Senators Hassan, Tillis Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Help Veterans by Addressing VA Backlog

Bipartisan Bill Builds on Senator Hassan’s Efforts to Address Delays in Veterans’ Records & Benefits Information

Press Release, Sen. Maggie Hassan, June 23, 2021

U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), both members of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, introduced a bipartisan bill to improve oversight of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and reduce the backlog of requests from veterans for medical and other VA military records. A companion bill passed the House of Representatives earlier this month.

 Veterans will often request access to their military and VA records through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in order to gain more information on a claim from the VA or receive necessary medical documents, but right now, many veterans do not receive a response to their request within the 20 days that FOIA outlines. Compliance with FOIA requests also impacts the work our local and national Veterans Service Organizations do to support our veterans.

Read more here.