA Regional Office appeals staff,

and some changes in guidance.

At this point, as I noted in my response to the previous question, until I am confirmed and have the opportunity to more carefully study the entire VA adjudication

process, it is premature for me to suggest specific initiatives to streamline the system. I can assure you that VA will carefully consider all available options for improvement in order to provide the best possible service to and ensure the rights of

our Nation’s veterans and their families. Again, Senator Salazar, once confirmed

and as soon as I have had the opportunity to carefully examine the adjudication

process, I will be happy to meet with you or your staff to discuss whatever insights

I have gained regarding possible approaches to streamlining the appeals process.

Chairman CRAIG. Mr. Terry, thank you very much.

Now we turn to you, Mr. Ciccolella, nominated to be the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans Employment and Training.

Please proceed.

STATEMENT OF CHARLES S. CICCOLELLA, NOMINATED TO BE

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR VETERANS EMPLOYMENT AND

TRAINING, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Mr. CICCOLELLA. Thank you, Senator Craig. Thank you and the

Committee for considering my nomination. I want to thank all the

Members of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee because you

always have been very responsive to our budget requests and any

other issues that have come up where we have needed assistance

from the Congress, both on the House side and the Senate side.

As you know, sir, I am joined by my wife Donna of 33 years. I

am also joined by a number of the professional staff at the Veterans Employment Training Service at the Department of Labor.

These are dedicated veterans themselves. We work pretty tirelessly

to make sure that veterans receive priority service in the labor exchange.

I am very honored to be nominated for this position. Like Jim,

my family has a long tradition of military service. My dad was a

17

Major General in the Army and fought in World War II, actually

captured General Von Rundstedt at the end of the war. My fatherin-law and my brother-in-law both served in the Navy, my dad and

my father-in-law in World War II and Korea and my brother-in-law

saw action in Vietnam, as I did, and as my two brothers also did

in Vietnam. We were all commissioned as infantry officers.

So the values of the military have really defined our lives, and

that is why it is an honor for me to be nominated to be the Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment and Training. If the Senate confirms my nomination, it will be my privilege to lead this organization.

I have been very fortunate to have been the Deputy Assistant

Secretary of ‘‘VETS,’’ or the Veterans Employment Training Service, for the past 4 years. In that time, I think we have made some

very good progress. We still have a long way to go. In order to improve our entered employments and our retention rates, we simply

must better integrate the services of the veteran employment representatives that are hired by the States within the Workforce Investment System.

The Workforce Investment System is a $15 billion investment

every year. There are 19 Federal programs involved in that and

veterans receive priority of service in each of those programs, but

it is a big matter of making certain that our veteran employment

representatives understand that and also that those in the workforce system understand that. Secretary Chao and the President,

the Veterans Employment Training Service, and all of the partners

in the one-stop career centers are working very hard to make this

a very integrated service.

Also, I think it is very important, and you mentioned the group

of young veterans who are recently separated, particularly that age

cohort of 20 to 24, we need to focus on them because they do have

a higher rate of unemployment. We have looked very carefully at

the reasons for that, and there are some reasons for it, but we have

got to address that problem and we need to address it in the transition programs. We also need to look at a change in the way business has been done with the reserve component units, and I know

you have the 116th Brigade in Idaho and other Senators have a

number of units in the Guard and the Reserve in their states who

have deployed to Iraq. These individuals have deployed for 6

months or a year or more, and when they come back, they are assured and the law provides for their jobs back, not only their jobs,

but the jobs that they would have had but for the military service.

We have done a very good job in getting the word out about the

Uniform Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act,

servicemembers’ rights and the obligations of the employers, but

we need to do a better job and we need to look at the requirements

for the Guard and Reserve with regard to their transition, because

many of them come back and they have got higher levels of skills.

They have a tremendous amount of management experience. In

many cases, they have great leadership skills now, and so they

want to change jobs, but in a sense, they may be first-time or second-time entrants into the workforce and need a little bit of help

with their networking skills and their resume writing.

18

So we are responding now to the State Adjutant Generals on an

as-needed basis and we are working with the Defense Department

to make sure that we come up with a program that addresses their

needs.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, we need to focus our most intensive efforts on those who are seriously injured. We have 13,000

servicemembers from the Iraqi conflict who are injured. Eighteen

hundred or more are seriously injured. We have 482 amputees. I

know that the Senators and yourself have been out to Walter Reed

and you have seen these young folks. They don’t see themselves as

being disabled. We need to make sure that there is a path and a

life for them and that they have meaningful jobs and meaningful

careers.

In my lifetime, I have never seen soldiers and veterans held in

higher esteem. I think we have a tremendous opportunity today to

ensure that the level of service that is provided to veterans with

regard to employment can be raised to a much higher bar. We have

the commitment of the Secretary of Labor, and the entire Labor

Department. I know we also have the commitment of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Homeland Security to make that happen.

I would just conclude by telling you, Mr. Chairman, I am very

honored to have been nominated by President Bush for this position, and if confirmed by the Senate, I pledge my full cooperation

with the Senate, my responsiveness to both the Senate and the

House, Veterans Committee and my full dedication to this job.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Ciccolella follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHARLES S. CICCOLELLA, NOMINATED TO BE ASSISTANT

SECRETARY FOR VETERANS EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Good morning Chairman Craig, Ranking Member Akaka, and Members of the

Committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Committee today. I thank the

Committee for considering my nomination and for the courtesies that have been extended to me.

I also thank all members of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee for their effective oversight of the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service. This Committee and the Congress have always supported our budget requests and you have

acted on important legislation that has benefited veterans and transitioning military members.

I am joined today by my wife Donna. I am very fortunate and deeply grateful for

her wisdom and her support for the past 33 years of our marriage, and she is my

closest adviser.

Donna and our daughter Connie always allowed and helped me pursue my passion for serving my fellow soldiers when I was in the military. Today, both Donna

and Connie have their own careers in government service, but they support me in

the same way in my efforts to serve our nation’s veterans and transitioning service

members, many of whom have not been as fortunate as I.

I’m speaking especially about those who come back from the military with serious

injuries and disabilities. I’m speaking about our veterans who have barriers to employment, including those who have become homeless.

I AM HONORED TO BE NOMINATED

My family has a long a tradition of military service to our country. My father was

an Infantry officer who fought in North Africa and Germany in World War II, and

later rose to the rank of Major General. My father in law served in the Navy and

saw action in both World War II and Korea. My brother in law served in the U.S.

Navy and saw action in Vietnam. My two brothers and I each were commissioned

in the Infantry through Army ROTC. Each of us is a combat veteran of Vietnam

and each rose to the rank of Colonel.

19

The values of the military have defined our lives. We know firsthand the unwavering commitment, professionalism and honor with which American soldiers serve.

We are a family with well over 100 years of military service. We understand the

blessings of freedom and the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform.

We know and love our fellow soldiers and veterans. They are the best of America.

That is why it is such an honor for me to be nominated by President Bush to be

Assistant Secretary of Veterans’ Employment and Training, so I may continue to

build on the success of this Administration in providing the highest quality of employment services to our Nation’s veterans.

If the Senate confirms my nomination, it will be my privilege to lead the Veterans’

Employment and Training Service. I pledge my full commitment to helping

transitioning military members and veterans find better jobs and the training needed for those jobs.

That is, after all, what the Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and

Training Service (‘‘VETS’’) is charged with doing—helping veterans and

transitioning servicemembers with the resources and services they need to succeed

in the 21st century workforce. ‘‘VETS’’ is a small agency, with a very big job.

GOALS FOR THE VETERANS’ EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING SERVICE

I have been fortunate to have served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of ‘‘VETS’’

for the past 4 years. We have made much progress in those 4 years, but challenges

remain. With the help of the ‘‘VETS’ ’’ professional staff, and the collaboration of the

Departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, and Homeland Security, we will meet

those challenges.

If confirmed by the Senate, I will strive to achieve three primary goals:

•To better integrate the services of the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program

(DVOP) specialists and Local Veterans Employment Representatives (LVER) in the

One Stop Career Centers. This will require better training for our DVOPs and

LVERs and it will result in a higher quality of employment services to veterans by

the entire Career One Stop System. •To improve transition assistance services for Active Duty, Reserve and National

Guard members who are moving from the military to civilian life. We also must continue to ensure all servicemembers and veterans understand their employment and

reemployment rights. •To focus our intensive employment services and personal, face to face assistance

for those service members who are recently separated from the military—and for

those veterans who need our help the most—those who have been seriously wounded or injured and those with significant barriers to employment, including homeless

veterans.

In working to achieve each of these goals, we must focus on how better to reach

employers so they are actively involved in making the veteran employment connection.

VISION FOR ‘‘VETS’’

These are my goals and they are actually continuing goals for me. I understand

the enormous responsibility of making sure we achieve these goals and get this

right. My vision for the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service is, and has

been, to change the manner in which employment and training services are delivered to veterans. We want to improve upon the traditional idea of service delivery

by embracing a 21st century model that is focused on equipping veterans with the

resources they will actually need to be successful in their chosen career field.

This vision is widely shared in the Department of Labor. Secretary Chao and the

Labor Department are working hard to advance and support the public workforce

system’s provision of priority of service to veterans through education, outreach and

better services. We are working hard with the State Workforce Agencies to expand

the number of veterans who use these services, and to ensure they have access to

the full array of resources.

WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS, BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN

Four years ago, approximately 3 in 10 veterans using the workforce system were

being placed into jobs. Today, nearly 6 in 10 are entering employment. We have extended the highly successful Transition Assistance Program (TAP) employment

workshop to serve servicemembers separating overseas. We are also beginning to

provide those services to returning guard and reserve members where and when requested.

Over the past 4 years, we have vastly improved military members’ and veterans’

knowledge of their employment and reemployment rights. We will soon publish, for

20

the first time ever, regulations implementing the Uniformed Services Employment

and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).

While we have made significant progress, we must continue to set higher standards for performance outcomes in job placements and job retention, and we must

always stress better performance and accountability on the part of those who directly serve veterans.

We have a tremendous opportunity today to move to a higher level in helping

servicemembers and veterans obtain better training for better jobs. Our economy is

strong, our country needs workers, veterans are outstanding employees, and there

are many new career opportunities, especially in high growth, high demand industries.

In my lifetime, I have never seen soldiers and veterans held in higher esteem

than they are today. They have earned that. They deserve our best efforts to help

them.

We have the support, commitment and collaboration of the entire Department of

Labor, as well as the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense and Homeland Security, to improve employment opportunities for veterans. We will continue to set the

bar very high so they receive the dignity, respect and services they have earned.

Mr. Chairman, I am honored and humbled by President Bush’s and Secretary

Chao’s confidence in me for this nomination. I look forward to this honor and to the

challenge, if the Senate so entrusts me, of becoming the Assistant Secretary of

Labor for Veterans’ Employment and Training.

I pledge to work with this Committee and the Congress, to keep you informed,

and to be responsive to your oversight responsibilities.

Thank you for allowing me to appear before this Committee today. I thank the

Chairman, the Ranking Member and all Committee Members for considering my

nomination.

RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS FOR CHARLES S. CICCOLELLA, NOMINATED TO BE

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR VETERANS EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR FROM SENATOR LARRY CRAIG

Question 1. The GAO has stressed that, because of ongoing concerns about data

reliability, it is difficult to assess how well the DVOP and LVER programs are serving our Nation’s veterans. What measures would you implement to ensure that

‘‘VETS’’ has the data necessary to conduct a meaningful assessment of the services

provided to veterans by DVOP specialists and LVERs?

The Jobs for Veterans Act (JVA) required a full review of employment reforms by

GAO, which includes an assessment of the Disabled Veteran Outreach Program specialist (DVOP) and Local Veteran Employment Representative (LVER) programs.

We have worked very closely with the GAO on this review. The GAO’s preliminary

report cited the data reliability concerns, which were initially raised by our staff

here at the Veterans Employment and Training Service (‘‘VETS’’).

The Department of Labor has been working to improve data reliability and reporting in State reporting systems for many years. Most recently, the Employment and

Training Administration implemented significant improvements in reporting by

moving to the wage record validation of entered employments. Additionally, over 40

States are using the Wage Record Information System (WRIS) which captures wage

records from all participating States, allowing a State to capture entered employment data on registrations in one State obtain employment in another State. Having

employers report on their new hires and on all individuals who earn wages, instead

of calling employers and validating employment information, has been a major move

forward and has greatly helped to ensure that most of the data we’re getting is

meaningful and accurate. If I am confirmed, I will work with ETA to encourage

State implementation of this system as soon as possible. We can do this by providing technical assistance and training to those States that have not completed

their adoption of the system.

Additionally, ‘‘VETS’’ requires each State to submit quarterly financial and performance reports, and each One-Stop Career Center to submit a quarterly Manger’s

Report. Our field staff also conducts annual assessments of the Jobs for Veterans

Act (JVA) State Grants Program in the One Stop Career Centers. We do a lot of

analysis and monitoring of the services provided and outcomes reported by the

DVOPs and LVERs. We thoroughly review the required quarterly State financial

and performance reports at the State, Regional and National levels to ensure that

we are getting the most reliable JVA data. Where errors are identified, we provide

technical assistance to ensure that the problem is resolved. If confirmed, I would

also stress the need for State Workforce Administration officials to review how data

21

is collected and reported with the DVOPs and LVERs. Finally, we need to refine

the ‘‘VETS’ ’’ self-assessment tool that we use to ensure that all veteran employment

services provided at the service delivery point are in compliance with the requirements of the JVA. I believe the actions that have been taken since the implementation of the JVA, along with the actions I plan to take if confirmed, will provide

‘‘VETS’’ a means of assessing the services provided by the DVOPs and LVERs.

Question 2. It is my understanding that programs such as the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) are intended to facilitate the transition of active duty troops

out of service and into civilian life—and not necessarily to facilitate the movement

of Reserve and Guard personnel into and out of active duty. In light of increasing

movement by Reserve and Guard personnel into and out of active duty roles, do you

think program changes are needed to account for the unique needs of Reserve and

Guard personnel?

Answer. We must address the increasing movement by Reserve and Guard personnel into and out of active duty roles. While the Department of Labor has provided employment workshops as part of the active duty TAP, there is now an increased need to provide these workshops to the reserve components as our worldwide military commitments have necessitated a mobilization of National Guard and

Reserve members that is unprecedented in modern times. The result is a need to

provide these workshops to members of the Guard and Reserve, and we are working

with the National Guard and Reserve on providing TAP services to these returning

servicemembers in many States on an informal and as needed basis. Recently we

launched Reserve Component TAP demonstration programs, in which we work with

returning units and provide a flexible format that allows for a tailored transition

assistance package that meets local needs. The approach in each location is unique.

Once we evaluate the success of these programs and review any feedback from participants, we will work with the Department of Defense—led Demobilization Working Group (including the National Guard Bureau and Office of the Chief of Army

Reserve) to create flexible models that can be adapted to fit any situation.

Question 3. ‘‘VETS’’ has reported that in program year 2003 it had an ‘‘entered

employment’’ rate of 58 percent for veterans. Does ‘‘VETS’’ track the annual wages

earned by those veterans that have entered employment? If so, what is the average

wage? Does ‘‘VETS’’ track how long those veterans remain in their jobs? If not,

should it? Are there measures you would like to see implemented to track the quality and success of employment secured by veterans?

Answer. ‘‘VETS’’ does not currently track the average wage earned. However,

under the new common performance measures, we will have access to a new performance measure that tracks the 6-month earnings increase. We do track employment retention at the 6-month point. The wage records provide both employment

and retention rates and are, I believe, very significant performance measures that

allow us to better monitor the quality and success of employment by veterans.

Question 4. VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program provides vocational rehabilitation services to disabled veterans. How does ‘‘VETS’’ integrate its

services with those provided by VA to assist disabled veterans in obtaining employment? What additional measures should be taken to integrate the services provided

by ‘‘VETS’’ with the services provided by VA?

Answer. ‘‘VETS’’ has a strong working relationship with the VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service (VR&E). We continue to work with VR&E

staff at the national and local level to improve services to disabled veterans receiving VR&E services. We have approximately 55 veterans employment representatives

outstationed at VR&E sites and 90 located at other VA facilities, including VA medical centers. We provide itinerant coverage in other locations and work through a

coordinated referral system. Additionally, we will be soon implementing a new

Memorandum of Understanding between ‘‘VETS’’ and VR&E that among other

things will establish three work groups: (1) Performance Measures for Assessment

of Partnership Program Results; (2) National Veterans Training Institute (NVTI)

Curriculum Design; and (3) Joint Data Collection, Analysis, and Reports.

‘‘VETS’’ has also initiated a study to evaluate how well the VR&E referral process

is working. This study will provide a clear assessment of the employment and retention rates of disabled veterans who are referred by VR&E to the DVOP specialists

and registered with the Public Labor Exchange. The study will help in determining

future service delivery strategies for this targeted population.

Question 5. ‘‘VETS’’’ stated mission ‘‘is to provide Veterans with the resources and

services to succeed in the 21st century work force by maximizing their employment

opportunities, protecting their employment rights and meeting labor-market demands with qualified Veterans.’’ How does ‘‘VETS’’ measure its success in accomplishing that mission?

22

Answer. ‘‘VETS’’ measures success through a series of performance measures including entered employment, entered employment after receiving staff assisted services, and employment retention, measured for all veterans and also separately for

disabled veterans. We have also instituted the grant level measures I referred to

in response to Question 1, which measure the performance at the DVOP/LVER

level. Through these and other performance measures, we have seen improved performance outcomes in recent years. Four years ago, approximately 3 in 10 veterans

using the workforce system were being placed into jobs. Today, nearly 6 in 10 are

entering employment.

Question 6. Under the Jobs for Veterans Act, veterans are entitled to priority of

service for all employment services funded by the Department of Labor. Would you

please explain what measures the ‘‘One-Stop job centers’’ generally have instituted

to provide priority of service to veterans? Do you believe that more needs to be done

to ensure that veterans are receiving priority of service?

Answer. The cornerstone of the workforce investment system is the network of

One-Stop Career Centers, including more than 3,500 centers and affiliate sites. OneStop Career Centers provide a wide range of employment and training related services that help employers find the skilled labor they seek and help ensure that job

seekers find good jobs with good pay and career pathways in high-growth industries.

In Program Year 2003 alone, we connected over 1.4 million veterans (200,000 of

them disabled) to the workforce investment system.

In Program Year 2003, the first year under the jobs for Veterans Act requirement

for priority of service, the Department established a plan for how best to implement

priority of service. On September 16, 2003, the Department’s Employment and

Training Administration issued a guidance letter that instructs the workforce investment system on the provisions in the jobs for Veterans Act to ensure Priority

of Services for veterans and eligible military spouses. The Department also developed web resources on each specific program area for use by the One-Stops and others on how the program is impacted by the jobs for Veterans Act. This focuses on

how best to implement the priority. These web sources also provide an opportunity

for One-Stop staff to submit additional questions. The Department also used PY

2003 to collect data on the participation of veterans in various programs covered by

priority of service. This data shows that veterans are essentially represented in proportion to their incidence of representation within the workforce for the major adult

programs. In those programs where you would expect veteran participation, they are

well represented on a parity basis with the overall veteran participation rate in the

labor force.

States recently completed a 2-year strategic plan for their workforce1 investment

system under the Workforce Investment Act, and States were required to report

their strategies for implementation of priority of service to veterans. States are

doing many things to ensure veterans are receiving priority of service. These actions

include improved procedural strategies on how veterans are served, such as outreach activities, improved intake and registration, better client flow procedures and

clarification of the DVOP and LVER roles. Many States also have improved integration of DVOP/LVER services by cross training their staff. Many States have been

working hard to improve their informational strategies by creating veteran specific

legislative, entitlement and contact information well above and beyond the information provided to other clients. Some States have implemented job matching strategies through their electronic websites.

If I am confirmed as Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment and Training,

it would be my responsibility to work closely with the Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training to ensure that all State Workforce Agencies and each One

Stop Career Center understands what veterans priority of service means and to develop communication and technical assistance strategies implementation of priority

of service.

‘‘VETS’’ is already working on the implementation of an outreach and communication plan on services for veterans under a Memorandum of Understanding between

the Department of Labor and the Department of Defense that will include new

methods for promoting priority of service. In addition, we are developing new methods for linking One Stop Career Centers to the Transition Centers on the military

installations. This helps veterans, especially those in the category of young and recently separated, make the connection to the One Stops to ensure that they have

all the tools they need to enter the workforce.

Question 7. What performance measures do you think the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee should use to assess the performance of ‘‘VETS’’, particularly with

regard to its employment services? What would be your assessment of ‘‘VETS’ ’’ performance under those measures?

23

Answer. Obviously, the best measure for assessing the performance of ‘‘VETS’’ is

that veterans are receiving the training and employment service they need and are

finding good jobs. That is the bottom line.

But I believe the Committee should assess ‘‘VETS’’’ performance by whether we

achieve our stated performance goals, especially with regard to veterans entering

employment and retaining employment. And, as the new common measures are implemented this year, I think the Committee can look also at the ‘‘earnings’’ measure

to gauge ‘‘VETS’’’ performance. ‘‘VETS’’ should assess and report on those particular

measures each year, and continually negotiate with each State, consistent with their

specific labor market situation, to improve on the kinds of jobs veterans are getting.

For example, if we capture the information on earnings, and compare that to a

State’s labor market conditions, we ought to be able to determine if the workforce

system is truly more demand driven, if veterans are receiving training in the right

skills and are moving into the high demand, high growth industries where there are

good career paths.

Therefore, I think if we look at employment retention rates and they are going

up, and we look at earnings, and they are going up, those things will be indicators

of how ‘‘VETS’’ is performing and whether we are on the right track.

Question 8. It is my understanding that, under a pilot program launched in February 2005, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is handling certain claims

under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act

(USERRA) involving Federal-sector employers, including all Federal-sector USERRA

claims that also involve allegations of a prohibited personnel practice (‘‘mixed’’

cases). It is also my understanding that OSC personnel have expertise in identifying

mixed cases; that ‘‘VETS’’ personnel do not have that expertise; and that ‘‘VETS’’

has declined OSC’s request that it be permitted to initially screen all Federal-sector

USERRA claims in order to identify those claims that should be handled by OSC.

It has been suggested that having ‘‘VETS’’ personnel, rather than OSC personnel,

screen these claims is not the most efficient and appropriate method for discerning

which entity will handle each claim. What is your assessment of the current practice? Can you explain why OSC’s request has been denied?

Answer. The Department takes its responsibilities under the Uniformed Services

Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) very seriously. America’s

service men and women deserve no less than our total commitment. Under

USERRA, the Secretary of Labor is charged with primary responsibility for enforcing the reemployment and other rights of service members and veterans. USERRA

directs the Secretary to undertake a multitude of tasks, including providing assistance concerning statutory rights, receiving complaints, conducting investigations, resolving disputes, forwarding certain claims to other Federal agencies for enforcements, issuing regulations, submitting reports to Congress, and conducting various

outreach activities.

To that end, we have worked very hard to ensure that we respond quickly to requests for assistance or complaints received from our constituent service members.

The data we have compiled for fiscal year 2004 shows that 84 percent of the 1,440

USERRA cases we received that year were closed within 90 days, and 92 percent

of those cases were closed within 120 days or less. We believe we have a strong

record of success in resolving our USERRA cases in a fair and timely fashion.

The 3-year pilot project involving the Department of Labor and the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), established pursuant to the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act

of 2004 (VBIA), Pub. L. 108–454, is currently underway. Under the terms of the 3-

year demonstration project, the Department of Labor will transfer odd-numbered

USERRA cases to OSC for review, investigation, and possible enforcement. Working

with OSC, we have developed a procedure for referring USERRA cases that will ensure that our claimants’ cases are processed as quickly and efficiently as possible.

In that regard, our investigative staff has been instructed to forward any USERRA

cases with any likely or potential prohibited personnel practices (PPPs) to our national office for review before forwarding to OSC. ‘‘VETS’’ is following the processes

we have established with OSC, and to date, 48 cases have been transferred under

the pilot project.

I recognize the importance of handling the claims of Federal Sector employees

promptly. I do agree that OSC investigators have expertise in identifying possible

prohibited personnel practices in USERRA claims. However, I also believe having

OSC review in the first instance of all Federal-sector USERRA cases will result in

unnecessary delay, duplication of effort, and claims bouncing back and forth between our two agencies.

I favor an approach that has been proposed by the Special Counsel himself and

is under discussion between our two agencies. Under OSC’s most recent proposal,

DOL investigators would receive training in prohibited personnel practices, or

24

‘‘PPPs,’’ by working along side OSC personnel for a specific period of time. Once

trained, they would return to DOL where they, in turn, would train other ‘‘VETS’’

investigators on how better to recognize PPP issues. I think the Special Counsel’s

proposal makes sense. It provides a useful framework for resolving this issue and

ensuring that ‘‘mixed cases’’ will be handled efficiently.

If confirmed by the Senate, I intend to work cooperatively and collaboratively with

the Office of Special Counsel, ESGR and the Department of Justice to resolve all

other issues regarding how best to handle USERRA claims.

In addition, we have developed a number of tools, including an electronic online

complaint form, the ‘‘VETS’’ e1010, which will allow for an even more efficient

transfer of USERRA cases from ‘‘VETS’’ to OSC. The e1010 can be completed in a

very short time, and contains features that automatically allow for the immediate

transfer of appropriate odd-numbered USERRA cases to OSC while providing the

claimant notice that his or her claim has been transferred. If confirmed as Assistant

Secretary for Veterans’ Employment and Training, I fully intend to continue to work

in cooperation with OSC under the terms set forth under the VBIA.

Question 9. Do you have any conflicts of interest which you have not fully disclosed to the Committee? Do you know of any other matter which, if known to the

Committee, might affect the Committee’s recommendation to the Senate with respect to your nomination?

Answer. I have no conflicts of interest that I have not fully disclosed to the Committee, nor do I know of any other matter that, if known to the Committee, might

affect the Committee’s recommendation to the Senate with respect to my nomination.

Question 10. Have you fully and accurately provided financial and other information requested by the Committee, and do you now affirm that the information provided is complete, accurate, and provided in a form not designed to evade or deceive?

Answer. I have fully and accurately provided all information requested by the

Committee, and 1 affirm that the information provided is complete, accurate, and

provided in a form not designed to evade or deceive.

Question 11. If you are confirmed, can this Committee count on you to appear personally at Committee hearings when asked? Will you ensure that this—Committee

is provided with timely responses to requests for non-privileged information, materials, and documents that may be requested by the Committee in its oversight and

legislative capacities? In that regard, can you tell me whether there are any outstanding requests for information, including post-hearing questions, pending before

‘‘VETS’’ and when this Committee should expect to receive responses to any outstanding requests?

Answer. If confirmed, I will endeavor to honor requests to appear before the Committee and provide timely responses to all requests by the Committee.

I am aware that there are still outstanding written responses to questions posed

by the Committee following the oversight hearing on ‘‘VETS’’ held on April 19, 2005.

These responses are still awaiting final clearance from the Office of Management

and Budget.

Chairman CRAIG. Thank you very much. Thank both of you very

much for those very valuable and well-placed statements.

Mr. Terry, the mission of the Board of Veterans Appeals is to

conduct hearings and dispose of appeals in a timely manner. What

do you see as the Chairman’s role with regard to that mission, and

how have your professional experiences prepared you to lead the

board toward accomplishing that mission?

Mr. TERRY. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. As you know,

the statute provides that the board is under the administrative

control and supervision of its chairman, and certainly as chairman,

if confirmed, I will report directly to the Secretary and ensure that

the board does everything it possibly can to accomplish the mission

to serve our Nation’s veterans and their families. Sir, it requires

leadership, the ability to work cooperatively with others, and the

ability to envision and effectuate constructive change, and I assure

you, sir, that this is precisely what I will do and what I will further

as chairman of the board. Thank you, sir.

25

Chairman CRAIG. Earlier this year, Secretary Nicholson testified

before this Committee that as a Presidential initiative, improving

the timeliness and the accuracy of claims processing remains VA’s

top priority for VA’s benefits programs. Do you yet have a sense of

what measures you would implement at the board to help VA accomplish the goal of improving the timeliness and the accuracy?

Mr. TERRY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I agree, accurate and

timely claims processing must be the principal focus of our board,

and it will remain that, but we are just part of the equation, sir.

The Veterans Benefits Administration led by Admiral Cooper has

cognizance over all the 57 regional VA regional offices whose decisions may be appealed to our board, and together we are working

hard to reduce the time required to process these claims, that is

the claims from the date of filing of the Notice of Disagreement

with the regional office’s determination to the resolution of an appeal before the board.

We are likewise working to do a number of other things, sir, to

increase the timeliness. We are working to increase the efficiencies

through effective in-house training, use of technology where appropriate, Mr. Chairman, and improvement of our current error-free

decision rate, which currently stands at 90 percent. We are also

providing training to our attorneys and veterans law judges, sir, to

write more concise and organized decisions that can be issued in

a more timely way.

Organizationally, we are trying to conduct more of our hearings

by video conference rather than by travel boards. Sir, we do more

than 8,000 hearings per year. Video conferences would save on

judges and counsels’ time spent away from writing decisions. If

confirmed, sir, I will also try to improve our internal processes, and

by that I mean we need to look at our docketing system, our intake

process, and certainly we need to develop meaningful goals for the

productivity of our staff to measure their performance in a meaningful way, and we are working on that very hard at this time.

Now, we have also developed realistic goals for our veterans law

judges and our attorneys through a fair-share system that we have

developed to better manage our caseload. Senator, when a system

processes approximately 40,000 cases a year, as we do, we must

take advantage of each of these measures to ensure that all of our

professionals are as productive as possible. I assure you that I am

totally committed to these principles.

Chairman CRAIG. In Fiscal Year 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals

for Veterans Claims remanded over 1100 cases to the board. Approximately 80 percent of the cases, it decided on the merits. Do

you know if the board tracks the reason for each court remand and

whether they are based on error by the board, and do you believe

measures can be taken to reduce the rate of court remands?

Mr. TERRY. Thank you, Senator. Sir, the board has currently established a quality review unit which reviews every remand from

the court and conducts a trend analysis of all issues remanded. It

is important to note that most cases appealed to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims involve several issues, and when the

court resolves all but one of these issues, for example, and sends

that issue back to the board for further adjudication, the case is

26

listed as a remand, not as an adjudicated case, not as a decided

case.

It is also important to understand that many of the remands are

based on changes in the law from that which controlled when the

BVA decision was made. Others are based on an honest difference

in judgment between the reviewing judge at the Court of Appeals

for Veterans Claims and the deciding veterans law judge at the

board. About 60 percent, sir, of these cases, of these remands, are

never seen by a Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims judge, but

represent actions by the court staff and attorneys who are involved

in the case to dispose of the appeal.

We all have much work to do to limit the number of remands

and to better serve our veterans. I assure you, Mr. Chairman, that

I will work very hard to ensure that that occurs.

Chairman CRAIG. Well, Mr. Terry, thank you very much. I have

other questions, and we will submit them to you in writing for the

response. Because of the time constraints we are under this morning, I will not ask them here before the Committee.

Mr. Ciccolella, I am going to run to the floor and vote. That is

a fast walk, and then I will be back.

Mr. CICCOLELLA. We will certainly wait for you, Senator.

Chairman CRAIG. So I trust you all will chill out for just a few

moments. I am going to leave the Committee un-recessed in case

other Members come prior to my returning, and I will ask the staff

to allow them to ask questions of you and to preside as if the Committee were in session, as it will be, without a Chairman.

STATEMENT OF HON. KEN SALAZAR, U.S. SENATOR

FROM COLORADO

Thank you very much. I will step out and get a couple of votes

made, and I will be right back. Thank you and I appreciate your

patience.

[Pause.]

Senator SALAZAR. Thank you. Senator Craig just met me in the

hallway, and he said I could come in and take over as temporary

Chair. So I know we are continuing to hold this hearing of two very

important nominations and continuing to try to get through a series of votes on the floor this morning. So I just appreciate your patience as you watch us work in doing the Nation’s business on the

Senate floor.

Today, the nominations of both of you are an important consideration for all of us, and I am proud to say that both of you come

with the kinds of qualifications and distinctive records that I expect that you will receive my support and receive the support of

many Members of the U.S. Senate. Both of you have served our

country honorably in Vietnam, and for your service, we very much

appreciate your sacrifice for our country. You also have spent most

of your lives working on behalf of the public, a noble calling, and

I appreciate your willingness to continue to do that on behalf of our

Nation’s veterans, especially because we must make sure that we

honor our Nation’s commitment to the veterans of our country.

Over the last few weeks, this Committee has had some difficult

times. We have tried to address the budget crisis that we find our

veterans health care in today. The announcement that VHA was

27

short some $1 billion for this fiscal year has caused significant concern and lots of discussion here in this Committee as well as with

the Veterans Administration and with Secretary Nicholson. From

my point of view, the work that we need to do in that arena is just

beginning. We can fix a short-term problem for this year with a fiscal addition of money into veterans health care, but longer term,

it is going to be very important for all of us to make sure that we

are addressing that issue so that we don’t have the same problem

in the years ahead.

I am sure most Americans probably have never heard of the two

positions that you have been nominated for by our President, the

Board of Veterans Appeals and the Office of Veterans Employment

and Training Service, but I will tell you that the veterans community and the veterans service organizations that work with veterans all the time know of the critical importance of both of your

roles.

Chick, I know you came to see me in my office and we talked a

lot about employment opportunities for veterans and ideas that you

might have with respect to how we can provide additional employment opportunities for veterans. So my first question is going to be

to you. I have spent time in my State in Colorado Springs where

we have over a hundred thousand veterans that live within that

community, and Fort Carson is a place where we have deployed

many of our soldiers to Iraqi and Afghanistan. One of the things

that we are preparing for in Fort Carson today is the expansion of

our troop presence there at Fort Carson, but as part of that conversation, one of the things that I asked the business community

who was present there that day was whether or not there were additional things that we could be doing in our State of Colorado as

citizens to try to help the transition of our soldiers from active status over to veteran status and try to help them find employment

opportunities. I would like you to comment on that, if you would.

Mr. CICCOLELLA. Thank you, Senator Salazar. You represent a

great State in Colorado. We have a good State director out there,

and we have a very good program for both the active duty and the

Reserve component units that are mobilizing and then demobilizing. We run a lot of the transition assistance programs, as you

know, from Fort Carson, and we also are working with the State

Adjutant General, as you and I discussed earlier, to look at what

the requirements are for the Reserve component units and Guard

units as they come back, and things are changing today. Their requirements are changing. These organizations, units, have gone to

their deployments, whether they are in Bosnia, Herzegovina, Iraq,

Afghanistan or whether they are deployed in other areas in the

War on Terror.

When they come back, they, we find frequently, are coming back

to the same jobs or they may have problems with reinstatement,

but in any case, they may be looking for another job, and for that

reason, we believe we can be available for them and are being

available to help with transition assistance when they demobilize.

We run a lot of transition assistance employment workshops, or the

modified version of the existing transition workshop that we provide to active duty servicemembers for these Guard and Reserve

servicemembers.

28

Now, you mentioned the employer community. One of the things

that Secretary Chao and our employment training administration,

myself, and my predecessor Fred Juarbe have tried to do is to

make the workforce system as much a demand-driven, businessdriven system as we can. We need to get the employers and the

one-stop career centers hooked up so the employers provide the job

requirements, and then our veteran employment representatives

can profile the requirements of the veterans and make that match,

and I think that, as you mentioned, you reached out to the employer community, those 20 leading employers in Colorado. I think

it will be very interesting to talk with them and to see if we can

really make the connection between the employer and the veteran

through that one-stop career center, because if we can do that, it

is going to be a great model for the rest of the country.

Senator SALAZAR. I will ask you, Chick, to help us get that done

in Colorado in a way that works for all of us.

We have been joined by Senator John Warner, who is a distinguished Chairman of Armed Services and perhaps one of the most

distinguished Senators in the last 50 years here in this body. I had

the honor of having a wonderful meeting with him this morning,

and he personifies what is it is to be a statesman in America, and

he is here to speak on your behalf. So I will turn it over to Senator

Warner.

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN WARNER, U.S. SENATOR

FROM VIRGINIA

Senator WARNER. I thank the distinguished Chairman and Members of the Committee. I find it a privilege to come over to say a

few words from the heart about Colonel Chick and his family who

are with him here. I was privileged to have him work with me

when I was Chairman of the Rules Committee, which was a very

long time ago, together with another wonderful Army man, one of

Chick’s best friends, Grayson Wunderling, and in preparation for

these remarks—and I will ask to put my extended statement into

the record given that I must return for the vote—Grayson

Wunderling filled me on some facts which I think are very pertinent. I am certain that the Members of the Committee and others

are familiar with his distinguished career and, indeed, that of his

wife who is likewise a public servant.

So I want to focus on that part of his career which I think enables him to identify with the veterans all across America. I, myself, am proud to have a very modest career in the military, having

served in World War II, one of the five remaining Members of the

Senate. Inconspicuous as it was, as a 17-year-old sailor, I didn’t accomplish much before the elders concluded that war. I want to talk

about one of those elders, your father, who came up through the

ranks and fought all through the battles of World War II and was

recognized for his courage and bravery by receiving three silver

stars. Likewise, Colonel Chick followed in his father’s footsteps

during Vietnam. At that point in history, I was either Under Secretary or Secretary of the Navy, I guess, during the last 5 years

that I served in the Pentagon, and you and your fellow compatriots,

among them Grayson Wunderling and others that I have known

through the years, performed brilliantly in that stressful and difVerDate 11-MAY-2000 07:06 Apr 07, 2006 Jkt 024579 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 C:\DOCS\24579.TXT DianeA PsN: DianeA
29

ficult conflict, and there you are no stranger to the battlefield,

much like your distinguished father, and you too won a silver star.

That will enable you to, more than I think anything else, gain the

confidence and trust of the people with whom you will serve in the

Department of Veterans Affairs and, most importantly, all across

the land the veterans who will look to you for fairness and for leadership and for recognition that all veterans so richly deserve for

their service to country.

We are in this room, Mr. Chairman, enjoying the most important

and precious thing we have, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly because of the generations of men and women who have gone

across this land and left our shores to protect those freedoms, and

today this Nation is gripped in difficult conflict, perhaps the most

challenging in the history of mankind, that is non-state sponsored

conflict. We are engaged in a hearing in my Committee this morning on trying to determine what is Congress’ role in establishing

a clear definition of how we deal with detainees and others who we

must take into our custody to gain intelligence which is vital to the

men and women of the armed forces and, indeed, others here at

home to protect ourselves.

I had a chance to visit with our distinguished Chairman Craig,

and as long as I have been around, I didn’t realize that the Department of Veterans Affairs, next to the Pentagon, has the largest

number of civilian employees. So you have an awesome task, but

you sure come with the credentials to do it.

So I will put this in the record, and I thank the distinguished

Chair, and wish you well. As I told you throughout the time I have

known you, you are on your own now. Good luck.

[The prepared statement of Senator Warner follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN WARNER, U.S. SENATOR FROM VIRGINIA

Chairman Craig, Senator Akaka, and my other distinguished colleagues on the

Senate’s Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I thank you for holding this confirmation

hearing for Charles Ciccolella, or—Chick—as I have come to affectionately know

him.

Today, I am proud to present Col. Chick, a fellow Virginian, to the Committee as

the President’s nominee to be Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans’ Employment and Training.

Chick is supported here today by his wife Donna, a fellow civil servant with the

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Their daughter Connie, also a civil servant

with the General Services Administration, was not able to make it today. But, you

can see the dedication to civil service throughout his family, and I thank them for

that.

The position of Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans’ Employment and Training is a very important one for our veterans and transitioning servicemembers, and

it is a position which Chick is familiar with as he currently serves as the Deputy

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans’ Employment and Training.

As Assistant Secretary, he would be responsible for ensuring that the Veterans’

Employment and Training Service (‘‘VETS’’) provided the resources and support necessary to help veterans succeed in today’s workforce.

How fortunate we are that someone as eminently qualified as Chick is willing to

serve in this critical position.

Chick graduated from Auburn University and later earned a Master’s Degree

from Central Michigan University. Just as important as his formal education is for

this position, Chick also had a distinguished 28 year career in the United States

Army, serving with the 101st Airborne during Vietnam and later in several other

troop command and staff positions.

After the army, he began his public service with the State Department and then

with the U.S. Senate for the Rules Committee and the Senate Sergeant at Arms.

30

In 2001, Chick began his career with the Department of Labor, where he has served

with distinction.

On a more personal note, I must point out that I have seen first-hand the dedication and care that he applies to his work. When I was a Member of the Rules and

Administration Committee, Chick served admirably as the Director of Information

Technology Policy for the Committee.

Mr. Chairman, I am certain that Chick will continue to be a strong asset for the

Department of Labor as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans’ Employment and

Training. For these reasons and more, I offer my highest recommendation in regard

to this nominee, and urge my colleagues to support his nomination.

Mr. CICCOLELLA. Thank you, Senator Warner.

Senator SALAZAR. Thank you very much, Senator Warner.

I have about a minute and a half or 2, so I am going to have to

leave as well, but let me ask a question of you, Mr. Terry, concerning the Board of Veterans Appeals, the thousands upon thousands of veterans that have to go through that appellate process.

As Senators, we all represent veterans in our State, and we sometimes get concerns about the delay that they encounter in going

through the Board of Veterans Appeals process. I was wondering

whether you could share with the Committee your ideas on how

you we might be able to improve that process and avoid the kinds

of delays that we are encountering now.

Mr. TERRY. Thank you very much, Senator Salazar. We are embarking on a process that includes a number of measures that

hopefully will help us both reduce the backlog of pending appeals

and also speed the process of resolution of the cases before us. We

are certainly looking at improved efficiencies. We are trying to

work very hard on ensuring that we have a quicker intake process,

that we improve our docketing system, that we write shorter, more

concise decisions with the existing full-time employees we have.

We also are doing a great deal in training, sir. We are trying

very hard to ensure that we are looking at all economies that are

available to us in terms of the manner in which we focus on the

real issues of the case and shorten decisions so that we can move

more of them through the system.

Sir, we are turning out—last year, we turned out 38,000 decisions. That is with 56 judges and 228 lawyers. That means that

each of our lawyers is writing a 15 to 25-page decision nearly every

day, close typed. That is a lot of work. We have to find better ways

to get it done. We are. We are looking at economies of scale, and

we are finding ways that we can make our people more proficient.

They are a wonderful group of attorneys, Senator. They truly are.

They are truly professional, and they are doing yeoman work for

this country, and I need you to know that, sir.

Senator SALAZAR. Thank you, Mr. Terry. There has been some

suggestion that the administrative law judges be decentralized out

across the country, and I am wondering what your thoughts are on

that potential decentralization.

Mr. TERRY. Sir, we do not think that is a positive approach, and

let me tell you why. The way we are structured within the department today, attorneys are able to maintain a consistency of

decisionwriting by ensuring that the decisions are available quickly

to each of the attorneys and each of the judges as they come out

in the central office. We also are able to take advantage of the experience of certain judges who have tremendous expertise in each

of several areas, and having them available as resources for our

31

other judges who may not have that expertise in that particular

area is worth its weight in gold, and with the numbers, sir, of decisions that we are writing each year, it is critically important that

we have both the consistency and the availability of readily available assets, the ability to have attorneys move from one case to another very quickly and assist one another, and having them in a

centralized location allows us to do that.

In terms of economies of scale, sir, I believe we can be far more

efficient the way we are currently structured. That doesn’t mean,

sir, that we are not working very, very hard with the regional offices. You need to know that our travel teams that go out to each

of the regional offices to hold hearings, and of course each person

who appeals a decision of the regional office staff has the right to

have a hearing on appeal, our staff——

Senator SALAZAR. I appreciate that, Mr. Terry. Where I would

like to go with this is there are issues out there with how we can

streamline the process and how we can make it better, and I look

forward to working you and I am sure Members of this Committee

do as well. I have, I am told, 1 minute to get to the vote. So I see

that our distinguished Chairman of this Committee has returned,

and there is no question that he has the best interests of veterans

in his heart and in his mind.

So I look forward to working with both of you, and congratulations on your careers.

Mr. CICCOLELLA. Thank you, Senator.

Mr. TERRY. Thank you, Senator.

Chairman CRAIG. Senator, thank you. I appreciate it.

Let me conclude our questioning with you, Mr. Ciccolella. In Fiscal Year 2006, the Veterans Employment and Training Services

plans to dispense $162 million in grants to States to fund the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program, DVOP I believe we call it, and

the Local Veterans Employment Representative program, and let

us see, we call that LVER.

Mr. CICCOLELLA. Yes, sir.

Chairman CRAIG. See, I am new to this. So I am really working

on all these.

If you are confirmed, what measures would you take to ensure

that the money is well spent, and are there measurable performance outcome standards in place for that purpose?

Mr. CICCOLELLA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, what we do before we send out the money to the

States is we require the State to come to us with their plan for how

they intend to provide priority service to veterans in all of the 19

Department of Labor-funded job training or job placement programs. We also require them to tell us how those DVOPs and

LVERs, those veteran employment representatives, are going to be

integrated in the one-stop career centers. You have 24 of those

LVERs and DVOPs, for example, in Idaho. It is important that

they be integrated because if the DVOP and the LVER are well integrated, that means they know the other programs, and when veterans come into that one-stop, they are able to direct the veteran

after making the assessment, and if they need training, great, then

they can get the training. If they need placement, then they can

get the placement.

32

We require the States to report to us on six measures. We require them to report on veterans and disabled veterans. We require

them to report on how many veterans are employed, what the retention rates are after 6 months, and we require them to report on

the employments after veterans have received counseling or job referral, more intensive services. Now, we also require the States to

report separately on 17 performance measures, and those measures

are geared to the individual veteran employment representative.

What we also require is that those additional 17 measures be the

basis for the position descriptions and the evaluations, the performance management plans, of those veteran employment representatives. So the DVOP or the LVER knows what the performance

standards are.

We have pretty good success with that. Obviously, it varies State

to State and obviously it varies one-stop center to one-stop center.

Now, what we need to further improve, that is, to improve the relationships with our Federal State Directors and the State workforce

agencies, and we need to provide more information and assistance

to the State workforce agencies so they understand title 38, the requirements, the priority of service, because in many cases, things

are not being done because people don’t understand the law.

Chairman CRAIG. Thank you. In a 1999 transition commission report, it was noted that male veterans age 20 to 24 have higher unemployment rates than non-veterans of the same age. More recently, during the first quarter of 2005, one of five male veterans

age 20 to 24 was unemployed. That is almost double the unemployment rate for non-veterans of the same age group. If you are confirmed, what measure will you take to address what appears to be

a long-standing and troubling pattern of unemployment among

those young veterans groups?

Mr. CICCOLELLA. Mr. Chairman, you are exactly right. This is a

long-standing issue. It has been this way for about 25 to 30 years.

When the Bureau of Labor Statistics takes this measurement

through their household survey of the age group 20 to 24, those

rates vary. In January, the rate was 20 percent employment; in

April, at 7 percent; and May comes out to about 11 percent. We are

dealing with a small cohort of people. So the statistics will vary.

Now, when you look at the age group 20 to 24, these veterans,

they are recently separated. They are coming out of the service. So

we know that this is a turbulent period of time for them. What I

am trying to do is tell you why the issue occurs, because I think

that is what you have to know. You have to try to understand the

issue first. It is a turbulent period. So it is just like the 18- and

19-year-olds when they come into the workforce for the first time.

Their unemployment rates are high because they are first-time entrants into the workforce.

The other thing is that servicemembers—and I was talking to Dr.

Chu about this over at Defense the other day, and they, incidentally, are very aware of the issue and work with us very closely.

The Defense Department funds, obviously, the unemployment insurance for veterans when they first come out of service if they are

not employed. So what we find anecdotally is that some young veterans will resist taking the first job that is available and may be

more selective because they have the advantage of the unemployVerDate 11-MAY-2000 07:06 Apr 07, 2006 Jkt 024579 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 C:\DOCS\24579.TXT DianeA PsN: DianeA
33

ment insurance. Now, that helps us understand what the problem

is, but that doesn’t help us address it.

What we need to do to address it, I believe, is to beef up our

Transition Assistance Program and orient it more toward these recently separated veterans. In that regard, we are working very

closely with the Defense Department because we are only getting

about 60 percent of the transitioning veterans through the TAP

workshop, or Transition Assistance Program employment worksop,

and it would be nice to get a 100 percent of them. So the Defense

Department now is working with us to try to make this Transition

Assistance Program employment workshop more of a mandatory

event for separating service members. I think we can knock some

of these numbers down when we do that, because servicemembers

who go to that transition assistance employment workshop, we get

really good reviews on that, and servicemembers need that transition assistance and they need to understand about resumes and

skills and their networking abilities and those sort of things. So I

think we can knock it down that way.

Chairman CRAIG. You use the figure 60 percent attend these

training sessions. It is voluntary at the moment?

Mr. CICCOLELLA. Well, yes. It is interesting how it works. When

you separate from service, you get a pre-separation counseling

sheet, and you can indicate on there if you want transition assistance services. Sometimes a servicemember, like maybe a senior

servicemember, already has a job. So he or she may not opt to go

through the transition assistance employment workshop. But there

are other cases where, because of operational needs, a commander

might not be able to release the servicemember for that, and I

think the Defense Department and the Labor Department and the

Department of Veterans of Affairs, because they have the disabled

TAP program, we are working together to try to make and encourage more servicemembers to enroll in that workshop.

Chairman CRAIG. We will ask you to come back a year from now

and report on that to see if we can’t improve that a great deal. It

sounds like we are missing the obvious, because apparently the

track record coming out of that training session works.

Mr. CICCOLELLA. It does work.

Chairman CRAIG. Let me ask one last question, and you approached it in your opening statement, and then I will turn to my

colleague, Senator Thune, before we close this hearing out.

You mentioned the 116th National Guard Brigade team that is

based in Boise, but in Iraq at the moment. I had the opportunity

to visit with them. I took the Secretary with me as we went there,

and they are one now of thousands of Guards and Reserve units

across this Nation that are in Iraq, and we are using our Guard

and Reserve very, very heavily at this moment. I am committed to

helping ensure that when they return, they will have a seamless

transition back into civilian life, and of course that is going to be

awfully important for all of them.

If you are confirmed, what measures will you take to make certain that the re-employment rights of Guard and Reserve personnel

are protected, and what measures will you take to ensure that

Guard and Reserve personnel will be provided with timely and

34

comprehensive information regarding DOL’s employment and

training services?

Mr. CICCOLELLA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The 116th is a great

unit, has done a great job in the OIF Iraqi Theater. They will be

returning and they will be returning in, I think, the period of November through January, as I understand it. They will come

through Fort Lewis when they do that. That will be their demobilization point, and that is the way it is with Guard units. They come

to a major military installation and get their de-mobilization.

What we do before they leave is we make sure that either we or

the Defense Department’s Committee on Employer Support for the

Guard and Reserve brief them on their employment and re-employment rights, among other things, before they depart, and that certainly happened with the 116th. You have got them spread out all

over Idaho, but I think they did those briefings in about 25 different locations. Now, when they come back, our standard practice

is that our Federal State Director gives them a 1-hour briefing on

the USERRA, the Uniform Services Employment Re-employment

Rights Act, so they understand their employment rights and their

re-employment rights and reinstatement rights. They understand

what the obligations of the employers are.

They also understand, more importantly, how to get help. In

other words, if they cannot get their reinstatement, or their seniority benefits or their health benefits aren’t reinstated, then they will

know how to contact either us or the Department of Defense. The

Guard units are very good. So they usually have a point of contact

that they could talk to there, as well. So that is what we are doing

in terms of their employment and re-employment rights, and if necessary, we will open up a Federal investigation, and we do those

Federal investigations.

Now, on the point about servicemembers being over there for a

period of a year or so and come back, some of them were unemployed before they left. Some are underemployed when they come

back. They have obviously done a lot of good things when they have

been in the military, especially in the combat zone. They have

learned a lot of management skills, a lot of skills, period, and a lot

of leadership. So we make available on an as-needed basis—and I

have had every one of our State directors contact the State Adjutant General to make sure that we can provide, a modified transition assistance employment workshop, and that workshop will enable each of these servicemembers to know how to get employment

assistance and what programs are available that are operated by

the Department of Labor and the other Federal agencies in the

one-stop career centers. In other words, they will know how to access that system, and the individuals who do that workshop facilitation are the DVOPs and the LVERs, those veteran employment

representatives that you mentioned.

Not every unit takes advantage of this program. We are trying

to figure out what is the best model for the program, because when

the Guard units come home, you know, they are on Ft. Lewis for

like about 3 days. Then they split, and the next time they get together may be 90 days. At the 60-day mark or 30-day mark, an individual might need employment assistance. So it is different for

every one of the States, and if the Defense Department now, based

35

on the GAO’s recommendation, is taking the lead, we are going to

work with them to try to figure out how to break the code on what

transition employment assistance is needed and really do a better

job of making sure that they get that employment assistance.

Chairman CRAIG. Well, I thank you for that comment. This Committee and I have expressed very real concern to the Department

of Defense and we recognize with veteran services that these men

and women are coming not back to a base and to a unit that is

family in itself where they obviously are employed, because they

are full-time career, but they are going back into civilian life, and

we know that there are going to be some difficulties with them

both physically and mentally. One of the ways to ease them back

in is to assure that they can get back into that job they left, if they

left a job. That is going to be a tremendously valuable base to them

as will be the home and the family, and we have got unprecedented

numbers at hand now.

So I am pleased to see you are focused on that. We will stay with

you on that to watch it because the Committee and I have expressed our concern.

Senator Thune, thank you for coming by. The balance of the time

is yours.

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN THUNE, U.S. SENATOR FROM

SOUTH DAKOTA

Senator THUNE. Since you put it that way, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank our nominees for your tremendous record

of service to our country, both in the military and subsequent to

that. I can’t say enough how appreciative we are of that service.

Mr. Terry, I noted in your remarks, as well, that your father was

a Navy pilot, as was mine, and also that your father-in-law was at

Pearl Harbor. My Uncle Gibb was at Pearl Harbor on December

7th of 1941. So there is a lot of Navy history there, but you both

have resumes that speak for themselves about your commitment

and dedication to this country and to its principles and its freedom.

So thank for that service, and I look forward to working with both

of you in your new positions. Obviously, this is something of great

importance to our Nation, making sure that we are doing right by

our veterans and that the programs that are in place to assist them

are administered in a way that is actually beneficial and a service

to them.

I am sure these questions have already been asked, and I probably won’t belabor the point, Mr. Chairman, and get on with business, but I am interested as we move forward, Mr. Terry, in taking

some steps that will streamline and lessen this bureaucracy and

these terrible delays that we deal with on appeals for our veterans,

and I have had conversations with you. I know you are very committed to that purpose as well.

Mr.—is it Ciccolella?

Mr. CICCOLELLA. Ciccolella.

Senator THUNE. I am sorry. I wasn’t here when you were introduced. So I didn’t want to butcher your name.

Chairman CRAIG. You didn’t do any better than I did. Now we

have got it down.

Mr. CICCOLELLA. Believe me, I learned to tie my shoes first.

36

Senator THUNE. It is very reassuring to know that I am following

the Chairman’s example here.

But I also think it is important, and the Chairman mentioned

that we have an extraordinarily high number of people in the

Guard that have served, and as they return in these employment

issues, and also, of course, people in active duty who are coming

back from these different theaters, some of whom are disabled, and

making sure that they have the necessary training to get back into

the labor pool. That is an incredibly important priority, and I hope

that you will be very focused on that.

If you feel the need to comment, feel free, but I don’t have a specific question. I think those questions have probably been asked,

but these are both issues and areas that are of great importance

to our veterans, and we want to do justice to them. So thank you

for your service and for your willingness to stay involved in public

service and the good work that you are going to do on behalf of

America’s veterans. I would welcome, and I am sure the Chairman

would as well, suggestions that you might have in terms of legislation that might help us better accomplish those objectives, knowing

full well that funding is also a major issue in that process.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman CRAIG. Senator, thank you very much.

Let me check with staff, but I believe Senator Murray is in route.

Is this correct?

Then we will keep the Committee open—I think the last vote is

about to start and proceed in that manner. So we will not recess

again, but stand down at least until Senator Murray arrives thank

you.

[Pause.]

[Whereupon, at 11:46 a.m., the Committee adjourned.]

(37)

APPENDIX

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. DANIEL AKAKA, U.S. SENATOR FROM HAWAII

Thank you, Chairman Craig, for holding this hearing. Today the Committee will

examine the nominations of two individuals for two very important positions.

Mr. Charles S. Ciccolella is nominated to be Assistant Secretary of Veterans’ Employment and Training (‘‘VETS’’) for the Department of Labor (DOL). Mr. James P.

Terry is nominated to be the Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals.

Mr. Ciccolella, you have a long and distinguished career serving this Nation and

its veterans. During your tenure in the United States Army you earned a Silver

Star, the Defense Superior Service Medal, and the Bronze Star for Valor. In your

current position as Deputy Assistant Secretary for ‘‘‘VETS,’’ you help veterans secure employment and protect their rights and benefits through DOL programs. In

your interaction with the Committee, you have also been forthcoming about the

problems facing ‘‘VETS.’’ This cooperation between the Administration and Congress

makes this Committee’s job much easier.

With that said, I am concerned that ‘‘VETS’’ is not always available to provide

Congress with the data that we require as an oversight body. And with an increasing number of servicemembers separating from military service, especially Guard

and Reserves, I want to ensure that ‘‘VETS’’ has the ability to absorb this group

as they transition from military to civilian life.

Mr. Ciccolella, this Nation is fortunate to have a person of your character in public service. I congratulate you on your appointment and look forward to working

with you.

Mr. Terry, you also are a distinguished public servant. You are a decorated Vietnam veteran and a former Marine JAG officer. You were legal counsel to former

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell, and worked in both the Department of Interior and the State Department.

Mr. Terry, I need not impress on you the importance of the job ahead of you. As

Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, you would be tasked with the responsibility for handling all claims appealed from VA regional offices. We can expect the

number of VA claims to increase as returning soldiers from OEF/OIF become veterans. It is imperative that you work closely with this Committee to ensure the

Board has the resources necessary to quickly adjudicate veterans claims.

Also, a recent VA inspector general’s report highlighted, among other things, that

certain conditions, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), are difficult to

define and be subjectively rated. I would like to work with you to make certain that

PTSD and other disabilities that are difficult to define are adjudicated in a manner

fair to the veteran.

Lastly, I am concerned about the high remand rate of cases at the Board. We need

to work with you to fix the problems in the system that may cause lengthy delays.

Mr. Terry, thank you for accepting this nomination. I look forward to working with

you.

Mr. Chairman, thank you again for calling this hearing and thank you to both

witnesses for joining us today.

[Letter from Richard C. Schneider in support of the nomination of Charles

Ciccolella to be Assistant Secretary for the Veterans Employment and Training.]

38

NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Alexandria, Virginia 22313, July 12, 2005.

Hon. Larry E. Craig, Chairman,

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs,

U.S. Senate,

SR–412, Russell Senate Office Building,

Washington, DC.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The NonCommissioned Officers Association is appreciative

that the Committee has worked with deliberate purpose to schedule the Confirmation Hearing for Charles S. ‘‘Chick’’ Ciccolella to be Assistant Secretary, Veterans’

Employment and Training Service at the Department of Labor.

NCOA without any equivocation fully supports the nomination of Mr. Ciccolella

to this vital position that supports employment and training of those separating

from active duty, Guard, or Reserve forces, veterans of military service and certain

other eligible family members of these groups. Staff members of this Association,

including myself, have been privileged to work with ‘‘Chick’’ on Appointed Advisory

Committees at the Department of Labor and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

He ably assisted those committees on recommendations involving veterans entering

the employment market from military service, homeless veterans requiring special

job preparation and training, and preparation of specially designed transition programs for incarcerated veterans upon release from confinement. He demonstrated

over and over again his commitment to the Department of Labor and was instrumental in developing staff objectives and goals supporting the Assistant Secretary/

‘‘VETS’’ initiative to make ‘‘VETS’’ a 21st Century Veterans’ Employment and Training Service.

Mr. Ciccolella has the personal drive and determination coupled with experience

in and knowledge of the Department of Labor to be in his own right a most capable

and productive Assistant Secretary for ‘‘VETS’’. The Association believes it would be

inexcusable for the Committee on Veterans Affairs to not only recommend but to

secure immediate Senate Confirmation of Mr. Ciccolella as Assistant Secretary/

‘‘VETS’’ before the scheduled summer recess. America needs this employment advocate appointed at the Department of Labor to support military personnel returning

from the Nation’s War on Terrorism and to ensure those employment policies legislated for all veterans.

Sincerely,

RICHARD C. SCHNEIDER,

Executive Director for Government Affairs.

Æ