U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) participated in a Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs hearing, where he discussed with officials the challenges veterans face when seeking disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The panel included Cheryl Mason, Inspector General at the VA; Ryan Gallucci, Executive Director at Veterans of Foreign Wars; and Dr. Daniel Gade, a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel.
During the hearing, Tuberville highlighted his commitment to veterans, referencing his own military family background. He raised questions about whether a new commission should be established to improve the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), similar to past efforts for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). “Don’t each of you think that it’s time for a commission that was established to develop recommendation to improve the VBA and don’t our veterans deserve a system like this with a commission? Anybody wanna answer this? Push your button and have at it,” Tuberville asked.
Cheryl Mason responded, “Yes, I think your commission would be very, very well placed. I think it is needed to look at the VBA process like it’s supposed to do at VHA.”
Ryan Gallucci expressed reservations about forming another commission: “Thank you, Senator. I get nervous about the prospect of the commission, and there’s a reason why.” He continued, “I remember with the care commission. We, as an organization, were a bit of champions of that. And it couldn’t make it past the first marker. You know, and now we’re seeing the repercussions of that… I would argue that a forum like this is certainly a good start to have these discussions… As far as how we reform the system and incentivizing the right behavior by veterans who are only seeking the benefits that they’ve earned through their service contract.”
Tuberville also addressed concerns related to recent legislation known as the PACT Act and its impact on disability claims processing: “You know, with the passage and fast-tracked information of the PACT Act, it has put a strain on [the] disability claim processes. How can we simplify that? How can we make sure they both work? A lot of money has been put into this. Anybody?”
Dr. Daniel Gade provided his perspective on some provisions in the PACT Act: “Senator, I’d like to just briefly point out that there are several things in the PACT Act that are not only problematic from a sort of overloading the system point of view, but also problematic from a from a moral point of view…” He noted issues such as making hypertension presumptive for Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange without considering broader health trends.
Gallucci further emphasized challenges related to identifying toxic exposures: “Senator, I would say that we need to speed up the science I think the issue that we see… there was a stark difference between what service members who developed rare cancers and rare healthcare conditions while they were still on active duty… I think one of the greatest detriments that we have is the time it takes to identify when a toxic exposure has happened and then make that veteran whole…”
Tuberville concluded by acknowledging bureaucratic delays: “Urgency doesn’t work up here in federal government. I’ll tell you that. We wish it did.”
Senator Tuberville serves Alabama in multiple Senate committees including Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs.
