On Thursday, the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee responsible for oversight of the GI Bill held another hearing on Post-9/11 GI Bill implementation. The VA stated “that any delay is unacceptable” and outlined their process to automate the Post-9/11 GI Bill claims system. IAVA submitted testimony with recommendations that included better outreach, reassessing current staffing levels and upgrading the Post 9/11 GI Bill itself. At least 30,000 veterans still do not have their GI Bill checks and IAVA will keep hammering on this issue till every last veteran is paid what they earned. Click here [1] to read the testimony submitted by IAVA's Chief Legislative Counsel Patrick Campbell.
Some highlights below from Patrick Campbell who tweeted live during the testimony on Twitter @sgtwarmyfuzzy [2]:
@sgtwarmfuzzy: [3] IAVA's testimony on va's implementation of post 911 gi will was just accepted for the record. Looking for to the va's response.
@sgtwarmfuzzy: [3] VA just said they have paid 52k student under post 911 gi bill and 52k emergency checks. They are outlining laborious hand processing system
@sgtwarmfuzzy: [3] VA admitted they are not serving veterans as well as they should be treated. I appreciate when they are being frank, let's real work cont.
@sgtwarmfuzzy: [3] Seems like thse questions being asked are letting the VA off the hook? Hmmm
@sgtwarmfuzzy: [3] Congressman Mitchell just made this an interesting hearing! "How can we be assured for future problems?" "Why didn't you ask for more staff?
For the latest updates on the Post-9/11 GI Bill implementation and to calculate your benefits, visit www.NewGIBill.org [4].
Links:
[1] http://iava.org/content/us-department-veterans-affairs-status-report-post-911-gi-bill
[2] http://twitter.com/sgtwarmfuzzy
[3] http://twitter.com/SgtWarmfuzzy
[4] http://www.newgibill.org