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Rep. Graves Votes For Veterans Funding, VA Accountability, Solutions For Claims Backlog

Washington, Apr 30 -

U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA-14) voted for, and the House passed, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, which includes increased funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in order to implement solutions for the disability claims backlog, increase oversight and improve benefits that veterans and their families have earned in the service of the United States.

“We have a moral obligation to provide the highest quality care and benefits for our veterans,” said Rep. Graves. “Tragically, the federal government’s failures have hurt many veterans in recent years. This bill provides the resources necessary to improve services and it ties new funding to accountability measures for the VA and the Department of Defense. The bill will also aid the transition to a paperless claims processing system so that the claims backlog ends next year.

“I thank the men and women who have served and sacrificed for our country. With hard work, accountability and innovation, we can fix the VA mess and prove to our veterans and their families that we are a grateful nation.”

In addition to providing funding for paperless claims systems and modernization of the VA electronic health record system, the bill increases oversight of taxpayer dollars and maintains strict reporting requirements in order to track the performance of regional VA offices. The House also amended the legislation to prevent the Veterans Affairs secretary from issuing performance-based bonuses to senior executives.

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