Dramatic Increases In Veterans Legal Cases To Be Addressed By Senate

[Guest allanopie]

NEWS FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS

DRAMATIC INCREASES IN VETERANS LEGAL CASES TO BE ADDRESSED BY SENATE

COMMITTEE

Over 5,800 cases pending at the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims

<http://veterans.senate.gov/press_images/Gavel2.jpg>

Gavels have been used in courts for hundreds of years. This is the gavel

of the U.S. Senate, which was given to our nation by the Vice Presiden

to India in 1954. It replaced the original gavel which had been in use

since 1789. At the start of each day's session a Senate Page carries a

small mahogany box, which houses both the original Senate gavel and the

gavel in current use, into the chamber and places it on the presiding

officer's desk.

July 11, 2006

Media contact: Jeff Schrade (202)224-9093

(Washington, DC) The U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs will

hold hearing on Thursday to examine the dramatic increases in both the

number of cases being received by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans

Claims and the number that are pending. The hearing will also examine

what steps can be taken to improve the efficiency of the legal system

for veterans.

The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims is in the judicial branch of

government and reviews decisions rendered by VA's Board of Veterans'

Appeals. Most of those claims deal with disability compensation.

Just two years ago there were about 2,700 cases pending before the Court

and it was taking in less than 200 new cases per month. But now the

Court is taking in approximately 300 new cases per month - and the

number of pending cases is over 5,800. If trends continue, the number

of pending cases could reach 10,000 in the next five years.

* The hearing titled, "Battling the Backlog Part II: Challenges

Facing the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims," will be held

Thursday, July 13 and begin at 10 a.m. in room 418 of the Russell Senate

Office Building.

* It will be webcast live, and archived for viewing later, at

http://veterans.senate.gov <http://veterans.senate.gov/> . The hearing

may also be audiocast - during the hearing only - on C-SPAN's hearings

website, located at http://www.capitolhearings.org

<http://www.capitolhearings.org/> .

Panel I

* The Honorable William P. Greene, Jr., Chief Judge of the United

States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, accompanied by Norman

Herring, the Clerk of the Court.

Panel II

* The Honorable James Terry, Chairman of the Board of Veterans'

Appeals, accompanied by Randy Campbell, Assistant General Counsel.

* Joseph Violante, National Legislative Director, Disabled

American Veterans

####

See this story AND more on-line at: http://veterans.senate.gov

<http://veterans.senate.gov/>

If you want to send Chairman Craig a message, click on: Contact the

Veterans' Affairs Committee

<http://veterans.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home>

[Stretch]

Allen, (my commentary)

I could not get the video of the senate hearing to work properly. I have read the statements of the Witness (Senator Craig), Judge Greene, James P. Perry, and Joseph Violante (DAV). Violante given a one-against-five-position in his fight for Veterans.

It is beyond my understanding how some people can get the title of Honorable, after reading these statements. These are very hard to digest, but with a little bit of patience, it has made me understand much more than I have ever understood about this process.

This looks like a huddle for future denials of claims under the pretension of reducing claims times and quantity. This also shows that the average claim will last 4 years until it gets through the CAVC.

STATEMENT OF JAMES P. TERRY, CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE July 13, 2006

Further explains that:

With me today before you is R. Randall Campbell, Assistant General Counsel, Professional Staff Group VII of the Office of the General Counsel (Group VII), also known as the Veterans Court Appellate Litigation Group. That Group is charged with representing the Secretary of Veterans Affairs before the Court.

*********************************

This Group VII is a huge legal conglomerate that is put together against a Veteran who has no representation.

The writing of these statements has no breaks, and they are put together as if by a junior high school writer. I down-loaded these doc.'s into Word, breaking up the ideas, eliminating spelling errors (many), and reducing misplaced spacings. It took me a half hour just to get these doc.'s prepared to read.

Every Veteran needs to read these Statements to better understand what they are up against. There should be no secrets here, and no disguising the people involved with the responsibility of these correct decisions and statements.

[Guest allanopie]

>This Group VII is a huge legal conglomerate that is put together against a Veteran who has no representation.

Hello Stretch,

I knew I smelled a Skunk.

I realize there has always been a force working against us. This slow mind is only NOW realizing, how large & how determined the force.

As we approach "manditory service", are these increased efforts the stones for that path?

########################################################################

Allen, (my commentary)

I could not get the video of the senate hearing to work properly. I have read the statements of the Witness (Senator Craig), Judge Greene, James P. Perry, and Joseph Violante (DAV). Violante given a one-against-five-position in his fight for Veterans.

It is beyond my understanding how some people can get the title of Honorable, after reading these statements. These are very hard to digest, but with a little bit of patience, it has made me understand much more than I have ever understood about this process.

This looks like a huddle for future denials of claims under the pretension of reducing claims times and quantity. This also shows that the average claim will last 4 years until it gets through the CAVC.

STATEMENT OF JAMES P. TERRY, CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE July 13, 2006

Further explains that:

With me today before you is R. Randall Campbell, Assistant General Counsel, Professional Staff Group VII of the Office of the General Counsel (Group VII), also known as the Veterans Court Appellate Litigation Group. That Group is charged with representing the Secretary of Veterans Affairs before the Court.

*********************************

This Group VII is a huge legal conglomerate that is put together against a Veteran who has no representation.

The writing of these statements has no breaks, and they are put together as if by a junior high school writer. I down-loaded these doc.'s into Word, breaking up the ideas, eliminating spelling errors (many), and reducing misplaced spacings. It took me a half hour just to get these doc.'s prepared to read.

Every Veteran needs to read these Statements to better understand what they are up against. There should be no secrets here, and no disguising the people involved with the responsibility of these correct decisions and statements.

[Stretch]

Allen, (My commentary Part 2)

Former Veterans tell their stories, about the DoD-VA-Senate POW WOWS, to their children. As these Veterans claims and benefits are played-off, generations of Veterans children, standoff the “Call to ARMS” for mistrust of several Government Agencies involved with this swindle. This could be an end of the all Volunteer Military in our country at the same time DoD boast of 100+% recruitment efforts in April 2006. Why are we using so many National Guard, Army Reserves, Navy Reserves, Marine Reserves, and Air Force Reserves, in Iraq and Afghanistan, when we cannot even protect our own borders with National Guard?

Senate hearing, on the huge number of Claims at the CAVC (Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims), makes clear three pertinent ideas about the methods of lowering the amount of claims at the CAVC.

1. Alter or remove military medical records prior to separation. Refuse to share information about secret projects and operations with the VA. Deny that any Veterans were harmed in anyway with any illness especially in the time of WAR – for purposes of National Security. Eliminate service medical separation examinations, awards, commendations, and any other achievements of relevance to military service hoping that the Veteran has lost his copies that he may have been given. Deny certain status, under the law, with wording that may be convoluted and eccentric for future discrimination as a class of people of US citizenship with military service. Deny that disease exist, with regard to Atomic Vets, Chemical Exposure, Biological exposure, depleted uranium, and other secret drug experiments on Veterans abroad, in the air, and at sea.

(DoD controls amount of claims before the CAVC)

2. Stall claims off for more Congressional legal technicalities (in the guise of concern for the Veteran), constantly request for more veterans evidence, maybe create another AMC (Appeals Management Center) type process, stall-off decisions until times to appeal time-limits have passed, call-up retired judges to deny claims at a faster rate, immediately deny veterans claims on the first go-around (for the sake of development), and generally increase the amount of incompetence-quotient at the VA Regional Offices. Continually change jurisdictions of claims requiring FOIA for evidence that has gone over a year without Veterans reconfirmation. -(Use the FOIA time limits in-order to deny claims for valid Current information).

(Congress controls amount of claims before the CAVC)

3. Hiring Veterans help from job banks of people on a continual rotating basis, so that false information cannot be tracked to a responsible person. Refuse to share DoD information, about different defense projects so that the Veteran will not be honored, and maybe the Veteran, will just give-up. Twist anything that is heard or written, by the Veteran, with bias toward the VA eliminating the intent or intention of the Veterans’ testimony. Defer injuries to the NAS (National Academy of Science in the guise fairness) for information the VA has had for 40 years further delaying Veterans claims. Avoid responsibility, in anyway, for Veterans evidence or testimony. Use C&P (Compensation and Pension Exams) with an agenda to deny the Veteran before he walks in the C&P door, only asking questions that will benefit the VA defense at the CAVC. Always, only ask questions which will support a contrary testimonial to the Veterans claims, with prejudice and pride, to further humiliate the Veteran.

(VA controls amount of Claims before the CAVC)

Oh wait a minute; these were the decisions from last year’s plans for this year’s denial of Veterans. Veterans will not know the truth about next year plans until well after they are implemented next year.

These methods of controlling benefits claims, with a huge VA legal machine, are not told to new recruits. Recruiters instead boast of all of the opportunities and benefits of military service, when these benefits are denied years later after the Veteran seeks them.

Suggestions for Congress:

1. Hire new CAVC judges instead of deferring to retired judges (retired judges are a temporary fix to be dropped at will).

2. Consider all Veterans testimony and lay statements.

3. Provide legal services, to Veterans, equal or greater than VA legal services of the Veterans Administration.

4. Veterans claims process should be only as long as it takes the Veteran to use these legal services above (#3) to gather information and present his claims.

5. If a Recruiter has made certain promises, that are broken, the recruiter should be discharged with administrative discharge and fined.

6. Enforce laws, which call for punishment of altering or removing any medical, service, commendations, awards, NPRC (National Personnel Record Center) omissions, or other service records and evidence at the level of DoD, VA, NPRC, or other agency which has been providing negative information.

7. Replace incompetent VA workers, with workers who are assigned responsibility of erroneous information, backed up with laws that have teeth.

8. Treat widows of Veterans with all due respect of the Veteran.

9. Claims are not allowed to expire after the Veterans death, and survivors must be given free legal assistance of their own choice and access to the VA system.

10. NAS (National Academy of Science) be eliminated for failure to comply with time constraints or half baked counterfeit studies, which favor the DoD reinvention of the VA legal machine. This Agency must be replaced with a Veteran friendly agency similar to the WRII (War related illness and injury) centers, and these centers much outreach for ill Veterans.

11. If a VSR, VSO, VHA, VBA, VAB, AMC, DVA, or any other VA or Veterans agency information on a time-frame (example: two weeks) that the agency be held accountable and responsible for this information of the time-frame (example: two weeks).

12. Expedite means one week, or at the Veterans Council's time-frame needed. VA has shown that it is not a Veterans Advocacy of new or older Veterans.

13. **Congress admit that it denied Viet Nam Veterans erroneously years ago, and that after these Veterans struggled to survive for 30+ years, these Veterans have finally come to a grinding halt with the conditions that were service related and denied prior to 1988 before the invention of the CAVC.**

These are only a few suggestions that could eliminate back-log of Veterans Claims before the CAVC.