11.12.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, Representative Mike Michaud, Ranking Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, praised House passage of S. 893, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Act of 2013, which provides veterans a projected 1.5 percent COLA beginning in January.
"Without this annual COLA increase, veterans, their families, and survivors would see the value of their hard-earned benefits slowly erode. Many of the millions of veterans and survivors who receive
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10.30.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Rep. Dina Titus (NV-01), the Ranking Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, led a hearing today that examined the current state of national veterans' cemeteries. Titus joined other western members of Congress in raising concerns over a lack of access to national cemeteries, particularly in western states.
The National Cemetery Administration (NCA) has grown dramatically since its creation in 1862 when 14
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10.30.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Representative Mike Michaud joined the bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees on Capitol Hill today to call for a vote on H.R. 813, a bill Michaud and Chairman Jeff Miller (R-FL) introduced to provide advanced funding to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
The VA currently receives its health care budget a year in advance, and Michaud and Miller's bill would ensure that the remaining VA budget is treated the same way. The bill
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10.28.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation (H.R. 2189) designed to help the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) accomplish its goal of eliminating its claims backlog by 2015. The legislation incorporates provisions from a number of bills that were announced by Democrats on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee earlier this year as part of a 10 bill legislative package to address the backlog.
"There is no easy quick fix to the claims backlog. While
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10.09.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Veterans' Affairs Committee held a hearing that examined the impacts of a federal government shutdown on benefits and services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who was the only witness at the hearing, provided testimony detailing the latest impacts of the shutdown on the VA and veterans. His testimony can be found here.
"This shutdown is unacceptable and must end. Washington's brinksmanship cannot be
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10.08.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Mike Michaud (D-ME), Ranking Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, reacted to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announcement that over 7,000 Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) employees will be put into furlough status and that regional VBA offices will be closed. In addition, 2,754 Office of Information Technology employees will also be furloughed due to the exhaustion of FY 2013 carry over funding. Despite these furloughs, claims
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10.01.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Dina Titus (NV-01), Ranking Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, co-hosted a roundtable on the VA appeals process with Rep. Jon Runyan (NJ-03), the subcommittee's chairman.
The roundtable attendees included representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Board of Veterans' Appeals, the courts, and subject matter experts. Titus amended legislation that is now pending in the House (HR
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10.01.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, Representative Mike Michaud (ME-02), Ranking Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, reacted to the federal government shutdown's impact on veterans and warned his colleagues about the future impacts of sequestration on the administrative expenses of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
"This is a sad day for America," said Michaud. "While some critical services are spared, the government shutdown will have a direct impact on many veterans. I'm
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09.11.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs' Subcommittee on Disability Assistance & Memorial Affairs held a hearing today on the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) implementation of its Fully Developed Claims process, which is an optional new program that allows veterans to receive claims decisions faster. Claims are considered to be "fully developed" when veterans submit all available supporting evidence to VA at the time they first file a formal claim and
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08.01.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. – Today, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee voted to approve seven omnibus bills, which incorporate thirty-four pieces of legislation addressing a number of issues, including the disability claims backlog, foreclosure protections for veterans, research and treatment of tinnitus, advanced appropriations, and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) planning and budgeting.
“This markup represented collaboration between the majority and minority, and
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07.19.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, the Subcommittee on Health of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee held a hearing focused on examining the care and treatment available to survivors of military sexual trauma (MST). The subcommittee also examined the coordination of care and services offered to victims of MST through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DOD).
"Many who have suffered through an ordeal such as sexual assault often times are reluctant to discuss
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07.17.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, Rep. Mike Michaud (Maine-02), Ranking Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, announced the introduction of the "Department of Veterans Affairs Budget Planning Reform Act of 2013," a bill he wrote to require the VA to institute a forward-looking strategy with goals and objectives, and a five-year program with expected outcomes, milestones and resources. The bill also designates a Chief Strategy Officer to ensure that the planning and programming phases of
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06.27.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs held a hearing on the capital investment options available to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in light of changes made by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on how the cost of major medical facility leases are scored. Due to COB's scoring changes, the full costs of certain leases are now required to be accounted for up front.
"The implications of CBO's scoring of VA medical facility lease authorizations are
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06.18.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs held a hearing examining the growing backlog of appeals pending with the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA). In recent years, VA regional offices have shifted resources away from appeals and towards claims, which has led to lengthy appeals timeframes. The subcommittee is concerned that a large increase in the adjudication of claims, as assumed by VA's efforts to eliminate the
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06.04.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 671, the Ruth Moore Act, by a voice vote.Introduced by Rep. Chellie Pingree (ME-01), the Ruth Moore Act aims to spur reform of the evidentiary standards for survivors of military sexual trauma (MST) who file claims for mental health conditions with the Department of Veterans Affairs. The ultimate goal of the bill is to make it easier for veteran sexual-assault victims to receive service-connected benefits and treatment
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06.04.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee held a hearing that examined the security of veterans' private information.
"Veterans need to know the information they submit to VA will not be compromised under any circumstances," said Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (Arizona-01), the subcommittee's ranking member. "Whether it's reducing the claims backlog, system integration with the Defense Department on records, or safeguarding
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06.03.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, Representative Mike Michaud, Ranking Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, issued the following statement on the passing of Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey:
"Senator Lautenberg committed much of his life to serving this country. His service in World War II and his subsequent work in the United States Senate speaks not only to his commitment to our country's future, but also to the enduring contributions that he and all of our veterans have made,
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05.22.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Joined by veteran groups on Capitol Hill, House lawmakers unveiled a legislative package today designed to help the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) accomplish its goal to eliminate the backlog by 2015. All ten bills in the package have now been introduced, and a summary of the plan can be found here.
"I applaud the VA's ambitious goal, but the time for relying on them to get the job done alone is over," said Rep. Mike Michaud (Maine-02), the Ranking Member of the
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05.22.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, Representative Mike Michaud (Maine-02), Ranking Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, expressed disappointment in the Department of Defense (DoD) announcement that it will put out to bid for a new system to manage its health records. Michaud and his Republican and Democratic colleagues on the committee sent a letter today to President Obama urging him to show leadership and end the bureaucratic back and forth on records, which has a direct impact on
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05.08.13 • Press Release
Washington, D.C. - Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee held a hearing examining the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) construction program. GAO's May 2013 report "VA Construction: Additional Actions Needed to Decrease Delays and Lower Costs of Major Medical-Facility Projects" found that VA's four largest medical-facility construction projects (Las Vegas, Orlando, Denver and New Orleans) all had cost increases ranging from 59% to
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