Legal Status
Veterans Affairs Department
The establishment of the Veterans Administration (VA) came in 1930 when Congress authorized the President to "consolidate and coordinate Government activities affecting war veterans." The three component agencies (the Veterans Bureau, the Bureau of Pensions of the Interior Department, and the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers) became bureaus within the Veterans Administration.
The VA is responsible for administering benefit programs for veterans, their families, and their survivors. These benefits include pension, education, disability compensation, home loans, life insurance, vocational rehabilitation, survivor support, medical care, and burial benefits.
Of the 25 million veterans currently alive, nearly three of every four served during a war or an official period of hostility. About a quarter of the nation's population — approximately 70 million people — are potentially eligible for V.A. benefits and services because they are veterans, family members, or survivors of veterans.
For further information about the functions, organization, and activities, of the Veterans Administration, please visit http://www.va.gov/.
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Sources:
http://www4.va.gov/about_va/vahistory.asp
http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch
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Schedule for Rating Disabilities; Skin Conditions
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend the portion of the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD or Rating Schedule) that addresses skin conditions. The purpose of these changes is to incorporate medical advances that have occurred since the last review, update current medical terminology, and provide clear evaluation...
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Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance and Veterans' Group Life Insurance-Slayer's Rule Exclusion
The Department of Veterans Affairs adopts as final, without change, the final rule seeking comments published on October 3, 2012, amending its regulations governing Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) and Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI). Specifically, this rule prohibits paying insurance proceeds because of the death of a person...
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Federal Agency Final Regulations Implementing Executive Order 13559: Fundamental Principles and Policymaking Criteria for Partnerships With Faith-Based and Other Neighborhood Organizations
The Agencies publishing this final rule amend or establish their regulations to implement Executive Order 13279, as amended by Executive Order 13559. Executive Order 13279 established fundamental principles to guide the policies of Federal agencies regarding the participation of faith-based and other community organizations in programs that the...
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Applicants for VA Memorialization Benefits
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amends its regulations defining who may apply for a headstone or marker. The rule expands the types of individuals who may request headstones and markers on behalf of decedents.
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Vet Centers
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adopts as final an interim final rule that amends its medical regulation that governs Vet Center services. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (the 2013 Act) requires Vet Centers to provide readjustment counseling services to broader groups of veterans, members of the Armed Forces,...
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Repayment by VA of Educational Loans for Certain Psychiatrists; Correction
The Department of Veterans Affairs published in the Federal Register on September 29, 2016, a document amending its regulations concerning the repayment of educational loans for certain psychiatrists who agree to a period of obligated service with VA. The document contained several section and paragraph numbering errors. This document corrects...
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Loan Guaranty: Specially Adapted Housing Assistive Technology Grant Program
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), is announcing the availability of funds for the Specially Adapted Housing Assistive Technology (SAHAT) Grant Program for fiscal year (FY) 2017. The objective of the grant is to encourage the development of new assistive technologies for specially adapted housing. This Notice is intended to provide...
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Agency Information Collection Activity: (Non-Degenerative Arthritis (Including Inflammatory, Autoimmune, Crystalline and Infectious Arthritis) and Dysbaric Osteonecrosis Disability Benefits Questionnaire (VA Form 21-0960M-3)
The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed...
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Diseases Associated With Exposure to Contaminants in the Water Supply at Camp Lejeune
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amends its adjudication regulations regarding presumptive service connection, adding certain diseases associated with contaminants present in the base water supply at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (Camp Lejeune), North Carolina, from August 1, 1953, to December 31, 1987. This final rule establishes...
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Notice of Availability of a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Reconfiguration of VA Black Hills Health Care System (BHHCS)
VA announces the availability of the ROD for the Reconfiguration of VA Black Hills Health Care System (BHHCS). The ROD states the decision to implement VA's preferred alternative as described in the Final EIS. Environmental consequences of the action are discussed in the ROD, along with the required minimization and mitigation measures.
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Agency Information Collection Activity: (Application Requirements To Receive VA Dental Insurance Plan Benefits under 38 CFR 17.169)
In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521), this notice announces that the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Department of Veterans Affairs, will submit the collection of information abstracted below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The PRA submission describes the...
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Ecclesiastical Endorsing Organizations
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its medical regulations by establishing in regulation the eligibility requirements that ecclesiastical endorsing organizations must meet in order to provide ecclesiastical endorsements of individuals seeking employment as VA chaplains or of individuals who are seeking to be engaged by VA...
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Agency Information Collection Activity: (Foot Conditions Including Flatfoot (Pes Planus) Disability Benefits Questionnaire (VA Form 21-0960M-6)
The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed...
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Agency Information Collection Activity: Back (Thoracolumbar Spine) Conditions Disability Benefits Questionnaire (VA Form 21-0960M-14)
The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed...