June 21, 2006 The Honorable Steve Buyer, Chairman House Veterans' Affairs Committee 335 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-6335 Dear Chairman Buyer: On behalf of the 1.3 million members of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), I thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to meet with the National Commanders of the major veterans service organizations on June 20, 2006. Mr. Chairman, legislation has been introduced in both the House and the Senate, known as the Veterans Choice of Representation Act, H.R. 4914, H.R. 5549, and S. 2694. These bills would amend title 38, United States Code, to remove certain limitations on attorney representation of claimants for veterans’ benefits in administrative proceedings before the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The DAV is concerned that the current claims process does not work properly. We believe Congress should focus on correcting the process, not making it more adversarial and legalistic. The question should not be whether veterans have a right to hire an attorney, but how to improve claims processing. Clearly, the solution is not to allow attorneys into the process. The VA benefits delivery system was designed to be open, informal, and helpful to veterans. The goal was to ensure that veterans receive the benefits a grateful nation has provided for them, rather than discourage or inhibit their claims with government “red tape” or lengthy litigation. Allowing attorneys into the process would interfere with this goal and will create a system that is more adversarial and legalistic and less veteran-friendly. The DAV is opposed to these bills for the above-noted reasons. I urge you to oppose the enactment of these bills and to truly focus the attention of Congress on ways to ensure the process performs in the manner for which it was designed—an ex parte, non-adversarial system, with VA being obligated to provide all benefits allowable under the law. Thank you again for meeting with me and for your support on this important matter. Sincerely, PAUL W. JACKSON National Commander PWJ:lmb  Printer-Friendly Version