United States Department of Veterans Affairs

VA Testimony before the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs

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2011 (112th Congress, First Session)

March 17, 2011

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2010 (111th Congress, Second Session)

July 1, 2010
  • Thomas Pamperin, Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Policy and Program Management, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affair, Legislative Hearing on H.R. 3407, H.R. 3787, H.R. 4541, H.R. 5064, H.R. 5549, and Draft Legislation

June 15, 2010
  • Michael Walcoff, Acting Under Secretary for Benefits, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, To discuss The State of the Veterans Benefits Administration

May 20, 2010
  • Bradley G. Mayes, Director, Compensation and Pension Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs testifying before the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs to discuss Healing the Wounds: Evaluating Military Sexual Trauma Issues

May 6, 2010
  • Diana M. Rubens, Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Field Operations, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, testifying before the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs to discuss Quality vs. Quantity: Examining the Veterans Benefits Administration’s Employee Work Credit and Management Systems

April 22, 2010
  • Belinda J. Finn, Assistant Inspector General for Audits and Evaluations, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs testifying before the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs to discuss Examining the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Fiduciary Program: How Can the VA Better Protect Vulnerable Veterans and Their Families?

  • Bradley G. Mayes, Director, Compensation and Pension Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, testifying before the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs to discuss Examining the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Fiduciary Program: How Can the VA Better Protect Vulnerable Veterans and Their Families?

March 24, 2010
  • Bradley G. Mayes, Director, Compensation and Pension Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, testifying before the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs to discuss Examination of VA Regional Office Disability Claims Quality Review Methods – Is VBA’s Systematic Technical Accuracy Review (STAR) Making the Grade?

February 24, 2010
  • Diana Rubens, Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Field Operations, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, testifying before the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs to discuss Examination of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Benefits Delivery at Discharge and Quick Start Programs

February 3, 2010
  • Bradley G. Mayes, Director, Compensation and Pension Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans AffairsSubcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Implementation and Status Update on the Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act, P.L. 110-389

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2009 (111th Congress, First Session)

March 3, 2009
  • Michael Walcoff, Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits, before a joint hearing of the Subcommittees on Disability and Memorial Affairs and Oversight & Investigations, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, to discuss the critical issue of proper handling of Veterans' claims documents at Regional Offices.

  • Belinda Finn, Assistant Inspector General for Auditing, Office of Inspector General, before the a joint hearing of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittees on Disability and Memorial Affairs, and Oversight and Investigations, to address important issues associated with the integrity and timeliness of the Veterans Benefits Administration's handling and processing of compensation claims.

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2008 (110th Congress, Second Session)

May 22, 2008
  • Diana Rubens, Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Field Operatsions Veterans Affairs, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, to provide information on the Veterans Benefits Administration outreach initiatives designed to address the needs of the brave men and women who are actively serving our country today and those of our distinguished veterans.

February 26, 2008
  • Bradley Mayes, Director, Compensation and Pension Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, to discuss revising the Department of Veterans Affairs schedule for rating disabilities.

February 14, 2008
  • Michael Walcoff, Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits, Veterans Benefits Administration, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, to discuss the Veterans Benefits Administration's (VBA) claims inventory and claims processing system.

January 29, 2008
  • Kim Graves, Director, Office of Business Process Integration, Veterans Benefits Administration, before a House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs hearing, to dicuss the use of information technology to enhance claims processing within the Veterans Benefits Administration.

  • Stephen Warren, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology, before a House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs hearing, to dicuss the use of information technology to enhance claims processing, within the Department of Veterans Affairs , as well as utilizing data from the Veterans Health Information Technology and Architecture (VistA), to assist in the processing of disability claims.

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2007 (110th Congress, First Session)

October 9, 2007
  • Michael Walcoff, Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Field Operations, Veterans Benefits Administration, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, to discuss the Veterans Benefits Administration's pending claims inventory and claims backlog.

September 25, 2007
  • Arnold Russo, Director, Appeals Management Center, Veterans Benefits Administration, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, to discuss the operations of the Department of Veterans Affairs Appeals Management Center.

July 12, 2007
  • Betty Brown, Associate Director, Center for Women Veterans, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, and the Subcommittee on Health, to discuss services for women veterans.

  • Lucretia McClenney, Director, Center for Minority Affairs, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, and the Subcommittee on Health, to discuss the mission of the Center for Minority Veterans.

May 22, 2007
  • James Terry, Chairman, Board of Veterans' Appeals, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, to discuss the challenges facing the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

April 24, 2007
  • Jack McCoy, Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Policy and Program Management, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, to discuss the important issue of survivors' benefits.

April 17, 2007
  • Ronald Aument, Deputy Undersecretary for Benefits, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, to testify on H.R. 67, the "Veterans Outreach Improvement Act of 2007"; H.R. 1435, the "Department of Veterans Affairs Claims Backlog Reduction Act of 2007"; H.R. 1444 a bill which would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to pay an interim benefit in the amount of $500 per month if certain claims for benefits have been remanded by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims or the Board of Veterans' Appeals; and H.R. 1490, a bill which would establish a presumption of service-connection in certain claims, and for other purposes.

March 13, 2007
  • Ronald Aument, Deputy Undersecretary for Benefits, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, to discuss the Disability Compensation Program and our efforts to meet the needs of service members and veterans of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.

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2006 (109th Congress, Second Session)

September 27, 2006
  • Jack McCoy, Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Policy and Program Management, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, to discuss the VA Pension Programs.

September 13, 2006
  • Michael Walcoff, Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Field Operations, Veterans Benefits Administration, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, to discuss training for Veterans Benefits Administration claims adjudicators.

July 19, 2006
  • Jack McCoy, Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Policy and Program Management, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, regarding the role of national, state, and regional or local veterans' service organizations and state and local government veterans agencies in the Department of Veterans Affairs disability claims process.

June 20, 2006
  • Michael Staley, Assistant Inspector General for Auditing, before a joint meeting of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, and the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, concerning the Office of Inspector General's (OIG) reports addressing information security weaknesses in the Department of Veterans Affairs and data security practices and policies in the Veterans Benefits Administration.

April 6, 2006
  • William Tuerk, Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, to testify on a number of legislative items of great interest to veterans.

March 16, 2006
  • Jack McCoy, Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Policy and Program Management, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, regarding our efforts to reach out to servicemembers, veterans, and their survivors and make them aware of the full range of benefits and services to which they may be entitled.

February 16, 2006
  • James Terry, Chairman, Board of Veterans' Appeals, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, regarding the Fiscal Year 2007 budget request for the Board of Veterans' Appeals.

  • Daniel Cooper, Under Secretary for Benefits, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, to discuss the Department of Veterans Affairs fiscal year 2007 budget request for the compensation and pension programs.

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2005 (109th Congress, First Session)

October 20, 2005
  • Steven Brown, MD, Director, Compensation and Pension Examination Program, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, regarding improving compensation and pension (C&P) exam quality.

  • Ronald Aument, Deputy Undersecretary for Benefits, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, regarding disability compensation claims decisions and recommendations for standardizing the adjudicative process.

May 5, 2005
  • Michael Walcoff, Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Field Operations, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs' Appeals Management Center operations.

  • Ron Garvin, Acting Chairman, Board of Veterans' Appeals, before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, regarding the operations of the Board of Veterans' Appeals.

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