July 11, 2006
Media contact: Jeff Schrade (202)224-9093

(Washington, DC) The U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs will hold a hearing on Thursday to examine the dramatic increases in both the number of cases being received by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and the number that are pending.  The hearing will also examine what steps can be taken to improve the efficiency of the legal system for veterans.

The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims is in the judicial branch of government and reviews decisions rendered by VA's Board of Veterans' Appeals.  Most of those claims deal with disability compensation.

Just two years ago there were about 2,700 cases pending before the Court and it was taking in less than 200 new cases per month.  But now the Court is taking in approximately 300 new cases per month ? and the number of pending cases is over 5,800.  If trends continue, the number of pending cases could reach 10,000 in the next five years.

• The hearing titled, "Battling the Backlog Part II: Challenges Facing the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims," will be held Thursday, July 13 and begin at 10 a.m. in room 418 of the Russell Senate Office Building.
• It will be webcast live, and archived for viewing later, at http://veterans.senate.gov. The hearing may also be audiocast ? during the hearing only ? on C-SPAN's hearings website, located at http://www.capitolhearings.org.