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Key lawmaker says he’s losing faith in VA

The chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee says he completely understands why many veterans have lost confidence in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“I am sure there are good people working there who are trying very hard and have the best of intentions, but they are bunglers,” said Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif. “You lose confidence in these people by watching them.”

Filner, a frequent critic of VA, cited two examples: the department’s abandoned plans to use a private contractor to help launch the new GI Bill benefits program next year, and VA’s order Thursday to its 57 regional offices to stop shredding documents after veterans’ claims materials were found in piles of paper waiting to be destroyed.

“This is an insult to veterans,” Filner said.

Last week’s announcement that VA would implement the Post-9/11 GI Bill by next August using in-house resources came after department officials spent weeks telling lawmakers they could meet that deadline only with outside help, Filner said.

“After arguing for months and months that they could only do this with a contractor, you have to be concerned about whether VA can do it,” he said. “This is so important, and people are betting on it. VA better get this done.”

The Thursday announcement that VA had ordered a systemwide freeze on destroying documents came after auditors discovered claims and potentially irreplaceable paperwork tagged for shredding at four regional offices. Shredding is suspended until new paper management procedures are in place.

Filner said veterans have long complained about claims getting lost in VA bureaucracy.

“You are supposed to have a sense they may be slow, but at least they will eventually do the right thing,” he said.

Now, he said, the possibility that records vital to approving a claim might be destroyed fuels complaints that VA is trying to prevent claims from being awarded at all.