EVANS CALLS VA DECISION TO STOP REVIEW OF BENEFITS FOR VETERANS WITH PTSD "THE RIGHT THING TO DO"

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Lane Evans (D-IL), reacting to today's announcement that the VA will halt a review of 75,000 veterans' mental health claims, said he is pleased that seriously disabled veterans will be able to commemorate this Veterans Day without fear of losing their benefits. "This is a victory for common sense and for veterans," said Evans.

"Clearly the potential harm of this review to disabled veterans diagnosed with mental health disorders did not justify a search for administrative errors," said Evans. "Calling it off was the right thing to do. As a result of today's announcement veterans should no longer feel under attack by the Department of Veterans Affairs," he added.

Evans, the senior Democratic member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and Senator Daniel Akaka, the Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, had written to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson on October 13, 2005, stating "we are particularly concerned that the veterans targeted for this review are those who have serious disabilities involving such symptoms as 'persistent danger of hurting self or others.'"

During a recent hearing, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs heard testimony concerning one New Mexico veteran who had committed suicide after expressing concerns about the review and another who was stopped by family members from an attempted suicide.

In today's VA press release, VA Secretary Nicholson acknowledged the anxiety the review had generated among veterans with PTSD.

Evans noted the persistent advocacy of two Committee members -Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) and Rep. Tom Udall (D- NM) - as being instrumental in bringing attention to the risks posed by the proposed review and in bringing about its termination.

"Shelley is an outspoken champion for her veterans in Las Vegas and throughout the Nation, and Tom shared with the committee his personal knowledge of the suffering endured by New Mexico veterans whose claims had been subjected to an earlier review and those who feared, even without justification, that their benefits would be taken away," said Evans.

Evans noted that VA's earlier review of 2,100 claims had demonstrated what he believed all along, that "veterans who have been rated as seriously disabled by the VA due to PTSD are entitled to the benefits they have earned in service to the Nation. They should not be put in harm's way by governmental policies which could cause reactivation of the symptoms associated with severe PTSD."

"I am pleased that VA has recognized the danger associated with the proposed review and put a stop to it before any other veterans suffer the same fate as the Purple Heart recipient in New Mexico," said Evans.

To view the Evans/Akaka letter requesting the VA halt its unfounded PTSD claims review see this link: http://veterans.house.gov/democratic/officialcorr/10-13-05ptsd.htm
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