Honoring our Veterans 

 

In observance of Veterans Day, I recently visited with veterans and veterans’ service providers throughout my District. Some of the major issues we discussed were the backlog of claims at the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Baltimore Regional Office, implementation of the Post 9/11 GI Bill, and the BRAVE Act, which I authored to assist disabled veterans in receiving benefits. 

I had the opportunity to attend the Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training, Inc. Center Appreciation Day and the 8th Annual USO-BWI Salute to Veterans and Military Families; visit with local Veteran Service Organization chapters; and celebrate a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation that will greatly enhance access to local, affordable transportation services for military families and spouses. I was also pleased to join the Veterans Day Ceremony at Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery, and to meet with veterans who have enrolled at Towson University through the Post 9/11 GI Bill. 

We can never fully repay the debt we owe to those who have served our country. But we must do everything we can to ensure that our Nation fulfills its commitments to them. Our efforts on behalf of our veterans also show our active-duty military that we’ll be there for them when they return, that they can count on us. That knowledge makes a difference.

The backlog of veterans’ claims at the VBA’s Baltimore Regional Office is troubling. I have worked alongside my colleagues in the Maryland delegation to improve services at this facility. We have held several meetings with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs officials in Washington, DC and at the Baltimore Regional Office. In addition to those measures, we recently authored this letter to Secretary Shinseki, and have received assurance that he is making these matters a priority. We are hopeful that progress will be made under new leadership, and now participate in regular conference calls to keep us apprised of these efforts.  

 

The Post 9/11 GI Bill became law in 2008 and represents the largest investment in veterans’ education since World War II, covering the full cost of an undergraduate education at any public university or college in the country and many private schools for our nation's newest generation of veterans. In the fall of 2010, nearly 300,000 veterans enrolled in college as a result of the Post 9/11 GI Bill and more than $2.9 billion in education benefits have been paid to veteran students.[1]

We also passed the Post 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act of 2010, which amends the original legislation to provide financial support not only to those attending public institutions, but also to those attending private or foreign institutions, and to those participating in on-the-job programs, apprenticeships, flight and correspondence training programs. These improvements are seen as making the program more equitable, as well as providing veterans with many more education and job-training options. 

I first introduced the Benefits Rating Acceleration for Veterans Entitlement (BRAVE) Act in 2007 after a Maryland veteran contacted my office to seek assistance with his application for social security disability benefits.  The veteran had already obtained a 100% disability rating from the Veterans Administration (VA), but had been waiting more than a year to be approved for benefits at the Social Security Administration (SSA).  The purpose of the BRAVE Act is to coordinate and streamline the disability determination process at the SSA and the VA so that disabled veterans do not have to go through duplicative processes in order to obtain benefits that they are entitled to receive.

I will soon be reintroducing the BRAVE act, and have been working with the Social Security Administration and members of the House Ways and Means Committee on ways to move this effort forward swiftly, to make sure we are getting these much-needed benefits to our veterans.