A southern Illinois Congressman has introduced a bill to assist disabled veterans.
U.S. Representative Bill Enyart says the Veterans Backlog Reduction Act is designed to speed up the benefit claims process for injured veterans. He says there are over 900,000 disability claims waiting to be processed by the Veterans Administration - some of which were filed over a year ago. Enyart says veterans deserve better.
Enyart's office has been able to assist Army and National Guard veteran Michael Boren of Energy in getting his claim processed after 19 months. Boren injured his back twice and says he was surprised to learn how poorly VA offices communicate with each other in different regions of the country. He says the delay has cost him job opportunities.
Enyart's bill would require disability claims be processed within 125 days or the veteran receives a provisional benefit payment until the VA's ruling.