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VETERAN’S BENEFITS BILL PASSES IN THE SENATE
Overturns Civil War-era restriction on
attorneys, improves educational opportunities, and more
August 3, 2006
Media contact: Jeff Schrade (202)224-9093
(Washington, DC) A Civil War-era policy that prevents veterans from
hiring attorneys moved one step closer to being removed Tuesday when the
U.S. Senate unanimously approved S. 2694, the "Veterans' Choice of
Representation and Benefits Enhancement Act of 2006." If adopted by the
House, the legislation will overturn a policy that denies veterans the
right to hire attorneys to help them seek benefits from the Department
of Veterans Affairs.
Under current law, a veteran has to exhaust the VA process – which may
take years – before hiring an attorney.
"I am delighted that we are closer to providing veterans and their
families with the option of hiring attorneys to help them navigate the
VA system. Doing away with this outdated law will allow veterans – like
all other adults in this nation – to have the assistance of counsel if
they so choose," said the bill’s sponsor, U.S. Sen. Larry Craig
(R-Idaho), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
The legislation, which was approved by the Senate Committee on Veterans’
Affairs last month, also would require the removal of the ashes of
convicted double murderer Russell Wagner from Arlington National
Cemetery. Wagner brutally murdered Daniel Davis, 84, and Wilda Davis,
80, in Maryland in 1994.
Wagner was later convicted and died in prison. His remains were then
placed in Arlington as the result of a loophole in the law barring the
burial of capital offenders in national cemeteries, which has since been
closed. The Davis’ son, Vernon, is a veteran and testified before the
committee last year along with Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD). Both asked
for Wagner’s remains to be removed.
The legislation also includes changes to the Montgomery G.I. Bill and
the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance benefits program –
changes that were sought by Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) and Mike DeWine
(R-OH). If approved by the House, veterans and survivors will be
eligible for accelerated educational benefits for high-cost, short-term
training leading to jobs in five areas of the economy: transportation,
construction, hospitality, energy and high technology.
The bill also includes a provision sought by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI),
the committee’s Ranking Member, that would require VA to pay full costs
for certain service-connected veterans residing in veterans’ homes run
by state governments, as well as provide medications for certain
service-connected conditions for veterans in those state-run facilities.
Under current law, the federal government only pays a portion of those
costs.
The bill would also allow VA to designate beds in privately-run care
centers as "state homes."
"In large portions of Idaho and in other rural parts of America, we
often don’t need a full-fledged nursing home for veterans – but having a
few beds available could help keep a veteran closer to home and loved
ones," Craig said.
The legislation would also:
* Allow tribes to apply for grants to establish veterans’ cemeteries on
Native lands
* Improve efforts to prevent homelessness among veterans, especially
among those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan
* Establish an Office of Rural Health in the Office of the Under
Secretary for Health
Here is Chairman Craig's floor statement about S. 2694:
Statement of Larry E. Craig to accompany Senate passage of
S. 2694, the "Veterans' Choice of Representation and Benefits
Enhancement Act of 2006"
Mr. CRAIG: Mr. President, I have sought recognition to comment on
comprehensive, bi-partisan legislation reported from the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs and now awaiting full Senate approval. S. 2694, the
Veterans' Choice of Representation and Benefits Enhancement Act of 2006,
contains 28 provisions representing the collective work of 44 Senators
who either sponsored or cosponsored bills that were incorporated into
this important legislation.
S. 2694 includes provisions that would improve educational assistance
benefits for veterans and their survivors; reauthorize and enhance
various programs of assistance for homeless veterans; reduce nursing
home and prescription medication costs for service-disabled veterans
residing in state veterans' nursing homes; enhance memorial affairs
benefits and preserve the character of Arlington National Cemetery as a
shrine for our honored dead; and, as the bill's title suggests, provide
veterans with the freedom to hire attorneys to represent them during the
VA claims process. I will take a few minutes to describe the sections of
the bill that I sponsored, none I am more proud of than the choice of
representation provision. For a full accounting of all of S. 2694's
provisions, I ask my colleagues to read Senate Report 109-297.
Currently, veterans and other claimants seeking veterans’ benefits may
not hire an attorney until the VA administrative proceedings have been
completed – a process that often takes several years. That law flows
from a Civil War era policy intended to protect veterans from
unscrupulous attorneys. That policy arose at a time -- unlike today --
when attending law school was not required to become a lawyer and there
was no effective professional oversight of lawyers.
In recent months, it has become abundantly clear that many veterans and
their survivors want the option of hiring an attorney to help them
navigate the increasingly complex VA system. In fact, the prohibition
against veterans hiring attorneys is considered to be unfair and
outdated by a broad spectrum of individuals and organizations, including
veterans’ organizations, veterans’ advocates, judges, law professors,
and bar associations.
For these reasons, I joined with Senator Lindsey Graham in introducing
legislation to end the outdated, paternalistic restriction on the
freedoms of veterans. Section 101 of S. 2694 would repeal the existing
prohibition against veterans hiring attorneys to help them obtain
benefits from VA. I am delighted that we are closer to doing away with
this outdated law and allowing veterans – like all other adults in this
nation -- to have the assistance of counsel if they so choose.
Title V of S. 2694 represents the first effort in five years to enact
comprehensive homeless veterans’ assistance legislation. Five years ago,
Congress set an ambitious goal to end homelessness among veterans by
2011. I am not one who sets goals lightly, especially one so important.
Therefore, I joined with Senators Akaka, Burr and Obama to craft the
provisions in title V which will both improve services for homeless
veterans, and help prevent chronic homelessness among our servicemen and
women returning from the War on Terror. Among other things, this measure
would extend the authorization of appropriations for comprehensive
services for homeless veterans, reauthorize a grant program for homeless
veterans with special needs, and extend the authority of the Advisory
Committee on Homeless Veterans. It would also extend the authority of VA
to transfer properties it obtains after foreclosures on homes financed
with VA-guaranteed loans to organizations which assist homeless veterans
and their families in acquiring shelter. Finally, the bill would
authorize appropriations for a program designed to prevent homelessness
by providing financial assistance to eligible entities to provide and
coordinate the provision of supportive services for very low-income
veteran families occupying permanent housing.
I want to be clear, however, that I will be monitoring whether these
programs are having the effect we expect them to. In March, I held a
hearing on the needs of homeless veterans, at which VA, its federal
partners, and community-based service providers to the homeless
testified about what is working, what isn’t, what duplication might be
eliminated, and where deficiencies exist that must be addressed. We
learned that more than a half dozen federal agencies will devote over $2
billion to homelessness. VA alone will spend upward of $221 million on
grants, housing and treatment of underlying conditions. In fact, the
fiscal year 2007 budget for VA will support a record level of funding
for the sixth straight year for targeted programs for homeless veterans.
Plainly stated, we cannot afford to waste any money. We must ensure that
our resources are invested carefully so that homeless veterans can
resume their self-sufficiency and independence.
Section 402 of S. 2694 is derived from legislation I introduced that
would remove the four year limit on the terms for the positions of Under
Secretary for Health and Under Secretary for Benefits at VA. When the
term limits were originally created, I think we all hoped that they
would allow the two officials to serve four consecutive years without
any political considerations, regardless of whether the service was in
different administrations or under different VA leadership. History,
however, has shown us that new administrations or even new VA leadership
within the same administration often bring new people at all levels of
government, including the two Under Secretary positions. In fact, the
last three Under Secretaries for Health and the previous Under Secretary
for Benefits did not complete a full 4-year term. Therefore, this
provision would eliminate what are, in effect, limits on terms that
serve no useful purpose.
The last of the provisions I sponsored touches on a subject that most of
my colleagues likely remember. Last summer, we learned that the remains
of a brutal murderer -- Russell Wayne Wagner -- were placed in the
Nation's preeminent military cemetery, Arlington National Cemetery. I
was appalled to discover that the law enacted in 1997 to deny capital
offenders from burial in national cemeteries did not apply to Wagner.
While we moved swiftly to close the loophole that permitted Wagner's
burial in the first place, the question remained: should his remains
continue to be included among the scores of honored dead in Arlington?
For me and Senator Mikulski, the answer was "no". That is why we
sponsored legislation now contained in section 202 of S. 2694 which
would direct the Secretary of the Army to remove Wagner's remains from
Arlington. As I stated last summer, we must not dishonor the sacrifices
made by those memorialized at our nation's military cemeteries by
including among them individuals who, through their own heinous acts,
have grievously dishonored themselves.
Mr. President, I want to thank all of the Members of the Committee and
other Senators who worked so diligently on this bill. In particular, I
commend the Committee's Ranking Member, Senator Akaka. I have said it
before and I'll repeat it today, Hawaii's veterans are fortunate to have
Senator Akaka as their advocate. It's been a pleasure working with him.
In closing, I ask for the support of the Senate in adopting S. 2694. It
is an important, historic piece of legislation that will respect the
freedoms won by our veterans on the battlefield, and will improve
benefits available to them when they return home from it.
I yield the floor.
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Larry Scott
