House Committee Joint Hearing on Disabled American Veterans

At the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs Joint Hearing to receive legislative presentation of the Disabled American Veterans, Congressman Steve Buyer (R-IN) said whether or not veterans are service connected or non-service connected (in regards to disability), he feel that the DAV should be able to stand for veterans. He wants to simplify the process for compensation and retirement, and essentially “take the DOD out” of the system to make the process faster.

Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) said his goal is to make sure that every veteran is given everything they deserve. We haven’t looked at how society changes, he said, and the miracle of modern medicine. Willingness to change a system to make it better will provide better benefits to the veterans.

National Commander of the Disabled American Veterans Robert T. Reynolds said for six years, soldiers have been in harms way and they are returning, needing our help to return to “a normal life.” Our nation cannot say, he said, that “we cannot afford to honor our veterans,” our nation must show that if we can call upon our veterans, we can also honor them. We must make sure the leadership promise that the commitment to the veterans is upheld. We believe, he said, the veteran’s health care system must be a top priority by us, as they are a top cost in our defense. It is imperative that the Veterans Administration improves helping veterans. All they need is the tools and funding to do so.

Some recommendations from Reynolds were supporting additional increases and annual cost of living allowances, providing better veterans insurance, updating mortality table, adjusting retirement pay, and reviewing disability compensation.